PianoWow

Today is known around the world as International Women’s Day. It was first celebrated as a national holiday in the US in 1909. Later, in 1911, the UN created International Women’s Day. It gained popularity in 1913-1917 when women used it to gather together and protest World War I, among other things. On March 8, 1917, the women’s protest in Russia was a crucial catatlyst for change that led to many events in the Russian Revolution, including the last Czar of Russia, Nicholas II, abdicating the throne. The date March 8 was officially established around the world in 1921 to honor the women who took part in the Russian Revolution’s history.

Ironically, it is not celebrated in the US currently, despite the fact that we are the country that began the celebration of the fairer sex. It may have lost popularity because the Socialist Party suggested it as a national holiday to begin with. As the cold war began after WWII, all things socialist/communist and anything associated with these ideas were strictly avoided and prohibited. I imagine, tragically, that women’s day was lost in the mix of things that were rejected at that time. This is of course pure speculation.

Britannica suggests that the success of the women’s suffrage movement led to the decline in popularity. But there was a small resurgance during the growth of feminism in the 1960′s. [Reference] This seems a more reasonable conclusion.

I sent an email out to most all the women I know today with a picture of roses and a message explaining the holiday for those that had not heard of it before. To the men out there, it’s the least you could do!