International Women’s Day

It was a great success when, on February 28, 1909, the first, then national, Women’s Day was launched in the USA. Inspired by this idea, Clara Zetkin suggested the introduction of an international women’s day at the second International Socialist Women’s Conference in 1910. While at first one of the main demands was the right to vote for women, actions against war later also came to the fore.
Nowadays, the demands which are made differ from the original simple demands, depending on the cultural context. However, the focus on the role of men and women and the demand for equality within the scope of this distinction is largely the same.
The modern semantics of diversity, and traditional notions of gender roles more or less coexist. If the terms “gender” and “sex” are introduced into the discussion, the distinction between what make a man a man, or a woman a woman, is no longer so clear, neither is the question of whom or what we actually celebrate on Women’s Day. Is it an idea, a social construct? Somehow the meaning of this day oscillates between the bouquet of flowers for the woman with cliché connotations, and the effort to deconstruct precisely these questions.
How wonderful it is when you can increasingly determine, change and develop your own identity (s) in our world – far from polarizing discourse about  black or white, man or woman – and without stopping at the merely superficial interchanging of traditional roles.How nice it is to live within cultures in which diversity is recognized as added value and self-defined identities can be celebrated.
In this sense, International Women’s Day is a great occasion to honor diversity and self-determination as well as the breaking of disadvantageous patterns and reflexes.It is a reason to celebrate and reflect for everyone – not just for those who see themselves as women and are valued as such, or men who value their feminine side.

Cheers to those whom we love.