The long history of 8th March can never be forgotten. All over the World we celebrate 8th March as International Working Women’s Day. As we turn the pages of history we can find the powerful women who fought for the inequalities. Thousands of women came out on the streets to fight for injustice and to claim their rights, to be free from the clutches of Patriarchy and exploitation. During the 1900s in America the working conditions in the garment factory was pathetic. Hundreds of women used to work in a small room without any proper ventilation, sanitation facilities and poor wage. The women from the garment factories came out of the four walls on the street to fight for this injustice. Women demanded that they be given the Right to vote and to hold public offices. They also protested against sex discrimination. They did not stop until they got their demands fulfilled. There were women-led marches, strikes and other protests. International Working Women’s day is a day to celebrate the victory of those great women who fought against the odds. It is because of the struggle of these women we are now being able to enjoy the voting rights, right to education etc.
But unfortunately, as the time passed by the day lost its political flavor and became simply an occasion for the people to express their love for women in a way somewhat similar to the mixture of Mother’s Day or Valentine’s Day. As the day keeps on approaching, we can see that the newspapers filled up with many commercial advertisement asking women to use certain beauty products to celebrate Women’s Day. The capitalist society which always hunts for a ground to generate profit did not leave this day (8th March) either. They use this day as a day to earn money and generate more profit. Then what is the use of the struggle of those women if their history was to be a hunting ground for the capitalists?? Don’t you think their struggle has gone in vain?? It is high time we must end such kind of trend to celebrate such an important date in our history.
