The International Women’s Day falls on March 8 every year. This day is celebrated to acknowledge the economic, political, social and cultural achievements of women from all walks of life. The day is celebrated globally, highlighting the struggles and achievements of women. Women across the globe come together on this day to rally for gender parity and highlight the role of women in bringing out important changes.
Theme
The theme for International Women’s Day 2021 is ‘Choose To Challenge’ and the hashtags to celebrate it are #ChooseToChallenge and #IWD2021.
History and significance
International Women’s Day has been celebrated for over a century now. But while many people think of it as a feminist cause, its roots lie in the labour movement. It was first organised in 1911 by the early 20th century Marxist from Germany Clara Zetkin.
Zetkin was born in 1857 in Germany’s Wiederau. She trained as a teacher, and was associated with the Social Democratic Party (SPD) - one of the two major political parties in the country today. She was a part of both the labour movement and the women’s movement.
In the 1880s, when anti-socialist laws were enforced by German leader Otto von Bismarck, Zetkin went into a self-imposed exile in Switzerland and France. During this time, she wrote and distributed proscribed literature, and met leading socialists of the time. Zetkin also played a significant role in the formation of the Socialist International.
Upon her return to Germany, she became the editor of Die Gleichheit (‘Equality’) -SPD’s newspaper for women from 1892 to 1917. In the SPD, Zetkin was closely associated with the far-left thinker and revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg. In 1910 three years after she became a co-founder of the International Socialist Women’s Congress Zetkin proposed at a conference that Women’s Day be celebrated in every country on February 28.
The conference comprised 100 women from 17 countries, with unions, socialist parties, working women’s clubs and female legislators unanimously approving the suggestion. Women’s Day was observed for the first time in 1911.
Two years later, in 1913, the date was changed to March 8, and it continues to be celebrated as such every year.
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