International Womens Day: A Militant Celebration
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- Published on Sunday, 07 March 2021 03:34
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International Women’s Day: A Militant Celebration
Alexandra Kollontai
This proposal for an International Women’s Day, made at the Second International Women’s Conference at Copenhagen in 1910, appeared in the women’s magazine of the German Social Democratic Party, Die Gleichheit. Authored by Clara Zetkin and others, it emphasized the need for attention to “Socialist precepts.”
“International Women’s Day in agreement with the class-conscious, political and trade union organizations of the proletariat of their respective countries, the Socialist women of all countries will hold each year a Women’s Day, whose foremost purpose it must be to aid the attainment of women’s suffrage. This demand must be handled in conjunction with the entire women’s... question according to Socialist precepts. The Women’s Day must have an international character and is to be prepared carefully.”Source: Clara Zetkin, Kathe Duncker and Comrades, Copenhagen, 27 August 1910, “International Women’s Day,” Die Gleichheit, Stuttgart, 29 August 1910, reprinted in Philip S. Foner, ed., Clara Zetkin: Selected Writings (New York: International Publishers, 1984), p. 108.
Women’s Day or Working Women’s Day is a day of international solidarity, and a day for reviewing the strength and organization of proletarian women.
But this is not a special day for women alone. The 8th of March is a historic and memorable day for the workers and peasants, for all the Russian workers and for the workers of the whole world. In 1917, on this day, the great February revolution broke out. It was the working women of Petersburg who began this revolution; it was they who first decided to raise the banner of opposition to the Tsar and his associates. And so, working women’s day is a double celebration for us.
But if this is a general holiday for all the proletariat, why do we call it “Women’s Day”? Why then do we hold special celebrations and meetings aimed above all at the women workers and the peasant women? Doesn’t this jeopardize the unity and solidarity of the working class? To answer these questions, we have to look back and see how Women’s Day came about and for what purpose it was organized.
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