Today’s Google Doodle swaps out the blue for the purple and replaces the big “G” with the symbol for woman. That’s because March 8th is International Women’s Day. Evolving over the course of many years, today, International Women’s Day celebrates the achievements of women, in all different facets of our culture.
The United States first celebrated a national Woman’s day in 1909. After an International Women’s conference was held in 2010, and International Day was established in 1911. Here’s how that all came about:
In 1910, a second International Conference of Working Women was held in Copenhagen. A woman named a Clara Zetkin (Leader of the ‘Women’s Office’ for the Social Democratic Party in Germany) tabled the idea of an International Women’s Day. She proposed that every year in every country there should be a celebration on the same day – a Women’s Day – to press for their demands. The conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, representing unions, socialist parties, working women’s clubs, and including the first three women elected to the Finnish parliament, greeted Zetkin’s suggestion with unanimous approval and thus International Women’s Day was the result.
The first celebration was less of a “celebration” in the strict sense, in that much of International Women’s Day involved demonstrations and various other protests concerning suffrage and discrimination in the workplace.
Today, much of the celebration has spilled over to social media. And though not everyone is embracing the political and social message of the day in full, they are still honoring women in general:
@womensday
Women’s Day 8 MarchAlmost 500 planned #womensday events occurring across US & Canada right now. Happy International Women’s Day everyone !
57 minutes ago via web · Reply · Retweet · Favorite · powered by @socialditto
@Lagarde
Christine LagardeHappy International Women’s day. My advice to young women: educate yourselves, work hard, be brave, and help each other. 29 minutes ago via Facebook · Reply · Retweet · Favorite · powered by @socialditto
@Timberland
TimberlandIn honor of International Women’s Day, we salute the extraordinary accomplishments of women around the world! 7 minutes ago via Postling · Reply · Retweet · Favorite · powered by @socialditto
@AskMen
AskMen.comHappy International Women’s Day – Women of the world, we love you. 26 minutes ago via SocialFlow · Reply · Retweet · Favorite · powered by @socialditto
Last year, celebrations took place in over 100 countries across the world. Since the year 2000, International Women’s Day has become an official holiday in countries like Afghanistan, Cambodia, Laos, Cuba, Kazakhstan, and Zambia. In some of these countries, International Women’s Day is celebrated in a fashion similar to Mother’s Day – you know, doting on the women of the house and such.
And the IWD site has turned this thing into a contest in way, charting a leaderboard for events around the world. and as of right now, it appears that the UK is celebrating their women more than anyone else:
How will you celebrate International Women’s Day? Let us know in the comments.