Rivka's Meme: Answers

[ailbhe]

From piqueen: Do you support the 'Million Women Rise' aim of a national holiday for
international women's day?

By supporting the Statement of Demands attached you will be asking the Government and societies, both at home and internationally:
[snip]
For International Women’s Day to become a National Bank Holiday in the UK and Ireland in recognition of and to celebrate women’s achievements

Hm. I immediately think "Yes, of course," and then realise I don't know what I'm talking about.

So first I went and found the Million Women Rise website and read it, and then I tried to find out how many public holidays there are already in the UK and Ireland, compared to elsewhere in the EU or Europe.

England and Wales get 8, Northern Ireland get 10 (St Patrick's Day and the Battle of the Boyne), and Scotland get 9. The Republic of Ireland get 9. France get 11 to 13 depending on region. Germany seems to have up to 16, depending on region.

According to Wikipedia, "The day is an official holiday in Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, China (for women only), Croatia,[citation needed] Cuba,[citation needed] Guinea-Bissau, Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Madagascar (for women only), Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro,[citation needed], Nepal (for women only), Poland,[citation needed] Russia, Serbia,[citation needed] Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam,[citation needed] and Zambia."

So yes. I think the UK and Ireland, both bits, can afford an extra public holiday. And I think it's one worth having. Lots of people find it really hard to think of women who have achieved much at all on a national or international scale, and I think publicly drawing that to people's attention might help some. It's the "name ten famous women" thing.

Comments

[piqueen.livejournal.com]

My first response to the idea was confusion and reluctance. The idea is growing on me and I now think "why not?". It's not immediately obvious that it should be a priority for the feminist movement though.

[supermouse.livejournal.com]

I would *love* for International Women's Day to be a bank holiday.

The only thing I saw about it this year was a Sunday news show that mentioned something like 'Today is International Women's Day, so for you girls, we'll be looking at the 50th anniversary of Barbie' and then I raged and watched the rest anyway, and yes, that really *was* the only thing they covered relevant to women. BBC Fail.

national holiday for international women's day

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

i'm agnostic on the matter. not that it's a bad idea to honour women's achievements, but umm, who's actually gonna do that? i mean, on that specific day. and what achievements? 50 years of barbie? *gah*.

but i might be too far out of touch with the mainstream. i am not compelled by government holidays to celebrate / commemorate the thing the holiday is named for. it's a day off, is all.

and really, since i've been self-emplopyed, even that has faded. it's a day. better not go shopping on such days because the crowds will be bigger.

Re: national holiday for international women's day

[ailbhe]

Who's going to do that?

Organisations and institutions, mainly, as they do for Easter eggs, Christmas trees, St Patrick's Day shamrock junk, etc. When people go to the shops there will be some posters or special offers or gimmicky till-point souvenirs to buy. Hallmark will get right on it, too. If it's a holiday, there will be concerts and things. Women's Shelters will make a point of fundraising in town centres.

Some of it will be Barbie, but that's part of the deal, I think.

Re: national holiday for international women's day

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

yeah, commercial stuff, of course -- i meant in the "will masses of people become more aware" sense. more aware than having it be an international day.

though actually, i wonder whether there will be extra tchotchkes -- martin luther king day in the US doesn't have those, and neither does victoria day here. some days seem more suited for paraphernalia than others. and one can always hope that we won't get installations of this japanese game [warning: boobies, not the bird kind].

but if it helps fundraising, hey. it's all good.

Re: national holiday for international women's day

[ailbhe]

Some days do, here, and some don't. There's nothing for May Day but Red Nose Day and things like Breast Cancer Awareness Week and stuff have tchotchkes to go with them, mainly sold for charity but some are just cashing in on the vibe, as it were.

I think that over here it could get fairly prominent fairly fast, because it's not *tiny* as it is, and if people had a day off work to get to events and fundraisers and shops, it might grow.

Also, I'd like another day off work around, so I could see Rob more.

[calieber.livejournal.com]

As an American, I suspect most men and many women will say "wonderful, a day off" and think no more about it. British and Irish people may be better about such things, however.