Today is the 100th Anniversary of International Women’s Day (IWD). I’m honored to be the recipient of an IWD Service Award, for which I was nominated by mentor Robbie Motter. If you are one of the fortunate women to be in a city where there are IWD celebrations, you are sure to have a great time. If you aren’t familiar with IWD, here’s a short timeline about how it developed:
Early 1900′s: Women were getting itchy – tired of being 2nd class citizens. They were meeting to discuss their feelings and what to do about them. It was the beginning of the women’s movement.
1910: The first National Women’s Day was observed. Then, at the International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen Denmark, Clara Zetkin proposed the International Woman’s Day as a way of focusing attention on women’s issues. It was unanimously approved.
1911: IWD was honored in several countries and its influence began spreading to other countries. It’s influence continued through two world wars and into the 1950-60′s post-war rebuilding/prospering economy.
1975: The United Nations designated International Women’s Year. The influence of the growing feminist movement was taking hold.
2000: IWD became an official holiday in over 25 countries. In many middle eastern countries, IWD has the same importance and acknowledgment as Mother’s Day.
2011: There are IWD celebrations all over the world today. The biggest and strongest appear to be in Middle Eastern countries – where so many women are bound by theocratic laws that demean women and their rights. In the US, there are 242 celebrations today. I hope you are enjoying one of them!
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