March 8th is International Women’s Day

And don’t say “Hallmark” unless you want Marx to do a backflip in his grave:

In 1908, 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights. In accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America, the first National Woman’s Day (NWD) was observed across the United States on 28 February.

International Women’s Day is still a national holiday in many European countries and the US. The United Nations has pledged in 2007 to “end impunity for violence against women and girls” and has a site devoted to it, including a list of facts about female infanticide, sex trafficking, domestic violence, sexual abuse & rape, FGM (female genital mutilation), systematic rape as a weapon in war, and the links between HIV infection and violence against women.

Oy - just writing that list is depressing. Yet that’s the unvarnished truth of many, many women’s lives around the world.

One of the reasons I started this blog was because I realized so many people are unaware of what life is like for people, especially women, outside their immediate vicinity. How can that be, in this age of information? I suspect “information overload” is involved; saturated, we begin to tune out those things we feel we cannot affect or control.

Well, no need to be a Negative Nelly (or a Cynical Cindy). A little goes a long way, and we can do it if we work together. Just keep swimming…just keep swimming…

How can we help make the world a better place for women?

• Donate money to a charity of your choice that assists women or children.
• To really feel it, donate elbow grease - volunteer. Teach a teenage girl to read at a literacy center, mentor an elementary school girl, help out in a women’s or street kids’ shelter.
• Join an organization such as NOW, NARAL, Amnesty International and many others that actively work for women’s rights in the US and around the globe.
• Write letters to your congresspeople about women’s issues, including those involving women in other countries; remember, yours may be the only voice they have.

Anyone of the above goes a long way toward changing the world. But sometimes it’s the not-so-obvious things, the day-to-day acts of conscience that are the most powerful agents of change. The catch is: they’re uppity.

• When we find ourselves thinking or speaking in sexist generalities (Boys are icky!) - we can stop. Maybe even try to figure out where that’s coming from and fix it.
• When someone we love says something demeaning about women in our presence, call them on it. Grandpa might not like it, but you can out-run him.
• Resist the urge to be “cool” when someone says or does something offensive. Ironically, “feminist” perspectives are considered old-fashioned in some hipster circles these days, but so what? If it’s on our turf, we can tell them to take that shit ouside and if it’s not, at least we don’t have to pretend we agree.
• Start writing a blog.

It’s not easy being uppity, I know. But if not you, who?

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