Women Presence

Today, 08 March 2008 is International Women’s Day and is a global celebration for the achievements of women.

The first IWD was observed on 28 February 1909 in the US. A couple of years later, a fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in NYC killed 140 women.

Others say, the celebration starts much earlier in 1857 when women from clothing and textile factories staged a protest on 8 March in New York City. The workers were protesting against very poor working conditions and low wages. The protesters were attacked and dispersed by police. Two years later, these women established their first labor union.

The first international women's conference was held in Copenhagen in 1910. An 'International Women's Day' was established led by a German Socialist named Clara Zetkin. Next year, celebrations attracted over a million people in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland.

On the eve of World War I, women across Europe held peace rallies on 8 March 1913. In the West, International Women's Day was commemorated during the 1910s and 1920s. The rise of feminism led to bigger IWD celebrations in the 60s. Remember Jane Fonda?

Photo of Russian poster on IWD from Wikipedia. The red text reads: “8th of March is the day of the rebellion of the working women against the kitchen slavery". The grey text in lower right reads: “Say NO to the oppression and Babbittry of the household work!"

Last 2005, the McCann Erickson team in Vietnam organized a special event on IWD. It was a photo exhibit of Doan Duc Minh’s photos featuring women. The Exhibit was held for one week at the agency’s offices at 429 Vo Van Tan Street, District 3, HCMC. It was a fund-raising project that raised around US$2,000 for poor Vietnamese families.


Today, celebrations are spread across the globe. IWD local events can be viewed at www.internationalwomensday.com

Plus there is a celebration in Granwood Villas, somewhere in BF Homes Quezon City as it is also the birthday of a special woman friend, Marivic Pareja (seen in photo with her husband, Cesar Pareja during the taping of Mel & Joey at home). Marivic is our good friend for many years, even back when she and Cesar were still dating while Cesar was preparing for his bar exams. She would probably remember Puerto Galera?

Cheers to all the women in the world, specially blogosphere.