The #MPOWERment Blog
Happy International Women’s Day 2019
Today is officially International Women’s Day. I hope you had taken action on any of the details intentionally shared early (December 2018) to prepare you for today. If you haven’t had the chance to yet, at least take some time today to fist bump, high five, head nod one of your fellow ladies and wish them a day filled with #MPOWERment.
Friday, March 8, 2019, is the actual date and went back and forth for some time on whether I would wait to share this or not. I (obviously) chose to share it now and the reason is that there are a variety of initiatives that you can take part in prior to the date to help spread the message leading up to the date.
Did you know that this will be the 110th year of celebrating International Women’s Day (IWD)? If you didn’t know that, or what this day is about, it is time for you to get schooled with facts and different perspectives of it’s meaning.
The Evolution of IWD
Below is some of the history, chronology and/or the evolution of IWD starting with one of the organizations most well-known for its peacekeeping, civil and human rights operations, the United Nations:
- 1909 The first National Woman’s Day was observed in the United States on 28 February. The Socialist Party of America designated this day in honour of the 1908 garment workers’ strike in New York, where women protested against working conditions.
- 1910 The Socialist International, meeting in Copenhagen, established a Women’s Day, international in character, to honour the movement for women’s rights and to build support for achieving universal suffrage for women. The proposal was greeted with unanimous approval by the conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, which included the first three women elected to the Finnish Parliament. No fixed date was selected for the observance.
- 1911 As a result of the Copenhagen initiative, International Women’s Day was marked for the first time (19 March) in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland, where more than one million women and men attended rallies. In addition to the right to vote and to hold public office, they demanded women’s rights to work, to vocational training and to an end to discrimination on the job.
- 1913-1914 International Women’s Day also became a mechanism for protesting World War I. As part of the peace movement, Russian women observed their first International Women’s Day on the last Sunday in February. Elsewhere in Europe, on or around 8 March of the following year, women held rallies either to protest the war or to express solidarity with other activists.
- 1917 Against the backdrop of the war, women in Russia again chose to protest and strike for “Bread and Peace” on the last Sunday in February (which fell on 8 March on the Gregorian calendar). Four days later, the Czar abdicated and the provisional Government granted women the right to vote.
- 1975 During International Women’s Year, the United Nations began celebrating International Women’s Day on 8 March.
- 1995 The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a historic roadmap signed by 189 governments, focused on 12 critical areas of concern, and envisioned a world where each woman and girl can exercise her choices, such as participating in politics, getting an education, having an income, and living in societies free from violence and discrimination.
- 2014 The 58th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW58) – the annual gathering of States to address critical issues related to gender equality and women’s rights — focused on “Challenges and achievements in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals for women and girls”. UN entities and accredited NGOs from around the world took stock of progress and remaining challenges towards meeting the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs have played an important role in galvanizing attention on and resources for gender equality and women’s empowerment.
What does IWD mean to…
Well, I suppose the first group to start with sharing what it means this day is about is the actual source for ALL THINGS IWD (https://www.internationalwomensday.com/). There is a ton of kick-ass info on their site as well as FEM-ominal (<—- my hilariously lame attempt at feminizing the word ‘phenomenal’) resources on how you can support or get involved.
What does IWD mean to some of our favourite athletes? Check out some stories below:
https://www.redbull.com/ca-en/a-celebration-for-all-the-women-who-love-sport
Obviously, I am going to share Shannon Knapp and her powHERful promotion of women (before it was cool to do so ahem) https://mmajunkie.com/2018/03/invicta-fc-celebrates-international-womens-day-on-social-media
For those who didn’t know of one of the first fitness obstacle course/bikini competitions and one of my original inspirations, including seeing Canada’s first IFBB fitness champ Stephanie Worsfold do her fitness routine on tv that literally had me stop my own workout to cheer her on- not show here though, for wanting to get into fitness:
Galaxy Fitness
Here are just some of the accomplished women that make the meaning of this day exist and really, all genders have to acknowledge and pay respect to the following fierce females who made positive change for all:
Roberta Bondar (I was lucky enough to hear her speak and she is just one seriously all around cool woman)
Madonna <—- obviously!
The list is truly extensive and could fill my blog for days but hopefully, this gives you at least a small piece of the power and potential of women of all kinds!
A couple of tips to help YOU protect and MPOWER yourself both in the virtual world and the real-world can be found via the link below
https://www.vpnmentor.com/blog/the-empowering-internet-safety-guide-for-women/
as well as by getting holistically strong and fit with me which we can work togetHER in person if in the Toronto area, or online from anywhere you are. Email me at info@melissatraynor.com for details.
Now go forth and spread the word, start your event or join one, but mostly, live it every day.