The history of international women's day
Historically, international women's day is primarily a political day of action that arose in the period before the First World War to support the equality of women, especially in terms of free, secret and equal voting rights. Since women's day roots in the socialist movement, it is not surprising that it was banned in the time of National Socialism. In addition, the image of a strong, combative, equal woman did not correspond to the image of women propagated by the Nazis. Nevertheless, the women's day continued, no longer in the form of great demonstrations, but in private. While the women's day in the GDR was instrumentalized by the regime and seen as a kind of socialist Mother's Day, it lost importance in West Germany, since this was primarily about peace.
The importance of international women's day today
On March 8, 2010, German feminist Alice Schwarzer called for a complete deletion of the day with the words: “Let's finally take it off, this patronizing March 8th! And let's transform one day for women a year to 365 days for people, women and men. ”
The following terrifying example shows that we may still need the international women's day to draw attention to the topic of the political equality of women: According to a report by the Interparliamentary Union on the subject of "sexism, harassment and violence against women in parliaments in Europe" 123 female MPs in 45 European countries during their tenure have experienced
- 85 % mental violence,
- 68 % derogatory comments on their appearance or regarding gender clichés,
- 58 % had been sexually harassed online,
- 47 % had received death threats,
- 25 % had sexualized violence and
- Experience 15 % physical violence.
World Women's Day affects everyone
That was in 2019. We still have a lot to do. So while we can continue to stand up for equality, in my opinion it is also important to recognize that women and men should be equated, but should not be rated. I am convinced that our world primarily needs female properties. And that as women, in addition to courage and fighting spirit, which will certainly continue to be important, we can reflect on these female properties again in order to restore the necessary (and turning) balance. We all urgently need qualities such as feelings, show compassion, create connections, to listen, give space, to soften, sensitivity and quality: people and animals, and also this beautiful and now so battered planet.
If women and men would pay more attention to getting from the constant race and working in themselves to themselves, i.e. to get into being from doing, a lot would be obtained. Because then we transform ourselves from rushed individuals in survival mode into feeling human beings that can feel one thing again: their connection with all other beings and the soulful world. This is the only way we can feel good in whole, and find the meaning of our existence: to be there for each other and to live in peace with each other.
About the author Ranja Weis:
Ranja is one of the best yoga teachers in Germany. She regularly teaches Patrick Broome in Munich, where she practices Yin Yoga, Vinyasa and Yoga Nidra. Her spiritual path is characterized by meditation, yoga and working with shamans. Therefore, her yoga classes also include techniques such as trance work and different forms of energy work.
