Ladies, make sure to mark your calendars for March 8th  because it’s Women’s Day! 

   Women’s Day is a national celebration of what all women have gone through. It is celebrated on March 8th and began in New York in 1857. On that day, female textile workers marched in protest against unfair working conditions and unequal rights for women. 

   The idea of women’s day was organized by two women named Luise Zietz and Clara Zetkin. They were the people who proposed the idea of an annual day for women. An estimated 3 million people participated in the women’s day march and over 5 million worldwide spoke up against it.     

   Woman’s day is essential because it’s a day to showcase and appreciate women for all they have gone through. For example, women in the ’60s were shamed for working and had to devote their lives to working around the house, women also only became able to vote in 1919. I think that is pretty deserving of a national holiday. But, even nowadays women still go through tons of struggles, for example, the idea of the “Pink Tax.” Pink tax is an unfair standard that applies to women. When products are marketed towards women, or products are pink they tend to be more expensive than the regular product displayed despite being the same. Even nowadays in most states, there have been no laws past against it and it’s an everyday struggle. Women also are responsible for our population and have to go through an abundance of pain just to grow our world, so I think it would be a good idea to buy your mom some flowers this upcoming March 8th.  

   Of course, some women stood out and were a big part of women’s history during a time like the 60s. For example, these women include Rita Moreno, Dolores Huerta, and Gloria Steinem. 

   Rita Moreno was influential because while acting her iconic role in “West Side Story” she was mistreated by staff. Makeup artists would make her darker,  and she also felt as if her accent didn’t make sense. Some lyrics she was asked to sing were also seen as offensive toward Puerto Ricans, so she spoke up about it and of course, the lyrics were changed. Ever since then, she has continued to speak up about hate crimes towards the Latino community which makes her influential as she encouraged others to speak up by doing so.

   Dolores Huerta was another important figure in woman’s history. She is a civil rights activist for labor workers, Mexican-American Immigrants, and LGBTQ+ populations. Her origin as an activist started in 1955 when she co-founded the Stockton chapter of the Community Service Organization. In 1965 Huerta helped organize the “Delano strike” which 5,000 grape workers attended, she was also a lead negotiator in the workers’ contract that followed. Huerta has continued to speak up and break stereotypes and unfair boundaries to this day which is why she’s so influential.

   Last but not least, Gloria Steinem was also a big help during the 60s, she is an American journalist and social-political activist. In 1969, she published an article titled, “After Black Power, Women’s Liberation”, which was the start of her glory. But she didn’t stop after that, ever since then her career has been growing. A few examples of things she did include when she co-founded the National Women’s Political Caucus in 1971 which provides support and training for women who reach for appointed offices in government, 1971 when she co-founded the Women’s Action Alliance which helped support a network of feminist activists, and in 2005  she was able to cofound the Women’s Media Center with the help of Jane Fonda, and Robin Morgan. This organization helps make women visible and powerful in the media. Even recently for example like in 2018, Steinem has continued to protest and help women get treated more fairly.

  Now that you know more about Women’s day and were educated on a small insight into woman’s history do you see it any differently and do you feel empathy towards these women who had to fight for equality? And, to all the women reading this on March 8th, I wish you the happiest Women’s Day, you deserve it.