What is the origin of Women’s Day?

Today, we all know that March 8th is Women’s Day. However, it turns out that after more than 100 years of struggle, Women's Day was designated by the United Nations as International Women's Day in 1975.

Let’s briefly review the origin of Women’s Day. On March 8, 1857, female garment and textile workers in New York, United States, took to the streets to protest against poor working conditions and low wages; on March 8, 1909, a Chicago female worker group held a demonstration demanding equal rights for men and women. Every March 8, There are demonstrations for women's rights all over the world. In 1910, Clara Zetkin, the leader of the German women's movement, held an International Women's Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, and proposed March 8 as International Women's Day. It was not until 1975 that the United Nations began to celebrate International Women's Day, confirming the tradition of ordinary women's equal participation in society. Since then, March 8 has become a day for working women around the world to fight for peace, women and children's rights, and women's liberation.

As early as 1924, China began to celebrate Women’s Day. At the time, He Xiangning, director of the Women's Department of the Central Executive Committee of the Kuomintang, put forward the proposal that "women should be equal in law, economy, and education" at a Kuomintang meeting in Guangzhou, which became an opportunity for Women's Day to take root in China. After the Communist Party came to power, the official media "People's Daily" confirmed the "March 8" International Women's Day and the image of "New Chinese Women". It is a pity that the Communist Party only uses Women's Day as a means to promote political ideology and does not really pay attention to women's rights and interests. As the People's Daily published on Women's Day in 1960, "Women across the country must set up lofty aspirations and strive to become red, hard-working, skilled and frugal socialist working women, in order to complete and exceed the 1960 national construction plan and socialist

Anecdotes about the origin of Women’s Day

The idea of ??establishing International Women’s Day was first born in the early 20th century, when Western countries were undergoing rapid industrialization and development. Economic expansion phase. Poor working conditions and low wages led to various protests and strikes. On March 8, 1857, women garment and textile workers in New York took to the streets to protest against poor working conditions and low wages. The marchers were surrounded by police. and dispersed. Two years later, in March, these women organized their first union. In the following years, similar protests took place almost every year on March 8. What attracts attention is that on March 8, 1908, 15,000 women marched in New York, demanding shorter working hours, improved labor remuneration and voting rights, and a ban on child labor. Their slogan was "Bread and Roses", and bread symbolized the economy. Safety, the rose symbolizes a better quality of life.

On March 8, 1909, the Chicago women workers group held a demonstration demanding equal rights for men and women. In August of the following year, the second session was held in Copenhagen, Denmark. The International Socialist Women's Conference decided to designate March 8th as International Women's Day in order to promote the unity and liberation of international working women.

August 1910. The Second International Socialist Women's Conference was held in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. Representatives from 17 countries attended the meeting. The main issues discussed at the meeting were opposing imperialist expansion, preparing for war, and maintaining world peace. At the same time, the protection of women and children's rights was also discussed. Clara Zetkin, a famous German socialist revolutionary and outstanding communist fighter who led the conference on issues such as the eight-hour working day and women's suffrage, proposed March 8 every year as the World Women's Struggle Day. , received unanimous support from the participants. Since then, "March 8" Women's Day has become a day for women to fight for their rights and liberation.