Happy International Women's Day

To my surprise, this is the first year that I've actually been aware of International Women's Day. I know about Women's History Month, but just noted it with the rest of the history months. This year I did some research and discovered International Women's Day celebrating women.

You can find good information on the International Women's Day website. Women's Day started as a US national day in 1909 pushed by the Socialist Party of America. This was even before women could vote in the states! It was a day to make a statement and push for equality for women. In 1911, it was celebrated on a wide scale by over a million people internationally.

When reading about the demonstrations, about the conflicts, about the victories of getting it recognized as a non-working day by the USSR and China, it really makes me think. I've grown up with the notion that inequality is behind us. I know that you can still see it in the attitudes of others, but as a youth I was treated just as a youth. As I moved into adulthood, through the hard work and struggle of the women before me, I was able to be independent. I can drive, I can vote, I can walk the streets without the company of a man. I am married to my best friend as a sort of partnership, not a dependency for fitting into this society. These are things that I don't think of every day as special, just part of life. I know of women's suffrage, but I don't know the feeling of that struggle they went through. It's not so long ago in the history, yet somehow out of my mind. Women, pushed for equal pay and inclusion through the 70s, 80s and even 90s while I was too young to know the difference.  I deeply appreciate it. Some never saw progress in their lifetimes, they were doing it for their children, and they were doing it for me. Women are still fighting all over the world.

In this day when every group seems to have their own day, week, or month of recognition, it is easy to lose sight of why we should recognize them. So, this International Women's Day, and Women's History Month I recognize how good I have it. I have freedom and independence, not just because of the country I live in, but because of the fight the American women put up for equality in the community and workforce.