What You Should Be Doing This International Women's Week

Happy International Women’s Week! Didn't get the memo? Don’t worry; you’re not the only one. In fact, a large portion of the population is entirely unaware that there is an International Women’s Day yearly on March 8th. Given the lack of awareness of month-long holidays like Black History month, and week-long holidays like this one, it makes me wonder if there is any point in observing them.

Perhaps the reason for all the doubt is because I personally believe that every day should be a celebration of both my African heritage and my womanhood. But that just sounds like a well-rehearsed and predictable statement. Nonetheless, I believe it is important to observe the festivities and pay homage to the women and men that have pushed The Women’s Movement forward and also to acknowledge that globally, there is still much work to be done.

102 years ago, the first commemoration of International Women’s Day took place in four countries: Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Denmark. The day was March 19^th, and it attracted a whopping one million women AND men’s participation in public events commemorating women.

I can’t say that I’ve seen such wide-scale participation of either Black History month or International Women’s week in my lifetime, leading me to ponder whether or not these types of holidays are outdated.

Maybe “outdated” is a little harsh, but a lot less harsh than my idea of using “irrelevant”. Truthfully, it seems that  after moving on from elementary school and high school, we become out of the loop with certain celebrations, simply because we aren’t being instructed to produce a piece of art that will be hung in the auditorium to be seen by all during the assembly, or to memorize “In Flanders Fields” every November. Heck, we wouldn’t even remember half the significant days that exist if they weren’t on our calendar, or didn’t call for some extra creativity on Google’s homepage from time to time.

So how can we make sure that these celebrations, undeniably worth being observed, are properly celebrated? More importantly, how do we change the notion of them being outdated?

Firstly, we have to recognize the lack of freedom that still exists. The recent gang and bus rapes taking place in India and Pakistan, and a long list, too long, of other countries are testament enough. Despite the image of freedom plastered all over the western world, we are forgetting about our counterparts in other countries and must use this week as a platform to reach out to them, and definitely to call attention to the injustices that happen frequently to these poor and innocent victims whose rapists are often freed, or subjected to minimal punishment.

We should also keep an eye out for the events that take place internationally; believe it or not the list is very extensive. Community centers, women’s centers and universities, especially, often have guest speakers and lecturers that come in to have discussions or panel events. Attending these functions allow you not only to learn a thing or two and hear inspirational stories, but to interact with women and men that are part of a larger cultural movement; one that will arrive society at a more equal place; so we hope.

Also, it is important to take individual action. For me, writing a five-day blog with specialized topics including abuse, girl-on-girl violence, sexual ambiguity, and how women have changed the world is my contribution. Surely it won’t reach the masses, but this is me reaching out to my community to draw attention to the severely underrated and under-celebrated event. Spending time doing some research about different people involved in The Women’s Movement, looking up different laws that exist around reproductive rights and sexual self-government, and how those laws have changed and evolved over time adds to our general knowledge about these holidays-which to me, is kind of the point.

Lastly, we can participate by accepting the mere fact that the objective of these holidays, like Black History Month and International Women’s Week (and day), are simply to bring awareness. And since there is such a heightened need for awareness about these things precisely, they will not grow to be outdated and most certainly not irrelevant anytime in the near future.

So get out there, reach out to your community, and most importantly; try and learn a thing or two. Also, stay tuned for the next four blogs coming up that are guaranteed to ignite a fiery conversation.

A Happy International Women’s Week to you, men and women alike, and may you be inspired by something because of it.