Today we celebrate International Women’s Day which is a global celebration in more than 100 countries, but many people have only a vague awareness of the special day. This blog topic by Crb Tech Reviews highlights the milestones related to this day.

Several controversies cloud the history of International Women’s Day. According to the most common version of the day’s origins, it was established in 1907, to mark the 50th anniversary of a brutally repressed protest by New York City’s female garment and textile workers. But to mention; neither the 1857 protest nor the 50th anniversary tribute might have actually taken place. 

The historian Temma Kaplan revisited the first official National Woman’s Day, held in New York City on February 28, 1909. Thousands of people showed up to various events uniting the socialist causes, whose goals had often been at odds. Labor organizer Leonora O’Reilly and others addressed the crowd at the main meeting in the Murray Hill Lyceum, at 34th Street.

The concept of a “woman’s day” became popular in Europe. On March 19, 1911, the first International Woman’s Day was held, which drew more than 1 million people to rallies worldwide. With that outbreak of World War I in 1914, most attempts at social reform came to a halt, but women continued to march and demonstrate on International Woman’s Day.

Most dramatically, a massive demonstration led by Russian feminist Alexandra Kollontai that began on February 23, 1917 proved to be a link in the chain of events that led to the fall of the Czars. After the Czar’s fall, a provisional government was formed unless a constituent assembly was elected. And it became the first government to grant women a right to vote.

In recognition of its significance, Lenin, the founder of Russia’s Communist Party, declared Woman’s Day an official Soviet holiday in the year 1911. Communists in China and Spain later adopted the holiday as well. Until the mid-1970s, International Women’s Day would be celebrated primarily in socialist countries.

In 1975, recognized as International Women’s Year, the UN General Assembly began celebrating March 8 as International Women’s Day. By 2014, it was celebrated in more than 100 countries, and had been made an official holiday in more than 25 countries. 

Due to its ties with socialism and communism, it seems this day didn’t catch on much with the US, the way it did in other countries. But recently, international digital marketing campaigns have brought the holiday further into American culture, complete with corporate support from PepsiCo and other brands. 

Every year the theme changes though the purpose remains the same empower women in every aspect. In 2017, the official theme for International Women’s Day is #BeBoldforChange, a campaign that calls upon on its supporters to help create a better working world.....a more gender unbiased world.

We conclude now!

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