Dedicated to ...

The Woman's Day

International Women's Day

On the 8th of March all the world celebrates the Woman's Day.

That's a real opportunity to recall women's social, economic and political achievements but to remember the whole world there are still a lot of things to do. Even in our democratic Italy discrimination against women are commonplace, at work and at home.

If the parity has been reached:

  • - why do a lot of women give up working when a child arrives?
  • - why is it harder for a lot of women, lost their job for whatever reason, to find a new one and why do they often give up looking for it?
  • - why are women paid less, if men and women have equal employements?
  • - why are so few the women seated in managerial posts, in governement and private jobs?

And then I'd like to remember you the other reason why the world celebrates women: violence! A lot of women often suffer a lot, even in our civilized Italy!
Tthis is the most distressing thing. You woman can't walk free and dressed as you like because someone might think of your short skirt or your neck as a provocation and then oblige you to the violence of the sexual act.
What does the rapist think? "Your endurance? it's just a fake. You've enjoyed, haven't you?"
But there is something worse. The violence at your home where you should be protected and where, on the contrary, the affection is turned against you! to get to the point of an absurd death at the hands of the man who says: "I love you". Every three days a woman is murdered in Italy. This report is unbelievable but true.

Luckily not all is bad as it seems from these first lines. There are a lot of successful women, intelligent, determined, brave who work successfully and have wonderful partners.

All is not lost until there are people in the world able to write poem such this one on women

O woman

O woman, you are not merely the
handiwork of God, but also of men;
these are ever endowing you with
beauty from their hearts.
Poets are weaving for you a web
with threads of golden imagery;
painters are giving your form ever
new immortality.
The sea gives its pearls, the mines
their gold, the summer gardens their
flowers to deck you, to cover you, to
make you more precious.
The desire of men's hearts has shed
its glory over your youth.
You are one half woman and one
half dream.

Rabindranath Tagore

This is only one of the many poems dedicated to woman.

Then, welcome to a day dedicated to the woman in the world to understand, share, enhance and celebrate. Precisely for this reason there is no need to trivialize this day.
How can we trivialize this party?
According to me in these ways:

  • - celebrating only "women with women" . Dinner party with only women, groups of women that go and see striptease ... Out of the frying pan into the fire! excuse me, it's an Italian way of saying. If we believe not to be discriminated doing such things ...
  • - screaming old slogans of the past. The dignity of women is not owned by a political party and fortunately many young women begin to share this thought. The future is their.
  • - pretending to forget the true origin of International Women's Day in the belief that it began to remember the terrible fire at a shirt factory in New York.
    If we really want to celebrate at least we have to inquire well. The fire which many mass-media speak about was held in New York, yes, but on the 25th of March 1911 and not on the 8th of March. It 's true that the fire caused many victims, all women migrants. 146 women died. But it had nothing to do with the Cottons. It was the Triangle factory. This is believed in Italy. Few people know this was only one of the many dramas that were consumed around the woman before obtaining basic rights with so many sacrifices and struggles.
    If you want to know more about the origin of the International Woman's Day read the specific page on Wikipedia.
  • - pretending our partner gives us a classical bouquet of yellow mimosa ...
    Mimosa is Woman's Day symbol only in Italy, Russia and Albania but on the 8th of March all the women in the world are celebrated. Is it so important to have mimosas? wouldn't it be better to have more concrete and less commercial gesture by our partners?
  • - claiming men should pay attention to us because March 8 is "our party" and on the other 364 days?

Having said that, rather long to tell the truth, let's see some concrete suggestions to celebrate women, outside the usual chorus.

Tips to celebrate the International Women's Day