Hey lovelies, today you'll get a piece of text on my thoughts about IWD! It's not a facts written text, but my own thoughts and why I think IWD is important. Sorry to disappoint if you expected something more fact-y.
International Women's Day was first celebrated in 1911, but it wasn't March 8th at first and not everywhere. It started in Austria, Denmark, Switzerland and Germany on March 19th. The people who attended campaigned for women's rights to work, to vote, be trained, to hold public office and end discrimination. (If you want to learn more about the history of IWD, check out this site, it was also my source, 2 birds in 1 stone.)
Lots have changed since the 1st celebration of IWD, but there are still some things left undone. One of the changes that's been done in most countries of the World is providing women with the right to work and vote. We've been in public offices, 1st ladies and loooads. We still yet have to wait for a female president of the US, but that's not the most important case of IWD (or a case at all, it'd just be neat since USA is such a huge part of the World).
Now that we've gained our right to work, we have to fight for our salaries. Men are still paid a noticeable amount more than women. I really can't wrap my head around it, why are genitals defining how much we're paid? Being paid less for being a woman goes for certain careers, of course there are some where women actually get paid more, but that's usually when they're in a higher position. Take 2 regular co-workers at a School, they're both teachers, they're both equally experienced in their field, but the man gets paid more simply for being a man. The woman, despite being just as good, gets paid less simply for being a woman. So there are still some things that we need to change.
One very huge part of IWD is fighting to end discrimination This is something we're fighting for every single day, but luckily IWD is a day where it gets highlighted and when we can really shout out the unfairness of the discrimination against women. We've all most likely grown up around this. "You hit/kick/walk/run like a girl", girls play with barbies, girls like pink, girls have girl cooties, etc. The 1st example about doing stuff like a girl is discriminating as in we do these things wrong or badly. The following 2 examples about girls playing with certain toys or liking certain colors, they go more for equality, but is still a thing that should be mentioned. We should be allowed to play with all of the toys and not just a certain section (same goes for boys, of course).
A more adult thing we have to end is how we're viewed as when we're sexually active. A guy banged 4 girls over the weekend? He's a legend! A girl banged 4 boys over the weekend? She's a slut!
These are examples of things we have to stop doing, not everyone does them, but a majority do or have done as this is quite "standard" nowadays. Sad, but it's reality. We just have to keep fighting ladies, gentlemen and everyone in-between, so that we can have our equality in the end! Bless IWD for existing, who knows how far behind we would've been without.