Seattle’s International Women’s Day 2010
Mar 3, 2010, Vol: 17, No: 10
The year 2010 marks at least two important anniversaries in the modern struggle for women’s rights: the 100th official year of International Women’s Day, and the 10th anniversary of the World March of Women 2000. While both of these landmarks offer something to celebrate in terms of women working together to improve the conditions of their lives, they also serve as reminders of the continuing and often repetitive work that remains to be done in the fight for equality and justice.
On the surface, we live in a very different world from that which faced women on that first International Women’s Day. The tireless work of women activists and their supporters has earned women in many countries the right to vote, to own property, to sign contracts, to receive equal pay for equal work, and to control their own reproduction.
Yet to many of us, the issues that confronted society on that first International Women’s Day sound frighteningly familiar. A century later, the gap between rich and poor continues to widen, as technology that once promised to free us from labor has only succeeded in freeing us from jobs. Eighty percent of humanity worldwide lives on less than $10 a day. Women on the whole earn 75 cents for the same work for which men earn a dollar. This inequality is even worse for women of color. Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women – even with most cases not reported. Half of the women killed in 2005 were killed by former boyfriends or husbands. Here in the Pacific Northwest, 180,000 women live in poverty. The rights won by labor unions in the early 1900s are under siege. The right to control our own reproduction won by Roe v. Wade is under siege. In many states even the right to birth control is under siege.
Endless war and a heavily militarized society are increasingly accepted as inevitable. Legislators constantly threaten cutbacks in already bare-bones education and social service budgets, while an atmosphere of fear and false patriotism demands unquestioned military spending.
International Women’s Day was born out of the picket lines of striking garment workers and the unrelenting vigils of suffragists demanding the vote (not won until 1920). Activists staged Women’s Day demonstrations in U.S. cities in 1908 and 1909, and, in 1910, the International Conference of Socialist Women in Copenhagen, Denmark, declared an annual International Women’s Day.
When Seattle activists joined 8,000 others for the first World March of Women, in 2000, both at the U.S. march in Washington, D.C. and in the international march in New York, they were inspired by the energy and optimism of those who had traveled around the globe but disappointed and frustrated by the dearth of U.S. participants.
The World March of Women has renewed its call to action in 2010, asking women everywhere to raise their voices in opposition to poverty, violence against women and children, and war and militarization. From March to October, WMW events will span the globe, leading up to an international march in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This time, Seattle will be one station in the worldwide protest.
Joining the call of the World March of Women for the “globalization of solidarity,” and joining a century of women marching for human rights and justice, a broad coalition of women from many different Seattle communities has worked together to plan an exciting schedule of protest, solidarity, and celebration for the week of International Women’s Day 2010. Organizers hope that activists looking for energy and hope will attend many of these events to gain a more rounded picture of the exciting work being done throughout our communities.
We join sisters around the globe in saying, “We will have an end to violence and poverty, right here.” We join sisters around the globe in continuing the work of our foremothers to create a new world, based on peace, justice, equality, freedom and solidarity.
Visit “Seattle International Women’s Day 2010” on Facebook for more information and to see the inspiring list of dozens of endorsers. They represent hundreds of stubbornly optimistic, widely diverse local activists, persistently working for a better world. The motto on our page sums it up: “Change Womens’ Lives To Change the World!! Change the World to Change Womens’ Lives!!”
Tina Gianoulis (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)) is a middle-aged lesbian of Greek and Southern heritage who’s lived in the Seattle area for 35 years. She makes her living as a handyperson and a freelance writer.
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