What is the origin of Women’s Day?

International Women's Day (alias: United Nations Day for Women's Rights and International Peace, International Women's Day, English name: International Women's Day) is a celebration of the important contributions made by women in economic, political and social fields. It is a festival established in recognition of the great achievements made by the People's Republic of China and its great achievements. The date is March 8th of the Gregorian calendar every year. International Women's Day began as a political event initiated by socialist feminists. This holiday has been integrated with the cultures of many countries and has gradually developed into a global holiday that has new meanings for women all over the world.

The rapid development of large-scale capitalist industry in Britain, France and other countries provided economic conditions for the emergence of the women's movement. In the 1830s and 1940s, Britain, France and other countries entered the stage of great development of the machine industry. , the factory system with large machines as the main body replaced the handicraft system, and social productivity achieved rapid and huge development; the victory of bourgeois revolutions in various countries provided political conditions for the emergence of the women's movement, and women actively participated in the bourgeois revolutions of their countries Movement, the women's movement began to rise with the bourgeois revolution; the Renaissance movement, the religious reform movement and the ideas of "freedom", "equality" and "natural human rights" in the Enlightenment provided ideological conditions for the emergence of the women's movement, such as the United States The Declaration of Independence and the French Declaration of Human Rights inspired women's struggle for equal rights and were the direct ideological roots and theoretical basis of the women's movement.

Under the influence of the industrial revolution, advanced women broke through the feudal shackles since the Middle Ages and entered society, possessing the same social weight as men. However, the emerging male-dominated politicians still looked down upon women, so they began to fight for equal rights.

A series of feminist movements that took place in Europe and America at the beginning of the 20th century simultaneously contributed to the birth of International Women’s Day on March 8th, which is not just an international event as people take it for granted. The legacy of the communist movement.

New York women held demonstrations for equal rights

The idea of ??establishing International Women's Day first came about in the early 20th century, when Western countries were in the stage of rapid industrialization and economic expansion. . Poor working conditions and low wages have led to protests and strikes. On March 8, 1857, female garment and textile workers in New York, USA, took to the streets to protest against poor working conditions and low wages. Although the authorities later deployed police to attack and disperse the protest crowd, the protest led to the establishment of the first trade union organization two years later in March.

In the following years, similar protest marches were held almost every year on March 8. This annual celebration continued until 1913.

On August 26-27, 1910, on the eve of the Copenhagen Congress of the Second International, Clara Zetkin chaired the Second International Socialist Women’s Conference as secretary of the International Women’s Secretariat. . Clara Zetkin drafted a "Resolution on the Basic Principles for the Suffrage of Women."

This resolution stipulates that "the class-conscious political organizations and trade unions of the proletariat in various countries unanimously agree that socialist women in all countries should have a festival every year. The main purpose is to help women obtain the right to vote, and it must be in accordance with socialist principles. and to treat women's suffrage demands together with the whole women's question. Women's Day must be international and carefully prepared." The Second International Socialist Women's Conference did not have a separate resolution on the establishment of International Women's Day before 1922. The activities of this festival are highly random.

On March 19, 1911, proletarian women in some European countries held the first event in history to celebrate International Women's Day. Rallies for suffrage were held across Germany, with more than 5,000 male and female workers participating in Berlin alone. Women in Denmark, Austria, Switzerland and other countries also held rallies and marches. More than one million people across the country held various events to celebrate International Women's Day.

Six days later, on March 25, the famous New York Triangle Bra Factory fire broke out in New York. The fire devoured the lives of more than 140 female garment workers, most of whom were Italian and Jewish immigrants. Poor working conditions are believed to be the main reason for such heavy casualties. The fire later had an important impact on American labor legislation. On the eve of the outbreak of World War I, European women also took to the streets on March 8, 1913, to oppose the war by holding peace rallies and other forms.

Between 1912 and 1915, every March 19th, Zetkin published an article in "Equality", the official publication of the International Women's Secretariat, to commemorate International Women's Day. The reason why the celebration of International Women's Day is chosen on this day is to commemorate the uprising of Paris workers and working women against the government troops' attack on the National Guard artillery position on the Montmartre Heights on March 18, 1871. This uprising led to the creation of the Paris Commune.

German International Women's Day poster

The activities to commemorate International Women's Day later proved to be a prelude to the Russian Revolution. During the February Revolution in Russia in 1917, Petrograd female workers responded to the Bolsheviks’ call and held a demonstration to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8 (February 23 in the Russian calendar), demanding “bread and peace” and participated in A strike involving 90,000 male and female workers. Later it developed into an uprising against the imperialist war and the tsarist autocracy, and the tsarist autocracy was overthrown. After the success of the October Revolution, Bolshevik women's rights activist Alexandra Mihalovna Kollontai persuaded Lenin to make March 8 an official holiday. During the Soviet period, "heroic women workers" were commemorated every year on this day.

After the November Revolution in Germany in 1918, the female revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg was murdered by the reactionaries. Therefore, the celebrations of International Women’s Day from 1919 to 1921 were all held on March 5. Today is Luxembourg’s birthday. Lenin's two commemorative articles "Welcoming International Women's Day" and "International Working Women's Day" published in 1920 and 1921 were both written on March 4.

September 9-15, 1921, the Second International Conference of Communist Women was held in Moscow, with 82 representatives from 28 countries attending the meeting. At the meeting, Bulgarian female communists suggested that in order to commemorate the heroic struggle of Russian female workers in the February Revolution of 1917, March 8 of each year should be designated as International Women's Day. The Second International Communist Women's Conference adopted this suggestion and passed a resolution to designate March 8 as International Women's Day.

Since then, proletarian women in various countries have celebrated their festivals in different ways on this day every year.

China’s first public and official celebration of International Women’s Day was in Guangzhou in March 1924, which was the honeymoon period of the first international cooperation. Since the Chinese celebrated International Women's Day for the first time in 1924, the festival has become an important venue for the two parties to lead China's women's movement. "March 8" International Women's Day represents the revolutionary tradition and its special public cultural space as a century-old women's movement in China.

Leaders of the Women’s Movement in China

The Second National Congress of the Communist Party of China held in July 1922 began to pay attention to women’s issues. The "Resolution on the Women's Movement" of the Second National Congress of the Communist Party of China stated that "women's liberation must be accompanied by the liberation of labor. Only when the proletariat gains political power can women be truly liberated." This has since become a consistent guiding principle for the women's movement. [4] Subsequently, Xiang Jingyu served as the first Women’s Minister of the Communist Party of China. In the following years, she led many struggles of female workers in Shanghai. In 1922 alone, she launched 18 strikes among 30,000 female workers in 60 silk factories in Shanghai. However, the strength of women within the Communist Party of China was weak at that time. In June 1922, there were only 4 female party members, and by June 1923, there were only 13 female party members.

The need to establish a broad united front for the women's movement is urgent. In the "Resolution on the Women's Movement" of the Third National Congress of the Communist Party of China in June 1923, it was proposed that "general women's movements such as the feminist movement, political participation movement, abolition of prostitution, etc., "It is also very important" [5], "Female members of our party should guide and unite such movements anytime and anywhere. The slogans should be "the great unity of the national women's movement", "break the old etiquette of slave women", "education equality between men and women", In addition to slogans such as "professional equality between men and women," "women should have the right to inherit inheritance," "freedom for men and women to socialize," "freedom to marry and divorce," "equal wages for men and women," "protection of motherhood," and "sponsoring working women." The two slogans of the national revolutionary movement, "Down with the warlords" and "Down with foreign imperialism," should also be added to guide women, who account for half of the country's population, to participate in the national revolutionary movement." [5]

In the year when the Second National Congress of the Communist Party of China was held, Sun Yat-sen convened a meeting on the improvement of the Kuomintang in Shanghai, reorganized the Kuomintang again, and stipulated the establishment of a "Women's Committee" in the newly revised party platform and general constitution. ” to “investigate the situation of women at home and abroad, and study solutions to domestic women’s problems.” In Guangzhou in early 1924, women had few opportunities for education and employment. According to statistics, there are only over 200 female teachers and female medical staff in the city, and only over 6,000 female students. After the Kuomintang achieved cooperation, along with the vigorous national revolutionary movement, women in Guangzhou, close to Hong Kong and Macao, began to accept the influence of the international women's revolutionary movement. [6] In January 1924, He Xiangning, Minister of the Women's Department of the Central Executive Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang, put forward the proposal of "women are equal in law, economy, and education" at the National Congress of the Kuomintang held in Guangzhou, which was approved by the conference, prompting the " The political platform of the Declaration of the First National Congress of the Chinese Kuomintang clearly stipulates: "Confirm the principle of equality between men and women legally, economically, educationally, and socially to promote the development of women's rights." This established the role of women in all aspects of society. the principle of equal legal status. He Xiangning's status as the most important leader of the women's movement in the early days of the Chinese Kuomintang is unquestionable. During this period, as a party department of the Kuomintang Central Committee, the Women's Department of the Kuomintang also paid attention to "the national revolution is the only way for women to survive" and closely linked women's liberation with national salvation; at this point, the women's work of the two parties of the Kuomintang Have basic political knowledge.

When the first cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Kuomintang was realized, in accordance with the resolutions of the two parties, female Communist Party members and youth league members joined the Kuomintang as individuals and participated in the leadership of the Kuomintang's women's departments at all levels. Xiang Jingyu, Cai Chang, Deng Yingchao, Yang Zhihua and other early leaders of women's work in the Communist Party of China all held leadership positions in the Central Women's Department of the Kuomintang and the women's departments of local party headquarters in Shanghai, Guangdong and other places.

The commemoration of International Women’s Day in Guangzhou in 1924 not only became China’s first public commemoration of March 8th, but also became the united front of the women’s movement in the Kuomintang and the two parties. "International Women's Day has therefore become a grand festival for women to educate, review their own strength and strengthen unity."

In late February 1924, at a meeting of cadres of the Central Women's Department of the Kuomintang, He Xiangning It was proposed to hold a conference to celebrate International Women's Day in Guangzhou, with the Central Women's Department responsible for initiating rallies and demonstrations. After the conference, He Xiangning took charge of the preparations for the commemorative event. On March 3, 1924, Guangzhou Zhixin School gave a special lecture entitled "The Nature of International Women's Day" to introduce the history and significance of Women's Day. This speech can be said to be the first time that a Chinese political party introduced "International Women's Day" to the Chinese public. Festival" concept.

The Australian Women's Movement in 1975

On March 4, 1924, the Women's Department of the Central Committee of the Kuomintang issued a notice in the name of Minister Zeng Xing, calling on women's groups in Guangzhou to hold meetings on March 8 The demonstration was in response to the "Great Unity Demonstration Movement" of women around the world, and representatives were sent to participate in the preparatory meeting held at Zhixin Girls' School on the afternoon of March 5. At 2 pm the next day, hundreds of women representatives from all walks of life in Guangzhou held a preparatory mobilization meeting in the auditorium of Zhixin Girls' School and elected He Xiangning as the chairperson of the meeting. He Xiangning said that the women's demonstration in Guangzhou on March 8 will be the first "March 8" Women's Day commemoration event organized in China, and it is of great significance.

The delegates applauded warmly and offered their suggestions and suggestions for organizing this event. The final decision of the meeting: 1. On March 7, 12 people were sent in cars to distribute leaflets on women’s issues in the main streets of Guangzhou to arouse citizens’ attention and mobilize women from all walks of life to participate in conferences and parades; 2. On March 8 at 11 am A demonstration meeting will be held in the First Park at that time, and the Guangdong Provincial Department of Education and the Guangzhou Municipal Education Bureau are requested to notify all students from provincial and municipal schools to participate; 3. After the meeting, a parade will be held on the streets of the city, and a car team and a speech team will be prepared to accompany it. Ask the Municipal Public Security Bureau to send military police for protection; 4. Determine various banners and slogans, such as "Liberate the status of China's colonies", "Liberate women from the oppression of the capital system", "Demand for women's labor rights, equal education rights, and equal wages." , women’s suffrage and all the rights women deserve”, etc. [6]

"Guangzhou Republic of China Daily" cheered for Guangzhou to commemorate the "March 8th" Festival. On March 5, the newspaper published an article "Celebrating International Women's Day", which introduced in detail the history of "International Women's Day" and the celebration of March 8th in Germany, Britain, Austria and Soviet Russia. On March 6, another commentary titled "Women's Day" was published, pointing out that Chinese women have been subject to "men's power" for thousands of years and "hardly consider themselves human beings." It emphasized that the Kuomintang Central Committee proposed to hold the "March 8th" Women's Day event. The purpose is to raise women's consciousness, get rid of bad habits, and then seek women's "consciousness" and "independence." On March 7, the newspaper also published the "International Women's Day Campaign", announcing the specific time, location and parade route of the National Women's Department of the Central Committee of the Kuomintang in Guangzhou to commemorate the "March 8th" commemoration event, and issued a mobilization order to the majority of women. [6]

On the morning of March 8, 1924, China’s first public event to commemorate the International Women’s Day was held in Guangzhou. A music pavilion was set up in the First Park in the city center. A banner reading "Celebrating International Women's Day" hangs directly above the makeshift stage. Slogans such as "Women demand labor rights" were also posted around the venue. Around 10 o'clock, more than 2,000 students and women from more than 30 schools, including Zhixin School, Normal School, Law and Politics School, Municipal School, Women's Vocational Training Institute, Nanny School, and Tuqiang School, and women from all walks of life participated. The conference officially started at 11 o'clock and was hosted by Shen Huilian, the principal of Guangzhou Industrial School. Afterwards, He Xiangning presided over the conference and delivered a speech, introducing the origin of Women's Day and the significance of commemorating it, describing the various sufferings suffered by women under the oppression of imperialism and feudalism, and encouraging women to resolutely take the "overthrow" Feudalism, overthrow imperialism and women’s path to liberation,” the participants responded with warm applause and slogans. Liao Zhongkai also came to join in the fun and delivered a speech on "The Nature of International Women's Day". Communists such as Qu Qiubai and Yun Daiying were also invited to participate and speak in support of the women's mass movement. The women attending the meeting were enthusiastic, with loud slogans such as "Down with foreign imperialism" and "Elimination of concubinage and polygamy" one after another. [6]

Female militiamen in the suburbs of Guangzhou on Women’s Day in 1951

After the celebration meeting, He Xiangning and Zeng Xing met with the patrol commander Shen Huilian, the chief of staff Tang Yungong, Picket officer Liao Bingjun and others led the participating women from No. 1 Park and marched on the streets on foot. According to the scheduled route, they passed through Jixiang Road, Yuehua Road Governor's Office, Guangren Road Provincial Department of Finance, and Yonghan North Road. The pier turns to the Pearl River Long Beach, Taiping South Road, Yide Road, Weixin Road, and finally returns to the First Park to disband. Along the way, the marchers chanted slogans such as "Down with feudalism," "Down with imperialism," "Protect child laborers and pregnant women," and "Abolish the prostitution system." "For the first time, the demands of Chinese women have been put forward in an all-round way." He Xiangning also organized more than 10 people to distribute conference slogans and leaflets, and sent 27 speech teams to give speeches in factories, theaters and other places to promote the spirit of the conference and inspire the awareness of women. Many women watching the excitement stood on both sides of the street, chanting slogans in response, and some even joined the parade. Many female students also went to other streets in the city to give speeches and distribute leaflets in more than a dozen cars with various flags planted to publicize the significance of commemorating the March 8th Day and seeking women's liberation. [6] Taking this as an opportunity, the women's movement in Guangdong gradually developed, and more and more women joined the torrent of women's liberation and the national revolution. Women participated in the struggle as an important force.

It is of great significance to integrate the struggle for women's rights into the current trend of the times for civil rights. "It is the prelude to the systematic and planned progress of the Chinese women's movement under the same goal and the same strategy."

The Women's Departments of the two parties of the Kuomintang held a series of activities around the "March 8th" International Women's Day in late February and early March 1924, setting the precedent for Chinese people to celebrate International Women's Day. This year, "except for Guangzhou, the women's community elsewhere has never heard of any action on International Women's Day." But since then, "March 8" International Women's Day has spread rapidly among various women's groups in various parts of China, and every year Celebrations continue. On March 8th, 1925, International Women's Day, women representatives from all over the country gathered in Peiping to hold a demonstration to protest against the Duan Qirui government's absurd suffrage regulations that regarded women as non-citizens. On the March 8th International Women's Day in 1926, "especially working women in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hankou, and Tianjin" "launched a large-scale commemorative movement with great vigor." In Yang Zhihua's memories, this year's commemorative activities were not only huge in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, but also went deep into small and medium-sized cities such as Meizhou, Wuzhou, Yibin, Baoding, Youluling, and Pingjiang.

On March 8, 1927, Wuhan was even more lively than ever - 100,000 (some say 200,000) women marched to celebrate International Women's Day. In the 1990s, Huang Dinghui, a Communist Party member with a legendary life experience (called Huang Mulan at the time and minister of the Wuhan Women's Department of the Communist Party of China) said in an oral recollection: "In 1927, I was appointed as the 'March 8' International Women's The director of preparations for the holiday celebrations... On March 8, more than 100,000 women gathered in the central square of the city. We held a meeting first. Many famous figures from the two parties of the Kuomintang came. Song Qingling, He Xiangning and Liu Yazi also came. I was the chairman of the meeting. This was a great honor given to me by the party and the people. This incident made many people still remember me. After the speech, the meeting ended, and then more than 100,000 women marched to the guests. stand and continue marching to the city center."

Although the first cooperation between the Kuomintang and Communist Party failed shortly afterwards, the "March 8th" International Women's Day served as an important education and mobilization site. This tradition has been maintained in the women's work of both parties in the country. In 1932, to celebrate the first "March 8th" International Women's Day after the establishment of the Provisional Central Government of the Soviet Union of China in Ruijin, "a large-scale mass commemorative meeting was held with tens of thousands of people participating." Mao Zedong delivered a speech and " Reviewed the Women's Red Guards in the Soviet Area." After the establishment of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, the annual "March 8th" International Women's Day not only has regular celebrations, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China will also issue targeted documents and instructions in advance, such as the 1938 "Central Committee for the "March 8th" "Instructions to Party Committees at All Levels on March 8th" Day Work", 1941 "Instructions from the Central Committee to Party Committees at All Levels on March 8th" Day Work", and 1943 "Decision on Current Women's Work in Various Anti-Japanese Base Areas", etc. March 8th Festival and the celebrations and commemorative activities surrounding the festival have become an important starting point for the Communist Party of China to issue women's work policies every year, establish a united front for women's work, and mobilize grassroots women to participate in the women's movement; this tradition continues in The New China period has also been well inherited.

As for the Kuomintang, the function of International Women’s Day as an important public event space for mobilizing women has not been followed. Although the Nanjing National Government adopted austerity policies towards the mass women's movement, the March 8th International Women's Day was not only an important holiday, both during the "New Life Movement" and later during the Anti-Japanese War. , is still a loud call to arms. And non-governmental women's organizations have taken advantage of the unique opportunity of "March 8th" International Women's Day to mobilize women to participate in the women's movement in various forms. For example, on "March 8th" International Women's Day in 1931, Women from all walks of life in Nanjing gathered and petitioned the National Government and the Central Party Committee of the Kuomintang, asking the government to set a quota for women to participate in the National Assembly. This event indirectly contributed to the successful election of women representatives to the National Congress in 1936, which was a step forward in the modern Chinese women's political movement. important step.

Stamp "The 70th Anniversary of the March 8th International Women's Day"

Before the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the celebration of the March 8th International Women's Day became a requirement from all walks of life in China" An important site for "stopping the civil war" and "united resistance to Japan". The female writer Xie Bingying once wrote the article "The Troubled 'March 8th Movement'" to commemorate the "128th Movement" in Shanghai during the Songhu Anti-Japanese War in 1932. She and her friends founded the magazine "Women's Light" at their own expense and devoted themselves to the Anti-Japanese War. A demonstration was planned for March 8, but ended up being patrolled and banned on Women's Day. On March 8th Day in 1936, although the government had ordered a ban on gatherings and parades, grand demonstrations were still held in Peiping, Shanghai and other places. The Communist Party of China even organized more than 2,000 women from all walks of life to commemorate the event. At the conference, slogans such as "Women's community unite" were put forward, and a huge demonstration was held after the conference. This was the forerunner of the women's movement in the future national resistance war. During the Anti-Japanese War, various celebrations were held every year on March 8, International Women's Day, whether in Chongqing, Yan'an, Xi'an, Chengdu, or the isolated island of Shanghai. Taking 1940 as an example, “Not only were large cities such as Chongqing, Chengdu, Jinhua, Kunming, Guilin, Guizhou… held enthusiastic rallies to commemorate the March 8th Movement, tens of millions of people marched, and special issues were issued… everywhere Remote villages and towns also held commemorative events to commemorate the March 8th Movement. In order to strive for the victory of the National War of Resistance, women from all over the country unanimously proposed to "implement constitutional government", "anti-Wang Su rape" and "national propaganda". Women's Unity' slogan." "March 8th" International Women's Day is an important venue for the two parties of the Communist Party of China to lead the Chinese women's movement. This is worthy of attention; and the revolutionary and fighting nature behind China's "March 8th" commemoration activities are also worth remembering. . As soon as the Anti-Japanese War ended in 1946, the International Women's Day celebrations on March 8th that year evolved into a stage where the two parties of the Communist Party of China competed for the right to speak and lead the Chinese women's movement.

After 1949, "People's Daily" published an editorial on March 8th International Women's Day every year. Obviously, since the Great Revolution, the tradition of carrying out women's work with the "March 8th" International Women's Day as an important carrier has been well inherited in New China.

On the March 8th International Women's Day in 1951, women's demonstrations were organized in Beijing and Shanghai to protest against the US armed occupation of Japan. In Shanghai, it was said that there were 100,000 people marching. These two marches were on the On the cover of issues 19 and 21 of "New China Women". "These two large-scale women's rallies are the first major women's rallies organized by the Women's Federation of the two places after the founding of the People's Republic of China. Such activities not only show the patriotism of Chinese women, but the intended audience is not just US imperialism. The organizers and participants Anyone who understands this will understand that as single-sex women’s demonstrations, they demonstrate the power of women in New China, and the audience can include all Chinese men and women who still discriminate against women.” Even in New China, for official women’s leadership organizations such as the Women’s Federation, It is still of great significance to use the activities of International Women's Day, a festival with distinct gender attributes, to demonstrate the collective political subject of "new Chinese women".

However, among the people, the political color of the festival gradually weakened and evolved into an opportunity to express respect and love for women, similar to Western Mother's Day and Valentine's Day. To this day, this day is still a legal holiday in Russia, and men give gifts to women to celebrate their holiday. [3]

In Western countries, the commemoration of International Women's Day was held normally during the 1920s and 1930s, but was later discontinued. It was not until the 1960s that it gradually recovered with the rise of the feminist movement. [3]

The selection and commendation activities of the “March 8th Red Flag Bearers” and the “March 8th Red Flag Collective” since 1960 have also included the “New China” symbolized by “female model workers” since the founding of the People’s Republic of China. The image of "Chinese women" has been given a clearer gender attribute. The selection activity of "March 8th Red Flag Bearers (Collective)" began in 1960. On January 29, 1960, "People's Daily" proposed the selection criteria.

The "People's Daily" notice on February 15, 1960 further pointed out that the significance of the competition is that "women across the country must set up ambitions and set high aspirations, and strive to become a socialist who is red, diligent, skillful and thrifty." Working women have made greater contributions to completing and overfulfilling the 1960 national construction plan and building socialism at a high speed. On March 5, 1960, the commemoration "... On March 8th International Women's Day, a broadcast conference was held in Beijing to commend and encourage 10,000 (actually 10,002) "March 8th Red Flag Bearers" (6,305) and "March 8th Red Flag Collectives" (3,697). It is hard for people to imagine the unprecedented grandness of this broadcasting commendation conference. “From the frontier to the inland, from the coast to the mountainous areas, our vast motherland is the venue for the broadcasting conference. More than 120 million women from all ethnic groups and all walks of life attended the conference. ”

Women hold up half the sky

Although affected by the Cultural Revolution, the business work of the All-China Women’s Federation basically stopped during the Cultural Revolution. The People’s Daily stopped publishing “March 8th” in 1967. "Editorial. However, the efforts of China's women's work leaders, led by Kang Keqing and Deng Yingchao, allowed this tradition to be restored in 1973, which was fully consistent with the process of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China rebuilding women's organizations and once again attaching importance to women's work. 1978 On March 4, 2011, the All-China Women's Federation held a symposium in the Great Hall of the People for women from all walks of life in the capital to celebrate International Women's Day. The selection of "March 8th Red Flag Bearers (Collective)" that was interrupted during the Cultural Revolution was resumed in 1979. ——The tradition of "March 8" International Women's Day as an important venue for Chinese women's movement and women's work can be continued since 1924.

The United Nations has celebrated International Women's Day since the International Women's Year in 1975, confirming that. Ordinary women strive for equal participation in society. In 1997, the General Assembly passed a resolution asking each country to select a day of the year to declare as the United Nations Women's Rights and World Peace Day in accordance with its own history and national traditions. The initiative led to the establishment of a national legal framework for the realization of gender equality and raised public awareness of the urgent need to improve the status of women in all aspects. [3]

Holiday content

Official holiday.

In December 1949, the Government Affairs Council of the Central People's Government of China designated March 8 as Women's Day every year [7] According to the "National Holidays and Anniversary Holidays" issued by the State Council of China (State Council Order No. No. 270) Article 3: Women’s Day (March 8) is a holiday and anniversary for some citizens, and women have a half-day holiday.

The United Nations started in 1975 as the International Women’s Year, every year in March. Activities were held on the 8th to celebrate International Women's Day, which has become a commemorative day of the United Nations. Some people wore purple ribbons to celebrate this day.

In Afghanistan, Angola, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. , Burkina Faso, Belarus, Cuba, Georgia, Guinea-Bissau, Bissau, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Macedonia, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Moldova, Madagascar, Vietnam , Zambia and other countries, this day is an official holiday

In some countries, such as Cameroon, Croatia, Chile, Romania, this day is not a public holiday, but it still receives widespread attention on this day. It is customary to give flowers and gifts to female friends, mothers, wives, girlfriends, daughters, female colleagues, etc.

In Armenia, International Women’s Day was abandoned after the collapse of the Soviet Union. 4 The official holiday of "Beauty and Motherhood" is March 7. The new holiday quickly became popular among Armenians, as it commemorates one of the main festivals of the Armenian Church, the Annunciation. However, people still observe International Women's Day on March 8. celebration. Thematic public discussions in Armenia led to the recognition of the so-called "Women's Month", the period between the two "Women's Days" March 8 and April 7.

In Italy, to celebrate this day, men give women yellow mimosas. Yellow mimosas and chocolates are also among the most common March 8 gifts in Russia and Albania.

In many countries such as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Colombia, Estonia, Hungary, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine , Brazil, Kazakhstan, Serbia, Russia and other countries. Women also receive gifts from their employers. Schoolchildren often bring gifts for their female teachers. In countries like Portugal and Italy, women usually celebrate the evening of March 8 with a "women-only" dinner and party.

Women working in the formal and informal sectors of Pakistan celebrate International Women's Day every year to commemorate their struggle for their legitimate rights despite facing many cultural and religious restrictions. Some women in society use International Women's Day to advance and help the feminist movement. In Poland, for example, every International Women's Day is covered by large feminist demonstrations in major cities.

In 2005, the 2005 British Trade Union Congress (conference) unanimously passed a resolution calling for International Women’s Day to be celebrated.

Under the influence of the industrial revolution, advanced women broke through the feudal shackles since the Middle Ages. , go into society and have the same social weight as men. However, the emerging male-dominated politicians still looked down upon women, so they began to fight for equal rights.