8 March – We celebrate you – WOMAN!

For those that have forgotten and for those that ignore it – today is a day of celebration for a special being of our planet –the woman.

The 8th of March finds its origin in the demonstrations of women at first of the XX century in Europe and the United States, claiming from the better work conditions and the vote right.

The International Day of the Women was made official by the United Nations in 1977, inviting each country of the planet to celebrate a day for the rights of the women.

A German journalist Clara Zetkin launched the idea of an international Day of the women for the first time in 1910, at the International conference of the socialist women.
Director of the famous magazine Die Gleichheit (Equality), that she founded in 1890, Clara Zetkin summoned the international conferences of the socialist women to serve to the publicity of the women vote.
The date is not first of all fixed, and it is only from 1917, with the strike of the workers of Saint Petersbourg, that the tradition of March 8 sets itself up. After 1945, the international Day of the women becomes a tradition in the entire world.
Clara Zetkin`s convictions survived her. She defended the couple conception at the heart of which the partners had to be equal in rights. She was in favor of the divorce by mutual consent and thinks that the man, as the woman, must take part in the household cares. She was also for the work of the women, the only mean by which they could attain autonomy.

ONU made official this day and defines each year a different theme for the "International Day of the Women".


Bread and roses

The 8 of March is not just another day when women receive flowers. It`s a day when a woman may receive bread and roses. This idea finds its origins in the poem “Bread and Roses” by James Oppenheim inspired by the textille “Bread and roses strike” in Lawrence, Massachussetts in January-March 1912. This strike was largely led by women who demanded "We want bread, but we want roses, too!".

This theme was also adopted by the World March of Women who is advocating for the “sharing of wealth and for the respect of women`s physical and mental integrity”.


Woman rights

Women have always fought for equal rights such as: integrity and autonomy; universal suffrage, work; fair wages or equal pay; ownership of property; education; military service or enrollement and to have marital, parental and religious rights.
Our society is dominated by patriarchate - a social system in which the father is the head of the family and men have authority over women and children.
The father has the primary responsibility and authority for the welfare of his family. Woman has been considered weaker and while her skills are less valued then man skills she should provide domestic support for men.
Even if the first and the second wave of feminism have gain in some rights in our modern society – there are still a lot of mentalities to be changed.
What is interesting to notice is that the matriarchate -a type of society that existed in early societies of our world in which the mother was the head of the family- suggests some power negotiations between the sexes.
The women of our modern world are not fighting to integrate a new system, but are demanding respect and equality.

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