International Women’s Day

Andrea Valentino, Co News and Special Projects Editor

Annually, March 8th marks International Women’s Day. This global holiday is celebrated to empower women and to commemorate their cultural, political, and socioeconomic achievements. International Women’s Day was first celebrated in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland on March 19th, 1911, when over one million women and men participated in rallies for women’s rights to work, vote, and hold public office, in hopes of ending gender-based discrimination. In 1913, International Women’s Day was given its official date. Today, this holiday is celebrated and dedicated to raising awareness about women’s equality, reproductive rights, and violence against women. International Women’s Day is a reminder that although a lot has been achieved for women’s equality, much more needs to be accomplished in order to establish gender parity.  

The colors of International Women’s Day are purple, green, and white. Purple is meant to represent justice, while green is associated with hope and white symbolizes purity. This year’s campaign theme is “Choose to Challenge.” This slogan encourages all women and men to call out gender bias and inequality in order to establish a more inclusive world. According to the World Economic Forum, gender parity will not be achieved for almost a century; therefore, International Women’s Day is, and will continue to be, a necessary holiday. In order to show your support and solidarity for attaining gender equality, you can take a photo of yourself raising your hand high to show your devotion to challenging gender bias. From there, share it to social media platforms using #ChooseToChallenge #IWD2021.