Equality 101

Today is International Women’s Day. This is a day to celebrate women’s advances and to contemplate how we can continue to make the world equal and equitable for all. This is also a day to consider what we mean and who we signify when we say “women.” The About Page at InternationalWomensDay.com discusses the history of IWD:

1909: In accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America, the first National Woman’s Day (NWD) was observed across the United States on 28 February. Women continued to celebrate NWD on the last Sunday of February until 1913.

1911: Following the decision agreed at Copenhagen in 1911, International Women’s Day (IWD) was honoured the first time in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland on 19 March.

1913-1914: On the eve of World War I campaigning for peace, Russian women observed their first International Women’s Day on the last Sunday in February 1913. In 1913 following discussions, International Women’s Day was transferred to 8 March and this day has remained the global date for International Women’s Day ever since. In 1914 further women across Europe held rallies to campaign against the war and to express women’s solidarity.

1918-1999: Since its birth in the socialist movement, International Women’s Day has grown to become a global day of recognition and celebration across developed and developing countries alike.

2000 and beyond: IWD is now an official holiday in China, Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. The tradition sees men honouring their mothers, wives, girlfriends, colleagues, etc with flowers and small gifts. In some countries IWD has the equivalent status of Mother’s Day where children give small presents to their mothers and grandmothers.

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. [. . .]

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.

Yet, we do still need to be reminded of the negatives, particularly the broad exclusion of trans women from the basic rights and privileges granted to almost solely those we typically imagine when we say “women.” The need for this reminder is evident from the brief history of this day included here: it is soaked in cis privilege. “Women” means cis women in this history and in the celebration of this day, and it does not include trans women.

When I think about “equal rights for all” in the context of International Women’s Day, I think about the many, many ways trans women are not considered equal and do not have access to equal rights. I think of the cis-privilege inherent to the history of this day that is one small part of the transphobia that leaves so many trans women impoverished, homeless, sick, abused, tortured, and killed. I think of the trans women who have made a significant impact on our lives and I think of how easy it is to gloss over or ignore their accomplishments. I think of the health care debate flaring up in the US and how little of this debate concerns the needs of trans women or their bodies. I think of our fight to stop violence against women around the world and how rarely we think to condemn violence against specifically trans women.

On this day, International Women’s Day, I invite you to find and support organizations that support all women. I invite you to broaden your definition of “women” to include all women who identify as such. I invite you to learn about trans women’s history, trans women’s lives, and trans women’s struggles. I invite you to learn more about cis privilege. More than anything, I invite you to celebrate, support, and fight for the rights of ALL women — not just today, but every day.