Happy International Women’s Day!

Today is the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day (IWD), a day where thousands of events are held throughout the world to inspire women and celebrate their achievements.

More than 1700 International Women’s Day events are taking place today in more than 62 countries – from political rallies, business conferences and government activities to women’s local craft markets, theatric performances and fashion parades. Big, small, informal, and highly organized…they’re all doing the same thing: celebrating women’s advancement and highlighting the need for continued vigilance and action.

From the International Women’s Day website:

“The new millennium has witnessed a significant change and attitudinal shift in both women’s and society’s thoughts about women’s equality and emancipation. Many from a younger generation feel that ‘all the battles have been won for women’ while many feminists from the 1970’s know only too well the longevity and ingrained complexity of patriarchy. With more women in the boardroom, greater equality in legislative rights, and an increased critical mass of women’s visibility as impressive role models in every aspect of life, one could think that women have gained true equality. The unfortunate fact is that women are still not paid equally to that of their male counterparts, women still are not present in equal numbers in business or politics, and globally women’s education, health and the violence against them is worse than that of men.

However, great improvements have been made. We do have female astronauts and prime ministers, school girls are welcomed into university, women can work and have a family, women have real choices. And so the tone and nature of IWD has, for the past few years, moved from being a reminder about the negatives to a celebration of the positives.”

For a list of International Women’s Day events happening in the U.S. (where it is part of National Women’s History Month) and other countries around the world, visit the events page here.