Being a Woman on International Women's Day

Location: Hungary
March 8,2010
Adventure #6

Each March 8th, women in Hungary and in many parts of the world receive the lovely greeting of "Happy International Women's Day." I knew of the holiday when I lived in the United States, mainly because of my work at my university's Women's Resource Center, but here it's a well-recognized day in which men customarily give women flowers. In a country that never had a large-scale feminist movement and has a lot of work to do in terms of gender equality, it's nice to see these hard-working Hungarian women getting some recognition - even if it comes in stereotypical packages like flowers or discounted manicures and pedicures, as offered by my gym.

After doing some research, I learned this is actually the 99th International Women's Day. Its mission is to celebrate the economic, political and social achievements of women in the past, present and future, according to www.internationalwomensday.com. I was surprised to learn that the first National Women's Day was observed in the USA in 1909, was declared by the Socialist Party of America and continued being celebrated until 1913. The idea spread internationally in 1911, after a woman named Clara Zetkin proposed the idea at an International Conference on Working Women because she wanted a day women could press for their demands. Since then, the day has gone global, with myriad international events that highlight the triumphs and struggles of women.

Days like this make me question and deliberate on what connects all women and whether or not there are inherent qualities that bind half of the world's population. If so, I hope what women collectively embody are the same qualities behind this holiday: a drive to make the world more just and a desire to celebrate those who have.