A-Infos (en) France, UCL AL #358 - History - Feminist Strike: March 8, from its origins to the present day (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

March 8 is International Women's Day, a day of struggle to end gender 
inequality and more generally to obtain rights for half of the 
population oppressed by patriarchy. While this date is now firmly 
anchored in the calendar of struggles, this has not always been the 
case, as March 8 has long been referred to as "Women's Day". We offer 
you a dive into the history of the construction of this historic date, 
born more than a century ago in the United States. ---- The origin of 
what is now International Women's Day dates back to the beginning of the 
20th century, on the other side of the Atlantic. At the call of the 
Socialist Party of America, a "National Woman's Day" was celebrated 
throughout the United States on February 28, 1909[1]. But let's give 
Cleopatra what is Cleopatra's: this day was born thanks to Theresa 
Serber Malkiel (1874-1949), an American Jewish socialist worker and 
activist for women's suffrage, who was then the head of the National 
Women's Committee of the Socialist Party of America[2].

Socialist origins
Three years later, in 1910, the Socialist International organized its 
8th congress in Copenhagen[3]. At the same time, the International 
Women's Conference was held. Under the leadership of Clara Zetkin 
(1857-1933), and with the support of Alexandra Kollontai (1872-1952), 
the proposal to create an "International Women's Day" emerged. It was 
directly inspired by National Women's Day. Among the demands made were 
prominently those for women's suffrage, the right to work and an end to 
discrimination at work. The proposal was unanimously approved by the 
activists sitting at the conference, more than 100 women from 17 
countries. Although no date was set for this celebration, the annual 
nature was nonetheless present.

The Socialist Party of America was a democratic socialist political 
party that existed in the United States from 1901 to 1972. It was born 
from the merger of the Social Democratic Party of America and members of 
the Socialist Labor Party of America, the oldest socialist party in the 
United States founded in 1876.
The following year, the first International Women's Day was celebrated 
on March 19 in several European countries (notably Germany, Austria, 
Denmark, Switzerland). More than a million women and men attended the 
rallies[4]. International Women's Day was therefore born at the 
initiative of the socialist movement, "to counteract the influence of 
feminist groups on women of the people", Clara Zetkin rejecting "the 
alliance with the 'bourgeois feminists'"[5].

Why March 8?

Until the First World War, several countries such as Germany, Austria, 
France and Russia celebrated International Women's Day every year in 
March. The date of March 8 emerged following the demonstrations of women 
workers held on that day in 1917 in Petrograd (now Saint Petersburg), a 
day that foreshadowed the Russian revolution to come. This 
"International Women's Day" is a historic one: after the war, March 8 
became the day when women gathered around the world to defend their 
rights and conquer new ones.

An international day of struggle
International Women's Day became institutionalized in the mid-1970s, 
gradually becoming "International Women's Day" and then "International 
Women's Rights Day". This semantic change went hand in hand with a 
political evolution, driven by activists from the Women's Liberation 
Movement (MLF), a non-mixed French feminist movement created in 1970 
that demanded the free disposal of women's bodies and challenged 
patriarchal society.

In 1975, they protested against the "International Women's Year" 
proclaimed by the United Nations (UN), speaking out against this 
recovery of struggles transformed into a "cause" by leaders who wanted 
to show their interest in "women". Materialist feminists demanded the 
necessary distinction between THE woman and THE women, women being 
subjects and not objects, plural and not identifiable with a single 
feminine entity. Through this plural, they affirm the fight against the 
feminine ideal created by male domination and patriarchy that want to 
lock women into essentialist straitjackets[6].

Alexandra Mikhaïlovna Kollontaï (1872-1952), a Soviet socialist, 
communist and Marxist feminist activist, was the first woman to be 
appointed head of a ministry and one of the first female diplomats of 
the 20th century.

Clara Zetkin (1857-1933), a German Marxist politician and historical 
figure of socialist feminism, was also a teacher and journalist.
Two years later, in 1977, the UN made "International Women's Day" 
official. Although women's rights are not explicitly mentioned in the 
title of the day, March 8 is now officially recognized as a day of 
action and mobilization dedicated to the fight for women's rights, 
gender equality and justice. To date, this day is one of the 200 
international celebrations supported by the UN[7].

In France, it was in 1982, at the initiative of the MLF and Yvette Roudy 
(born in 1929), then Minister of Women's Rights under François 
Mitterrand (1916-1996), that March 8 became established as 
"International Women's Day"[8].

Towards the feminist strike
In 2017, feminist organizations, the CGT, FSU and Solidaires unions and 
associations called on women to strike on March 8 starting at 3:40 p.m. 
This time was not chosen at random: it corresponds to the time from 
which work is done for free by women, whose salary is, on average, 26% 
lower than that of men[9].

Today, it is up to us to make March 8 a day of feminist action for equal 
rights[10]. On March 8, let's go on strike: at work, in our homes 
(housework strike, shopping strike, etc.), everywhere we are present and 
indispensable. Let's interrupt all productive and reproductive activity, 
formal and informal, paid and free. Let's take part in actions and 
demonstrations, let's reclaim public spaces! And let's continue to 
ensure that March 8 is a day of struggle but also of victory for the 
rights of women and gender minorities, everywhere in the world.

Céline (UCL Lyon)

The 1917 International Women's Day march held in Petrograd.
MUSEUM OF POLITICAL HISTORY OF RUSSIA
Timeline: Women's rights in France since 1944
Right to vote
April 21, 1944 Order of the French Committee of National Liberation 
granting women the right to vote in Metropolitan France. For comparison, 
several of France's neighboring countries granted this right to women 
decades earlier (the United Kingdom and Germany in 1918, Belgium and 
Luxembourg in 1919). November 20, 1944 Ordinance granting women the 
right to vote in Martinique, Guadeloupe, and Réunion. February 19, 1945 
Decree granting women the right to vote in Guyana. April 29, 1945 French 
women can vote for the first time in municipal elections.

Right to dispose of one's body
1967 Neuwirth Law (named after Lucien Neuwirth, the Gaullist MP who 
proposed it) on the decriminalization of contraception. This law repeals 
the law of July 31, 1920, which prohibited all contraception as well as 
information on contraceptive methods. The implementing decrees will be 
published five years later, in 1972! 1975 Veil Law on abortion in 
"distress situations" (provision abandoned only in 2014 and contested by 
UMP deputies). Its entry into force was initially planned for a period 
of 5 years, on an experimental basis. It was renewed without time limit 
by law no. 79-1204 of December 31, 1979. 1992 Recognition of marital 
rape (the criminal division of the Court of Cassation confirms its case 
law). 2022 Extension of the time limit for abortion to 14 weeks of 
pregnancy (i.e. 16 weeks of amenorrhea). March 4, 2024 Inclusion of 
abortion in the Constitution.

Validate

[1]Howard Zinn, A People's History of the United States. From 1492 to 
the present day, Agone, September 2002, chapter 11.

[2]https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theresa_Serber_Malkiel

[3]The Socialist International, also known as the Second International 
or the Workers' International, was founded in Paris in July 1889 by the 
socialist and workers' parties of Europe, at the initiative of Friedrich 
Engels, among others. It was a continuation of the International 
Workingmen's Association (IWA), known as the First International 
(1864-1876), created to coordinate the development of the nascent 
workers' movement in the recently industrialized European countries 
(notably France, England, Germany, Italy).

[4]https://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/index2.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.un.org%2Ffr%2Fevents%2Fwomensday%2Fhistory.shtml#federation=archive.wikiwix.com&tab=url

[5]https://lejournal.cnrs.fr/articles/journee-des-femmes-la-veritable-histoire-du-8-mars

[6]https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Mars-1911-mars-2011-Un-siecle-de-journees-de-luttes-des-femmes

[7]The UN designates specific days, weeks, years or even decades to 
commemorate particular events or themes.  These celebrations, which are 
generally initiated by one or more Member States, are then established 
by a resolution of the United Nations General Assembly. See the list of 
international days and weeks on the UN website: 
https://www.un.org/fr/observances/list-days-weeks.

[8]Christine Bard, "Les uses politiques de l'histoire des femmes", in 
Claire Andrieu et al., Politiques du passé, Presses universitaires de 
Provence, 2006, pp. 71-82, https://doi.org/10.4000/books.pup.5886.

[9]A site had been created at the time but has not been maintained. 
There is a trace of it in the web archives: 
web.archive.org/web/20170224220537/https://8mars15h40.fr/.

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Greve-feministe-Le-8-mars-des-origines-a-nos-jours
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