- Share This Post
- submit
- 1
-
Sparkle (0)
"Hey, I just found out today is International Women's Day," Julie, my friend since the 4th grade, emailed me on Sunday. "Why don't I feel more special today?" Although International Women's Day was founded in the US nearly 100 years ago, many Americans these days are as unaware of the event as my generally wise and politically savvy friend. However, women all over the world celebrated the day in different ways.
Clarisel at Puerto Rico Sun explains that "International Women's Day is a major day of global celebration for the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future," and urges people to check out the International Women's Day posts collected at Bloggers Unite. I took her advice, and found a trove of wonderful posts. The Philipina Mom in Denmark wrote a thoughtful post about how she worked with a coalition of people in Copenhagen to fight human trafficking, and how in the Philipines, people are recognizing the important role women play in nation building through their economic contributions. Tekkaus used the day to pay homage to her mother, grandmother, and "ll the women who have sacrificed their whole lives for their families." I didn't need to understand Portugese to get the cartoon featured at Blogatadas, and urge people to check it out for an ironic, knowing smile. Capiche, indeed!
Last year, Michelle Fabio at Bleeding Espresso urged readers to check out her post from 2007 on how Italians mark International Women's Day:
It’s called la Festa della Donna, and it’s the day when women of all ages are honored with dinners, girls’ nights out, auguris, and, of course, flowers–in particular, the exploding-with-joy yellow mimosa, the international symbol of the day.
We have a few mimosa trees in the piazza here and normally they’re in bloom just in time for March 8, but this year’s mild winter had them full of yellow in January, and so now, sadly there are no more mimosa.
I did not know that there was an international symbol of the day (I assumed it was an unofficial raised fist type of logo), or what a mimosa was (other than a drink with champange and orange juice, which I suppose is a nice way to toast the day). Fortunately, Michelle has a picture of a gorgeous tree in full bloom from January 2007, and also a snapshot of the flowers from last year. (It's gray and cold in New York City today as I write this post, so I am basking in both of her photos.)
This year, Deb on the Rocks engaged in a hilarious discussion with a friend why more women in the US are not all over this important holiday:
Her: Damn, it's hard to get people excited about this day. I guess because it's sandwiched in between Mardi Gras and St. Patrick's Day. Mardi Gras is a tough act to swallow. Um, follow.
Me: Yeah, maybe Women's Day needs it's own drink. Like instead of green beer. Maybe Bloody Marys?
Her: That sounds, I don't know, messy. Maybe something more positive. Something that says "I'm a strong woman of the world, hear me roar!"
.....
Me: I think people are just afraid International Women's Day is a lesbian holiday where we try to convert all of the straight women into our clutches.Her: Well isn't it?
Me: True. We get a toaster oven for each one. It's like Appliance Red Rover. Except you never seem to want to be toasted, you are still cooking over a campfire the old fashioned way.
Her: I don't think I have the confidence to carry off being a lesbian.
Me: You mean the sex, the oppression or the haircut?
Her: All of it.
Me: See, that's a myth. It's a Catch-22. Because being a lesbian gives you confidence. Why do you think so many men walk around so ballsy? Because after you can seduce a woman and unlock the code that makes her come, you know you can do anything.
Her: That makes sense. You don't get much confidence just from doing a man. It's kind of like flipping a grilled cheese sandwich. The first time you're like, wow, I made a grilled sandwich, but after that, not too tricky.
...
Me: Huh? I'm still hungry. Want to split some pancakes for dessert? We can see if the cook can make them in the shape of the woman sign if it will make you happy. There is nothing I want more than for you to
