International Women's Day 2023
Please don't make me put on a morning tea.
My earliest memories of anything related to International Women’s Day (March 8) is my father getting flowers for my mother, every year. This was an extreme rarity, as my father never so much as acknowledges my mother’s birthday or other significant days in her life (it’s a Balkan thing). But IWD is different, it seems.
At around 13 or 14 years old, I asked my mother why this was. Having been born and raised in Tito’s socialist Yugoslavia, a strong ethic on equal workforce participation was spread among the masses. As IWD started from the labour movement in the USA and then Europe, specifically regarding the workforce participation of women and the demand for pay parity, and abolition of labour exploitation. And it has since morphed to include the celebration of other socio-economic and political gains made by successive women, and women’s movements. But at its core, it remains (for our Balkan culture, at least) as way to highlight the contribution of women in the family, community and society at large, and also as a reminder of the significant work that remains to achieve the initial goal of the IWD pioneers.
By virtue of my feminist ethical framework, structural global lens and socialist Yugoslav blood (nature AND nurture there), I am naturally cynical about the ongoing corporate commodification of IWD, and remain skeptical that the (women-organised) morning teas that are put on for such events are anything more than a HR checkbox for “inclusivity” and “creating an equal opportunity workplace culture”. So to commemorate IWD 2023, I’ll instead share links here of some works I’ve found for today that are thought-provoking.
Happy International Women’s Day! Unfortunately you still earn $1m less than men - Greg Jericho, The Guardian
‘Keep working like nothing is wrong’: women make the case for paid menstrual leave - Benita Kovolos, The Guardian
You can stick your cupcake: Backlash to International Women’s Day is here - Jacqueline Maley, Sydney Morning Herald
Abortion as homicide, no exceptions to save women’s lives, and the death penalty for women who have abortions - Jill Filipovic
Unable to breastfeed my baby due to cancer, I was made to feel like a failure - Na’ama Carlin, The Guardian
Please share any of your finds in the comments below!