Here in the United States, many young people I encounter seem to think that the battles for women’s equality have been won. They are skeptical of the need for the kind of special recognition for women provided by International Women’s Day (celebrated worldwide on March 8 since 1914) and Women’s History Month (celebrated in the U.S. since 1987).
Even some adult women ask me whether it’s my goal, as the head of an organization nourishing and encouraging women’s creative expression, to put myself out of business by making the need for special recognition of women unnecessary.
Well, no. While of course I want to see equality for all human beings, no matter where they fall on the gender spectrum, that doesn’t mean I am working towards a post-gender world. Women are not, and will never be the same as men, even when we are equal in social standing. It’s always going to be worthwhile to take the time, once a year, to focus on celebrating and recognizing the unique contributions and perspectives of women.
Here in the Berkshires, for more than a decade, I worked with a group of women (including Vera Kalm, Zoe Dahlberg and Judith Nardacci) to organize a one-day conference in honor of International Women’s Day at my home institution, Bard College at Simon’s Rock. This annual observance, now part of the larger Berkshire Festival of Women Writers, is one of the few American events celebrating IWD nationwide.
I remain puzzled as to why Americans don’t embrace the idea of International Women’s Day more enthusiastically. IWD goes largely unnoticed in the American calendar, coming in far behind the more popular celebrations of Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day.
Unlike Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day, which are mostly private holidays celebrated by couples or families, IWD has always been a day for communities around the world to honor women publicly, with marches and ceremonies. At the United Nations in New York City this week, the Commission on the Status of Women will be holding its annual hearings to take stock of the state of the world’s women, and deliberate on how best to improve the situation of women globally in the coming year.
At the Berkshire Festival of Women Writers, we’ll be observing International Women’s Day with a special screening of a new documentary film by Pamela Yates, Disruption, which follows a group of innovative young economists as they try out a program to financially empower the poorest women in Latin America.
Pamela Yates has been using filmmaking to advance women’s human rights in Latin America for many years, ever since she created the film When the Mountains Tremble, about the Guatemalan indigenous activist Rigoberta Menchu. At our IWD event two years ago, we screened Yates’ film Granito, about the efforts of human rights advocates to bring the perpetrators of the Guatemalan genocide to justice at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Like her earlier films, Disruption displays Yates’s talent for creating compelling cinema that both educates and entertains.
I’m proud that here in our rural corner of Massachusetts we celebrate International Women’s Day, and Women’s History Month, with enthusiasm and commitment. The month-long Berkshire Festival of Women Writers is a testament to the vibrancy and collaborative spirit of our community, and I hope it will inspire other communities around the country to take the time to give their hard-working, creative, responsible women the honor and appreciation they deserve.
