Overview
International Women’s Day is a holiday set by the United Nations to commemorate the woman’s rights and gender equality movement.
Background
The first national women’s day was held on February 28, 1910 by the Socialist Party of America. The day was set to honor the garment workers’ strike in 1908. Two years later, at the Socialist International meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark proposed an international Women’s Day, which received unanimous approval in 17 countries.
From 1913 to 1914, International Women’s Day was used as a means of protest against World War I. March 8th was adopted as the date for rallies and expressions of solidarity.
In 1975, during the International Women’s Year, the United Nations announced that they would begin celebrating International Women’s Day, annually, on March 8th.
Developments
In December 1977, the UN Generally Assembly adopted a resolution “proclaiming a United Nations Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace to be observed on any day of the year by Member States, in accordance with their historical and national traditions.”
On International Women’s Day, people online discuss the event and its significance under the hashtag "IWD. On March 8th, 2018, the Nobel Prize tweeted a video of female Nobel Prize winners with the caption, “Happy International Women’s Day! We’re celebrating the women who have changed the world. Here’s all of the amazing women who have received the #NobelPrize and their remarkable achievements at the time of the award. #IWD2018” The post (shown below) received more than 13,000 retweets and 15,000 likes in 24 hours.
Related Memes
McDonald’s Flips Arch
On March 6th, 2018, a McDonald’s in Lynwood, California turned its golden-arches upside down, turning the golden “M” into a golden “W.” The company says that the change (shown below) was in “celebration of women everywhere.”
People on Twitter reacted negatively to the change. The following day, Twitter user @truebe tweeted, “McDonalds: In celebration of women we are flipping the arches upside down. / Or you could give your employees better benefits. / McD: Look it’s a W! / Maybe a living wage? Better family leave? A career path forward in the face of automation? / McD: The W stands for women.” The post (shown below, left) received more than 33,000 retweets and 144,000 likes in 24 hours.
Others enjoyed the message. Twitter user @RachelMaree27 tweeted “WOW! This is so awesome!! Thank you, McDonalds!” The post (shown below, center) received more than 120 retweets and 780 likes in 24 hours.
Some made parodies of the change. Twitter user @vrunt photoshopped the video game character Wario into the photograph. The post (shown below, right) received more than 6,200 retweets and 24,000 likes in 24 hours.
KFC’s Claudia Sanders
On March 8th, the KFC in Malaysia announced that they would be replacing Colonel Sanders with the image of his wife, Claudia Sanders, for the day in honor of International Women’s Day (shown below).
On the KFC website, the company wrote:
“It is hard to imagine but KFC would not be where it is today if not for Claudia, wife of Colonel Sanders. While the Colonel created the secret recipe and ran the company, Mrs Sanders mixed and even shipped the spices to restaurants across the country – often late into the night. This International Women’s Day, we pay tribute to Claudia Sanders for her role in the making of Malaysia’s favourite fried chicken. And to every woman whose ideas, hard work and passion contribute to making the world a better place. Thank you.”
Online, people reacted cynically to the promotion. Twitter user @broderick tweeted (shown below, right), “Sexism is over.” Twitter user @rey_z tweeted (shown below, center), “KFC…….thankyou for your service to women.” Twitter user @TheDweck tweeted, “Appreciate all the equal rights efforts, but between Lady Doritos, female Colonel Sanders and the McDonald’s W, I think we’re all set!!”
International Men’s Day
In 1968, an American journalist named John P. Harris published an editorial calling for a day that celebrated the male workers in the Soviet Union. He wrote that the lack of an International Men’s Day was a flaw in the Communist system.
As of 2003, IMD has been held annually on November 19th.In November 2009, Dr. Teelucksing established the six pillars of International Men’s Day. They are:
* To promote positive male role models; not just movie stars and sports men but everyday, working class men who are living decent, honest lives.
* To celebrate men’s positive contributions to society, community, family, marriage, child care, and to the environment.
* To focus on men’s health and wellbeing; social, emotional, physical and spiritual.
* To highlight discrimination against males; in areas of social services, social attitudes and expectations, and law.
* To improve gender relations and promote gender equality.
* To create a safer, better world; where people can be safe and grow to reach their full potential.
However, in years since, “International Men’s Day” has been used to troll the main holiday, with men who feel slighted by International Women’s Day and unaware of IMD’s existence asking, “What about International Men’s Day?”
On March 8th, 2018, journalist Parker Molloy tweeted,“Google searches for ‘International Men’s Day’ are higher on International Women’s Day than they are *on* International Men’s Day. (Those spikes are March of each year).” The tweet (shown below) received more than 880 retweets and 1,400 likes in 24 hours.
Search Interest
External References