The celebration of women’s history was first officially established in the United States by a Congressional resolution in 1981, which established a Women’s History Week that later expanded to the whole month of March! Prior to that, women were honored in classrooms - like in Sonoma, California, where the local school district organized a weeklong celebration of women’s contributions to culture and history - and through a 1980 proclamation by President Jimmy Carter to designate the week of March 8th as “National Women’s History Week.” But why is March Women’s History Month? This ties back to the establishment of International Women’s Day, which has been observed in some places since the early 20th century but gained widespread recognition in 1977, after modern feminist movements encouraged the United Nations to adopt the holiday.

International Women’s Day, perhaps surprisingly, has its roots in the socialist and labor movements of the 1900s. The Socialist Party of America established a women’s celebration in February of 1909. This recognition of women’s contributions spread to countries in Europe like France and Germany. In the year 1917, a Russian woman named Alexandra Kollantai led a demonstration of women working in the garment industry that began on March 8th. This protest called for an end to World War I, as well as the removal of the czar, and marked the beginning of the movements comprising the Russian Revolution. Because of the essential role this women’s movement played in Russia’s political revolution, Vladimir Lenin declared March 8th as “Women’s Day” in the Soviet Union. As the USSR’s influence spread, International Women’s Day became widely celebrated in socialist nations. Later, feminist movements in the 1960s discovered the holiday and promoted its adoption, while also advocating for equal economic opportunities, antidiscrimination legislation, reproductive rights, and more. The UN recognized International Women’s Day in 1977 as an official holiday, and also began in 1996 to commemorate the day with a theme that highlights the achievements of women, their role in society, or specific hardships that women may disproportionately face. 2022’s IWD theme was “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow!”

Today, International Women’s Day has become somewhat commercialized, as corporations sponsor the holiday and social media movements seem to take the spotlight away from the problems that women continue to face worldwide. Some argue that rather than giving female employees flowers or posting a photo of your red lipstick, a la the “Rock the lip” campaign, IWD should focus on highlighting the reforms we should be pursuing to make meaningful changes in the lives of women. Don’t forget that, upsettingly, women still make on average 82 cents for every dollar a man makes, and more than one third of all women will face domestic violence at some point in their lives. For women in STEM (like our fellow SWEsters!), there continue to be gaps in engagement, especially when it comes to technical roles in these industries.

In general, celebrations like International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month are a great time to celebrate the individual women in your life, but also to advocate for women all around the world. Supporting women also doesn’t have to be limited to IWD or the month of March - we should strive for the advancement of women every day!