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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 2023?
In recent years, there is a different campaign theme each International Women’s Day. The theme for 2023 is embracing gender equity: #EmbraceEquity. The goal of this year’s campaign is to raise awareness for not just the importance of gender equality, but for gender equity.
So, what’s the difference between equality and equity? Equality means offering every individual an equal amount of resources, but this can be exclusionary. Think of a group of people of differing heights trying to look over a fence. Equality would offer every person the same sized box. However, the shorter individuals may still not be able to see over the fence while the taller individuals can. This is where equity comes in. Equity means giving each person their own box fit for their height, so everyone can see over the fence, regardless of how tall they are.
We can all play a part in celebrating International Women’s Day, and the first step is celebrating the women around you in your family, friend group, work place, and more.
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.
Celebrate International Women’s Day with the world by sharing your photos, videos, articles, resources, and presentations and using the hashtags: #EmbraceEquity #IWD2023
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!
