International Women’s Day
By: Grace Carballo ‘17
This morning at the gym I joined in Buenos Aires, a trainer wished me “Feliz Día de la Mujer” which was the first time I’ve ever been greeted this way, although for me every day is women’s day. As someone who identifies as a woman and as someone who identifies as a feminist, I decided IWD is something I should probably be more knowledgeable about and I’ve compiled this handy guide for you, as well. So whether you’re abroad, like me, or on campus when you read this, if it’s March 8th, it is International Women’s Day and you should be mindful of this, because as far as women’s rights have come, we’re not there yet and by there I mean ~equal~. The quote below from earlier today sums this up very well.
“We have shattered so many glass ceilings we created a carpet of shards. Now we are sweeping away the assumptions and bias of the past so women can advance across new frontiers.”
-UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, IWD 2016
WHAT IS INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY?
It’s a lot of things- a reflection, a call for change, and a celebration. International Women’s Day celebrates the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women in their countries and communities. But it also raises awareness of the prevailing inequalities women face.
Perhaps the coolest part of IWD is that it really is as widespread as its name suggests. No one government, NGO, institution, network, etc. is solely responsible but many organizations recognize the day and some even declare an annual IWD theme relevant to what they do.
WHAT’S THE HISTORY BEHIND INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY?
IWD has been observed since the beginnings of the 1900′s, which though I was not there to experience it myself, was apparently a time of great growth and change in the industrialized world.
In the United States, National Woman’s Day was celebrated for the first time in 1909, although back then it was on February 28.
In 1910, Copenhagen hosted the second International Conference of Working Women, where the idea of International Women’s Day was discussed and met with unanimous approval by over 100 women from 17 countries.
Fast forward, if you will to 1975, when International Women’s Day was celebrated for the first time by the United Nations.
Obviously there’s a lot more behind the day than what I’ve included in this brief summary and I of course recommend you look into it further because there’s so much we can learn from our founding mothers and women leaders from other countries, as well.
WHAT’S GOING ON THIS YEAR WITH IWD 2016?
So the theme this year is “Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality”, a little wordy if you ask me but the intent is good. The UN is using IWD to reflect on how to accelerate the 2030 Agenda, with new Sustainable Development Goals. Equally important, it will focus on new commitments on gender equality, women’s empowerment, and women’s human rights.
You may also see #PledgeforParity on your social media accounts, which is what the IWD website has as their 2016 theme. This comes after the World Economic Forum predicted that at the pace we’re moving now, the gender gap wouldn’t close until 2133. So we’re either going to have to speed this up or discover some fountain of youth if we want to see this happen in our lifetimes.
WHY DOES GENDER PARITY MATTER?
It’s not something you hear about every day, is it? Or maybe it is if you’re taking a Gender Studies course, which incidentally I am here in Argentina.
Numerous global studies, according to the IWD website, show that women’s advancement and leadership are central to business performance and prosperity. These studies on the impact of women in leadership show that more equality leads to higher GDP and more productivity. More gender-balanced leadership leads to better all-around performances.
No matter what your major or career goal or gender, surely you’ve noticed underrepresentation of women in some field you’ve considered. And if you haven’t, might I suggest taking Communications and Mass Media with Professor Stacey Smith? We need more women to be content creators- producers, directors, writers, etc.- because otherwise this male-dominated industry will continue telling the same stories with multidimensional male leads and female objectification. And that’s just one example. Think about the man-woman ratio in STEM majors and careers or how many perceive women leaders (bossy, b**chy, cold, calculating) verses male leaders (go-getter, confident, powerful).
“Each one of us is needed—in our countries, communities, organizations, governments and in the United Nations—to ensure decisive, visible and measurable actions are taken under the banner: Planet 50-50: Step It Up for Gender Equality.”
-UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
WHAT CAN I DO AT USC?
Tonight, Women’s Student Assembly is hosting an open-mic night, FemFest Frenzy, at Ground Zero.
https://www.facebook.com/events/467358453463405/
You could also look into regularly attending WSA meetings. Their mission, “Inspired by feminists and powered by students, WSA works on and off campus to address feminist issues, to engage the community, and to empower those oppressed by the patriarchy.” For more information, check out their Facebook page or https://wsausc.wordpress.com/. WSA welcomes people of all gender identifies who experience some form of sexism.
Also, you could apply to become a Women and Youth Supporting Each Other (WYSE) mentor for next semester. I’m involved in this amazing organization which, “is dedicated to strengthening the lives and communities of young women through a curriculum based, group, and one-on-one mentorship program. The program strives to address key issues that can contribute to a woman’s empowerment, including teen pregnancy prevention, conflict resolution, healthy lifestyle adoption, and future options awareness.”
For more information, check out their Facebook page http://www.uscwyse.org/about.html.
WHAT CAN I DO OUTSIDE OF USC?
Make a pledge for parity!! Anyone can do it and everyone should, plus the link below will give you some info of how to go about doing this.
http://www.internationalwomensday.com/Pledge
International Women’s Day shouldn’t just be on your mind on this random day in March, but rather the goals it embodies- of equality and empowerment- should be something we are always mindful of and working towards.
Celebrate the wonderful women in your life today and every day (s/o to my mama and also El Colectivo de Teatro de Mujeres del Boaco y Matagalpa, pictured above, who use theater to change the sexist culture and impress the hell out of me) and with that, I’ll close with a great quote by Ayn Rand, who really had a way with words.
“The question isn’t who’s going to let me, it’s who’s going to stop me.”
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