Weekend self-care open thread: Celebrating International Women's Day

Posted by Liberal Librarian March 09, 2024

Weekend self-care open thread: Celebrating International Women's Day

Happy weekend, Barflies!

Friday was International Women's Day. We go to Wikipedia for a short history of the day:

International Women's Day (IWD) is a holiday celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point in the women's rights movement. IWD gives focus to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against women.[3][4] Spurred by the universal female suffrage movement, IWD originated from labor movements in North America and Europe during the early 20th century.[5][6][7]

The earliest version reported was a "Women's Day" organized by the Socialist Party of America in New York City on February 28, 1909. This inspired German delegates at the 1910 International Socialist Women's Conference to propose "a special Women's Day" be organized annually, albeit with no set date;[8] the following year saw the first demonstrations and commemorations of International Women's Day across Europe. After the Russian Revolution in 1917, IWD was made a national holiday on March 8;[9] it was subsequently celebrated on that date by the socialist movement and communist countries. The holiday was associated with far-left movements and governments until its adoption by the global feminist movement in the late 1960s. IWD became a mainstream global holiday following its promotion by the United Nations in 1977.[10]

International Women's Day is a public holiday in several countries. The UN observes the holiday in connection with a particular issue, campaign, or theme in women's rights.[6]

Now, you see that in some countries, the day is an official holiday. Which countries? Well here you go:

IWD is an official holiday in several countries worldwide, including Afghanistan,[66] Angola, Armenia,[67] Azerbaijan,[68][69] Belarus,[70] Burkina Faso,[71] Cambodia,[72] China (for women only),[73] Cuba,[74] Georgia,[75] Germany (Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania only),[76] Guinea-Bissau, Eritrea, Kazakhstan,[77] Kyrgyzstan,[78] Laos,[79] Madagascar (for women only),[80] Moldova,[81] Mongolia,[82] Montenegro, Nepal, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine,[83] Uzbekistan,[84] and Zambia.[85]

Afghanistan? Eritrea? Russia? As always, awful governments which deny basic rights glom onto holidays like this to burnish their credentials.

The day needs to be more than just a day for the powers-that-be to celebrate values they don't practice. Russia and Cuba have no right to celebrate this day when in all other ways, including with women, they deny basic rights to their citizens. China should be ashamed to celebrate this holiday when its policies have led to the deaths of millions of women since the birth of the People's Republic.

Enough with platitudes. Enough with parades. As President Biden told the Supreme Court justices to their faces during his State of the Union speech: Women have political power, and you will see it exercised when their rights keep getting kneecapped. Every day is women's day, just like every month is Black history month. Enough with these mealy-mouthed "special" holidays. We are far past that. Now we need full equality, full rights, and nothing less will suffice.

Time to blast some music.