O International Women's Day is a commemorative date that was made official by United Nations Organization in the 1970s. This date symbolizes the women's historic struggle to have their conditions equated with those of men. Initially, this date referred to the claim for equal pay, but currently it symbolizes the women's struggle not only against wage inequality, but also against sexism and violence.
Accessalso: Feminism in Brazil - the evolution of this movement in our country
History of International Women's Day
International Women's Day exists, as a commemorative date, as a result of women's struggle through demonstrations, strikes, committees, etc. This political mobilization, throughout the 20th century, gave importance to the 8th of March as a moment of reflection and struggle. The construction of this date is related to a succession of events.
One first story who became well known as the founder of that day, narrates that, on March 8, 1857, 129 workers died charred in a fire that occurred on the premises of a textile factory in the city of Nova York. Supposedly, this fire would have been intentional, caused by the factory owner, as a form of repression extreme to strikes and uprisings of the workers, that is why he would have locked his employees in the factory and set fire to in them. This story, however, is
fake and therefore the 8th of March is not connected with it.There is, however, another story that goes back to a fire that actually happened in New York, on March 25, 1911. This fire happened at Triangle Shirtwaist Company and victimized 146 people, 125 women and 21 men, most of the dead Jews. This story is considered one of the milestones for the establishment of Women's Day.
The causes of this fire were the terrible electrical installations associated with the composition of the soil and the the factory and also the large amount of fabric present in the premises, which served as fuel for the fire. In addition, some factory owners at the time, including Triangle's, locked their employees in the factory during working hours as a way to contain riots and strikes. The moment Triangle caught fire, the doors were locked.
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Influence of the labor movement
The event in New York is significant, as it highlighted the precariousness of work in the context of Industrial Revolution. This, however, cannot erase the influence of the workers' struggle and political movements organized by women. Therefore, it is important to state that International Women's Day was not created by the influence of a tragedy, but by decades of women's political engagement for the recognition of its cause.
In 1910, in the city of Copenhagen, the II International Congress of Socialist Women, which was supported by the Communist International. In this event, clearZetkin, a member of the German Communist Party, proposed the creation of an International Women's Day, without, however, stipulating a specific date.
This proposal was the result both of feminism, which was rising at that time, and of leftist revolutionary currents, such as the communism it's the anarchism. Clara Zetkin was engaged in campaigns that defended the women's rights in the labor field. Her proposal was intended to enable the labor movement to pay greater attention to the cause of working women.
The 1911 fire was to be suggested, in the US, as a symbolic women's day (as suggested by Clara Zetkin). Most movements demanded improvements in working conditions in factories and, therefore, the granting of labor rights and electoral (among others) for women.
Several protests and strikes had already taken place in Europe and the United States since the second half of the 19th century. The feminist movement and other women's associations capitalized on these manifestations, in order to sometimes fit them into the revolutionary agenda. That's what happened on March 8, 1917, in Russia.
The year 1917, in Russia, was strongly marked by revolutionary cycle that overthrew the tsarist monarchy. In this climate of revolutionary agitation, women workers in the weaving sector went on strike on March 8, and demanded the help of workers in the metalworking sector. This date went down in history as a great feat of working women and also as a harbinger of Bolshevik Revolution.
International Women's Day
After Second World War, March 8th gradually became the main symbol of homage to women (due to the Russian strike). Since then, the event of the fire in New York, which occurred on the 25th, was also associated with the month of March, as previously narrated.
Starting in the 1960s, the March 8 commemoration had become traditional, but it was officialized by the UN only in 1975, when this organization declared the International Year of Women, as an action aimed at combating gender inequalities and discrimination around the world. As part of these efforts, March 8 was made International Women's Day.
Accessalso: What is feminism?
Importance of Women's Day
International Women's Day is not a mere day devoted simply to trivial tributes to women, but is about an invitation to reflection regarding how our society treats them. This reflection is valid both for the field of affective, family and social interactions, as well as for issues related to the labor market.
Numerous studies prove that women still suffer from the labor market inequality in relation to men. The presence of women in the labor market is still smaller than that of men, since data from 2018 point out that, in the world, only 48% of women over 15 years of age are employed - for men, this number is 75%|1|.
Currently, less than 70% of men agree that many women prefer to work rather than stay at home taking care of housework. Women still suffer losses in the labor market as they become pregnant, since the number of women who drop out of the their work for their children reaches 30%, while only 7% of men leave their jobs for the same reason|2|.
To make this situation worse, half of women who become pregnant lose their jobs when they return from maternity leave|3| and still, in the 21st century, there are those who defend that women should earn less, simply because they can get pregnant. This is even a reality in Brazil, as women receive, on average, 20% less than men|4|.
All these statistics demonstrate how the gender bias harms women in the labor market. Women, however, do not only have their lives impaired in the labor market, since the gender violence, O abandonment that many suffer from their partner during pregnancy and harassment these are realities that many women suffer from.
March 8 is a day for reflection on all the inequality and violence that women suffer in Brazil and in the world. It's a time for fight silencing that exists and that normalizes inequality and violence suffered by women, in addition to being a time for rethinkattitudes and trying to build a society free from inequality and gender bias.
Grades
|1| Participation of women in the labor market remains lower than that of men, says ILO. To access, click on here.
|2| Research shows that 30% of women leave work because of their children; men are 7%. To access, click on here.
|3| Half of pregnant women are fired upon returning from maternity leave. To access, click on here.
|4| IBGE research shows that women earn less in all occupations. To access, click on here.
By Daniel Neves and Cláuldio Fernandes
History Teachers
