International Women’s Day: The Gender Agenda

“The Gender Agenda: Gaining Momentum” is the theme for International Women’s Day on Friday next 8, March.

The story of how this annual celebration came about is  so worth repeating as it is in itself a triumph  of ‘ The Gender Agenda’ and an inspiration to all of us girls who want to celebrate the road  travelled in our name, or raise awareness of  paths that still need to be trod on behalf of our sisters across the world.

From my blog of March 2011, to mark the centenary of this international event:

The first International Women’s Day was celebrated in March 1911. It had its origins in America a few years earlier where women had come together to protest against poor working conditions, resulting in a National Women’s Day being declared by the Socialist Party of America. Subsequently at an International Conference for Working Women in Copenhagen, attended by delegates from 17 countries, and including the first 3 women elected to the Finnish Parliament, a proposal to have a special day each year to focus on women’s issues was met with unanimous approval.

Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Denmark observed the first International Women’s Day in March 1911. More than a million men and women attended rallies in support of women’s right to work, right to vote, right to hold public office. In 1913, Russian women observed International Women’s Day campaigning for peace and in 1914, other European countries joined in.

In 1917, amid great unrest in Russia caused by millions of casualties, terrible food shortages, and with many women removed from farms to work in the factories, International Women’s Day prompted 90,00 workers to strike and the army at Petrograd to revolt. Attempts to end the unrest were not successful and Tsar Nicholas II abdicated some days later. The new provisional government granted universal suffrage with equality for women.

Down the decades, the movement has continued to grow and has become a worldwide event in countries all over the world. In 25 countries it is an official holiday while in China Madagascar and Nepal it is an official holiday for women only. In many countries from Bangladesh to Guinea, from Vietnam to Iceland, from Afghanistan to Zambia, events will take place on March 8th to mark International Women’s Day. The top 5 countries for International Women’s day activity to mark the centenary on March 8th are the UK, Canada, Australia, the United States and Ireland.

International Women’s Day has evolved into a global day of celebration of the achievements of women, socially, politically, and economically. Women’s rights campaigners highlight inequalities and raise money for Charity and   Celebrities the world over associate themselves with the day.

So, whether you want to celebrate, raise awareness for a cause or make a call for action, International Women’s Day is a special day for our Gender Agenda! Go on, DO something!

And while we are at it, what about an International Women’s Day event for Female Bloggers! If interested, please share this post and we may be able to build an online event across the globe to celebrate who we are!

For a list of hundreds of activities and events by country, see http://tinyurl.com/bpve9tg

Speaking Up and Speaking Out!

This is the first in a series of posts about organizations and groups in Ireland actively involved in helping to change the discourse around being older in Ireland. 

GET VOCAL AND BE HEARD

The GET VOCAL initiative is a programme spearheaded by Age & Opportunity and funded by Atlantic Philanthropies. The aim is to encourage older people to speak for themselves in promoting their own concerns and causes. Who knows best about being older than older people themselves?!

Age & Opportunity do this by working with national and local organizations dedicated to social change in relation to the older generation. Networks and groups plan projects that are in turn supported by Age & Opportunity. Sometimes they can even give a small grant to help with the projects.

The stated main goal is to promote networks of older people who can have a say in issues of concern to them, such as transport, health  services, rights for older people, and living in isolation. They are involved in Kerry, Cavan, Leitrim, Wexford, Tolka, Finglas, Wicklow and Meath. They also have a project with members of the Simon community, highlighting the needs of older homeless people around declining health, dying and death. Older members of  The Gay & Lesbian Community also have particular needs and issues with their lives as they age and there is an initiative involving them.

It is important that society as a whole understands the issues that are of concern to older people and hopefully, dear readers, you will one day be older too!

You can read about the Get Vocal Projects here.

Previous post on The Atlantic Philanthropies here.

The American Revolution – 1997

A few years ago, on a visit to the USA I was bemused  to occasionally see groups of women wearing red hats –  perhaps in a shopping centre, at a cinema or in a restaurant.  Intrigued by this odd phenomenon, I inquired  about who they were  and why they were wearing red hats. I was informed that they  were ‘Red Hatters’.

On reading the poem ‘Warning’ by Jenny Joseph (see it here) Sue Ellen Cooper was impressed by the lines:

‘When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple with a red hat that doesn’t go and doesn’t suit me…..’

As her friend was celebrating a birthday in November 1997, Sue Ellen presented her with a copy of the poem and an old red hat that she had bought second-hand some years earlier.  Her friend was thrilled to bits with this unusual gift, so  Sue Ellen  repeated the gesture  for several more friends.  They eventually decided to go out for tea  as a group, wearing their red hats and in purple dresses.  And so the Red Hat Society was born.   Their strange attire attracted coverage from newspapers, magazines and television  and by 2002, just 5 years later,   they had 40,000 chapters worldwide.  In 2005, the Red Hat Society even featured on The Simpsons, when Marge Simpson joined up!  They had truly ‘arrived’!

In 2010  the original red hat  and a purple boa given by Sue Ellen to her birthday friend were donated to the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of American History in Washington D.C. where they are now on display.

Donated by Founder of Red Hat Society.

The Red Hat Society  is now one of the largest women’s social groups in the world, offering friendship and fun while  celebrating life and the role of mature women.  They have managed to change the way society views women of a certain age and they promote a positive outlook on life and mental and physical well-being among their members.

They are ‘Over Fifty and Fabulous’ indeed!

Visit the website of the Red Hat Society

The World Is Your Oyster

Today I discovered a really good site that may be of interest. Seniorsforliving.com list their choice of  sites from the 100 top Seniors Blogs and Websites.

It is good to see the range of topics that are of interest to the mature generation –  healthy living; stories from travellers;thoughts on growing old gracefully;the joys of grandparenting; loads of good humour and a wealth of other  good reading.

The striking thing about these blogs is  that the authors are almost exclusively in North America, where of course they have blazed a trail on joining the cyber society, with a home computer being almost s common as having a domestic refrigerator..

I will post relevant links on this blog from time to time so that you do not have to go searching  in Google to find something that will make you smile, something to challenge you, something to give you hope or to reinforce your own views.