My International Women’s Day Story
I first heard about IWD on March 9th, 2012, one day too late to observe it. I was curious and spent time online finding out what the day was about and how it’s celebrated around the world. It’s FASCINATING to me that this day originated in the United States in 1909. I bet you could do a survey of 100 people and zero would know about it, or they’ve only heard about it recently and don’t really care. Well I do care and I promised myself that I’d be ready for it the following year.
Sure enough on March 8th, 2013 about 4:00 PM, I saw a Facebook post that reminded me that I was missing yet another IWD. DRATS!
Last year, I was bound and determined not to miss it. The question I faced was how was I going to celebrate the day?
- From my first year of online research I learned that IWD is kind of like Mother’s Day in other countries. Men and children bring women flowers and presents to honor them. This was verified last year when I asked my friend from Bosnia if she celebrated International Women’s Day. Her eyes lit up as she told me about it.
- Another way for women to observe the day is by crossing a bridge together to symbolize unity.
- One suggestion was to spend the day watching movies about POWERFUL women.
- I also saw something about wearing lipstick.
Well, I seldom wear makeup and I’m most certainly not going to cross a bridge alone, so I thought about what the day means to me and how I might observe it.
I wanted to make sure to honor both women’s strength and femininity.
The Plan
#1 Look Back
Think about the progress other women and men have made in women’s rights and be thankful for the opportunities available to me to choose who and what I want to be.
I bought the book Heroes for My Daughter by Brad Meltzer to look at with my girls to accomplish #1.
#2 Look Around
My budget for the day was tiny. I planned for my daughters and I to celebrate the day by doing something a little girly (going out to eat and possibly a small shopping trip, like a necklace from Claire’s.)
We got a late start and the day didn’t go exactly as planned. We ended up eating at the mall and then grabbing a small bouquet of flowers. We divided it three ways and delivered flowers to a few women we wanted to honor. I enjoyed that part the most.
#3 Look Forward Personally and Globally
My goal for #3 was for the girls and I to pick a cause to support for the year. There are so many worthy causes and I liked the idea of giving myself permission to change causes on IWD each year. #FAIL
Besides a cause to support, I also thought it would be a good idea for my girls and I to set a personal challenge or goal to help us grow for the year. Also #FAIL.
I didn’t expect the year to go by so quickly. I’ll give it another shot this year.
The New Plan
I’m glad I was able to do a little something last year, but I hope to meet last year’s goals and mark the day in a grander way this time around.
I would love to cross a bridge with a group of women, but there aren’t any local bridge crossings and so I hope to gather some of my favorite girls and women together. In my mind and hopefully in reality, we’ll eat yummy food and have meaningful conversations about how blessed we are and how we might make a difference for women in our country who are struggling and elsewhere that don’t have the same opportunities we have.
There is much to be done, to quote my friend Bill Cumming, “in order to have a world that works for everyone.”
So what about you? What might you do on March 8th to celebrate or honor the women in your life or to help further not only women’s rights but human rights? Will you let the day pass with indifference or will you make a plan to make a difference? Maybe a good starting point this year is sharing this post. Next year, you can up the action by getting together with some friends or spending the day with your daughter and telling her a little bit about how blessed she is to be a woman in the 2000’s as opposed to the 1800’s or early to mid 1900’s. Perhaps the following year, we’ll be walking across a bridge together somewhere. I look forward to that day.
