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March 8 marks one day closer to the spring equinox, but it is also International Women’s Day. Why is it special to women across the world?
All about International Women’s Day
The goal of International Women’s Day, sometimes also called IWD, is to celebrate the economic, social, political and cultural achievements of women. The secondary mission is to make calls across the globe for equal rights and respect for women. First celebrated in 1911, International Women’s Day has made an impact. Over one million people observe the holiday. In its modern iteration, International Women’s Day belongs to, and is celebrated by, groups everywhere. It is not exclusive to one group, country or organization. Anyone who identifies as or supports women can participate in this inclusive, uplifting celebration.
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On March 8, many groups come together to celebrate the achievements of women or rally together for equality and representation. According to the International Women’s Day website, it is one of the most important days yearly to come together in hopes of recognizing what women have accomplished, raise awareness about the importance of equality, lobby for gender parity and fundraise for charities and organizations that are focused on supporting and uplifting women at home or across the world.
The official charities of choice include WAGGGS and Catalyst. WAGGG is the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. Through country-specific programming, it helps girls and young women build courage and confidence through badges, camping, leadership opportunities, business-savvy initiatives, such as cookie sales in the U.S., and more. International friendship and understanding, as well as welcoming diverse perspectives, are also valued and taught early on. Catalyst aims to stamp out bias by working with companies and nonprofits to improve the workplace experience for women. Through a combination of surveys, tools and research, it also aims to improve the numbers of women in leadership positions worldwide.
What is the Theme for International Women’s Day 2021?
In recent years, there is a different theme each International Women’s Day. The theme for 2021 is ‘Choose to Challenge,’ as a challenged world is an alert one, and a world that is challenged can make change. As the official website points out, we are all responsible for our own actions. We take matters into our own hands and call out inequality and gender bias as they happen in our own communities. In turn, we can celebrate what women before us were able to do, to pave the way for future generations. Dare to challenge to make a more inclusive and just world.
To show you are in, take a photo of yourself raising one hand alongside #ChooseToChallenge and #IWD2021 to encourage others in your network to join in.
Bonus feel-good brownie points if you wear the official colors of International Women’s Day: purple and green or purple and white. While purple represents justice, green stands for hope and white represents purity, although the International Women’s Day team recognizes that this may be seen as problematic in a modern context.
Encourage others to rally behind the cause!
We hope you take the time this International Women’s Day to celebrate the power of women, as well as all of the important ones in your life. After all, women are powerful and can change the world!
