Women's Day: why is it celebrated?

Did you know that Women's Day isn't actually a celebration ?

Although it is commonly called “women's day”, March 8 is actually a day that serves to remember the social, economic and political achievements of women and the discrimination and violence to which they have been and are still subjected in many parts of the world. It is a day of reflection and remembrance, which is why the correct way to indicate it is International Women's Day.

It is not true that this anniversary was established in memory of a fire that occurred in a New York factory that killed hundreds of female workers in 1908, nor to remember the harsh repression of a workers' demonstration in 1857, which was mainly female.

International Women's Day was established following strikes and worldwide demonstrations in the early 1900s. Thanks to the struggles of the feminist movement, in 1977 the United Nations decided to promote this day and invited all member states to celebrate it.

How do we experience March 8th in Italy?

Mimosas are definitely given as gifts . It is an all-Italian tradition, the yellow sprig was proposed as a symbol of the day at the end of the Second World War by Teresa Mattei , Rita Montagna and Teresa Noce , three former partisans. A common flower was needed, easy to find, that was not particularly expensive and the mimosa was perfect.

mimosa

In the province of Verona, women have free access to the Parco Giardino Sigurtà from 7 to 8 March, the park won the award for the most beautiful park in Italy in 2013 and the second most beautiful park in Europe in 2015.

Covid permitting, feminist marches and protests are held. The movement that in Italy is characterized as a protagonist in this is Non una di meno, which for this year is organized online, their voices are raised against all forms of male and gender violence, including the exploitation of domestic, care and relationship work, which the health emergency has not interrupted but intensified.

fuchsia