Today is International Women’s Day, which has been a fixture since 1909, and it’s celebrated on Google with the Doodle below (click on screenshot to get to it):
Time Magazine says this:
A new Google Doodle celebrating International Women’s Day features women performing a range of careers from astronaut to judge.
The day, which falls annually on March 8, has been celebrated in the United States since 1909, and has spread around the world. This year’s theme is “Make It Happen,” a call to action for the numerous issues facing women today.
Other careers represented in the Doodle include scientist, doctor, chef and volleyball player.
The Guardian celebrates with an extremely quirky list of the “Ten Best Feminists“, which includes, of all people, Patrick Stewart! I have neither the knowledge nor the credibility to evaluate the list, but I humbly suggest that Ayaan Hirsi Ali might trump Patrick Stewart, who, much as I admire him, is touted only for publicly discussing how his mother had been physically abused by his father. And where is Betty Friedan?
Feel free to add your “best feminist” below, or disagree with the Guardian’s choices. In the meantime, let me express appreciation on this day for the many contributions women have made to this website. I am in fact proud that many of the most active and vociferous participants on the site are women, and I hope we maintain the atmosphere that promotes that.
Meanwhile, over in Poland Leon has a monologue called “Leon celebrates Women’s Day”.
Leon: Keep warm, Dear Ladies!
He seems to be taking his own advice. And of course he’s a cat, so he’s not all that empathic. . .
Marlo Thomas and Alan Alda made a huge impact on me with Free to Be You and Me, which came out when I was in grade school. Mike Farrell also spoke out on women’s issues way back when and I thought, well, if Hawkeye and BJ are for it, so am I.
One negative aspect of religion that has hit me hard is the realization of lost potential. Women have been subjugated for centuries due to dogma. Just think how much further we could be along our journey as a civilized species if the brilliant minds and brave hearts of women lost to history had been allowed to wholly participate.
Even if women were just treated equally, it would’ve made an unimaginable difference. In so many areas women simply never got the opportunity to contribute, and everyone missed out because of it.
For myself, I largely blame religion for that too.
It seems like a bit of a kick in the teeth that international women’s day is the same day we lose an hour! Maybe it’s a metaphor for wage inequality!
Well, the day is still 24 hours long!
Blame George W. It’s only been like that since him. Remember, we used to lose the hour later.
Only good thing TheShrub ever did. I like having lighter afternoons sooner.
“TheShrub” — ROTFLMAO!!!!
I think possibly Maureen Dowd coined (The) Shrub, but I could be wrong:-)
That was the late, great Molly Ivins.
Molly, of course!! I think Maureen dubbed Bush Sr. Popsy or something.
I’m partial to Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797), Mary Shelley’s mom who died after giving birth to Mary. She wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Woman in 1792. Here is an excerpt:
Mary Shelley was pretty impressive herself. She started writing her book, Frankenstein at 18 and the men she surrounded herself with seemed to treat her as an equal. The Romantic period was an interesting time.
International Women’s Day didn’t actually start in America. In 1909 the Socialist
Party of America in New York had a day celebrating women in February. The following year an International Women’s Day was recommended at the international socialist women’s conference in Denmark, partly inspired by the New York event. Four countries celebrated it in 1911 – Austria, Germany, Denmark and Switzerland. It was first celebrated on 8 March in 1914, and has been held on that day ever since. (I looked all this up yesterday for my own piece on the day. It’s now 9 March in NZ.)
To be fair, I have noticed that every American publication I’ve seen on the subject in the last few days has said it started in America.
In the Age of Acquiescence that we live in I would have to mention Elizabeth Warren as she just may be the only light to be seen in Washington DC. That would be man or woman.
Kate Shepherd, the woman who secured the vote for women in New Zealand in 1893 – she was the inspiration of all future women’s suffrage movements.
I can’t take the Guardian very seriously on such matters. Might have known Hirsi Ali wouldn’t be on its list, or those of its commentariat. But no Woolstonecraft or de Beauvoir, or even Margaret Sanger?
Caitlin Moran is a hoot! Saw her in a Munk Debate a couple years ago with Maureen Dowd and two others. The topic was something like Do We Need Men Anymore?
For what it’s worth, I recently visited the Women’s Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, a three-story structure in the middle of town, with interesting and sometimes painful exhibits. My friend and I spent a long time there. We were the only visitors the entire time.
I’ll add my mothers friend Marylou who died this year, and who due to the lack of no fault divorce, was forced for 15 years, during the prime of her life, to remain married to a man who beat her, and cheated on her, unable to move on with her life, because she was unable to prove it.
It wasn’t until the mid 1970’s, when she was in her 40’s that she was finally able to divorce.
In this day, and age that may not seem particularly problematic, but sex outside of marriage, or living in “sin” was still frowned upon by most of society, so she lived alone, and celibate during those years.
You make a very important point. So many women suffered silently in similar situations – trapped in violent relationships, especially when they had children, because economic circumstances meant they couldn’t leave. No fault divorce and state support meant these women could escape.
Yes I was going to say Marylou, and other women like her, but I couldn’t get the wording right. I was quite young at the time, and her experience really brought home to me the degree to which women were treated as second class citizens. It caused me to consider myself a feminist for much of my life since.
I believe it wasn’t until 1976 that no fault came into effect in my state Massachusetts.
When I first became aware of her situation (somewhere around 1967) less than half of Americans (45%ish) answered in the affirmative to a polling question that asked “Do you supporting strengthening women’s rights”. Twenty years later near 80% were answering yes to that question despite the improvements that had already been made.
I wanted to add she had two kids, and didn’t have the luxury of moving somewhere where people wouldn’t know she was married, and even if she could she’d have the problem of finding a partner who would “live in sin” with her with no hope of ever having the chance of marrying and having children with her.
One last point. If she had done those things her husband would likely have had grounds to fight for custody because she was cohabiting with man to whom she wasn’t married. I don’t think most people, even women today, realize how bad things were just 40 years ago.
I do, only because my mother was divorced, back around 1960, with three kids to raise while working fulltime on a secretary’s wages.
Who will raise the children? While I totally support equity, choice and women’s rights, it bothers me that those who do choose to raise a family are not included in Google’s graphic. I remember when a woman who wasn’t a wife and mother was denigrated, but it seems to have reached the opposite so that now being a mother is not enough. Actually, I don’t think we’ve ever valued child-rearing sufficiently – I’m thinking of “just the little mother” attitudes and how we hire and pay our daycare providers.
Funny: I see that, now, as an issue of gender equality for men, such that they should not be barred from staying home and raising the kids nor belittled for doing so.
I agree, men shouldn’t be barred from or belittled for raising the kids. It just seems to me that on Int’l Women’s Day it should be included as a worthwhile option for women. I think omitting it puts a wedge between those who choose child rearing and the women’s movements.
Perhaps Google’s graphic is only meant to celebrate all that women can do more easily now. But I’m looking at it as showing a range of desirable careers, and feel it implies that child rearing is not desirable.