Abigail Claire Tilton on International Women's Day

"For the long work day,
For the taxes we pay,
For the laws we obey,
We want something to say."

In early 1908, the Woman’s Progressive Suffrage Union planned the nation’s first suffrage parade. Although the police commissioner found reasons not to issue a permit, influential women spoke out against it and tried to break it up, and dozens of men surrounded yelling “You don’t know the importance of the ballot” or “The place for women is in the home and to cook the dinners,” the march was a great success. 15,000 women marched through New York City, heads held high, demanding shorter work hours, legal control over their property and their children, and equality in education, employment, and marriage.

Within a year, following a declaration by the Socialist Party of America, the first National Women’s Day (NWD) was observed across the U.S. on February 28. The last Sunday of February was continually celebrated as NWD until 1913 when discussions led to the global transfer of International Women’s Day (IWD) to March 8th.

While the marches continued throughout the years, struggling with police arrests and press suppression (such as the NY Times post claiming women are born smugglers who shouldn’t be trusted with votes on tariff issues), the women continued to gain more followers and supporters. Suffrage rallies and processions became nearly weekly events with thousands of women parading. Finally, in 1920, 12 years after the first march, women finally received their constitutional amendment for the right to vote.

As years passed, women from around the world continued to push their agenda and fight for the equality. By 1975, International Women’s Day was officially celebrated by the United Nations. By 2000, however, IWD activity had stalled. Feminism was no longer a popular topic, and gender parity had still not been achieved.

By 2001, the digital hub for IWD was launched to celebrate the achievements of women and to continue accelerating gender parity. This website is made possible each year through support from organizations around the world committed to reaching gender equality. Campaign themes are adopted annually to provide the framework and direction for annual IWD activity. Examples include “Be Bold for Change,” and “Connecting Girls, Inspiring Futures.”

In 2011, 100 years after the first IWD event in 1911, President Barack Obama proclaimed March “Women’s History Month.” The President called on Americans to use this month as a time for reflection on “the extraordinary accomplishments of women” in shaping the country’s history.

It’s now 2018 and while more women are in the boardroom, have greater equality in legislative rights, and increased visibility of women in impressive roles, society has still not reached gender parity. Women are still not paid equally to their male counterparts, women are not present in equal number in business or politics, and women’s health, education, and violence are worse than that of men.

However, the movement is far from over. A global web of support and activity connects women from all around the world from political rallies to business conferences. The Eiffel Tower was lit to honor women’s rights with the message “Maintenant On Agit” (“Now We Act”) displayed on the monument all night. Barbie (the very popular doll brand) honored IWD by creating new dolls inspired by women of the past and present, including Katherine Johnson, the mathematician for NASA who broke racial and gender barriers charting the trajectories of the first manned space flights, Chloe Kim, the 17-year-old Olympic snowboarding gold medalist, Chinese ballerina Yuan Yuan Tan, and many more.

2018 International Women’s Day agenda:

“Now, more than ever, there’s a strong call-to-action to press forward and progress gender parity. There’s a strong call to #PressforProgress motivating and uniting friends, colleagues, and whole communities to think, act and be gender inclusive.”

Abigail Claire Tilton is the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Texas Woman’s University in Denton, Texas. Here she works diligently to advocate for both students and minorities around the country with a special focus on issues that can be positively solved through policy change. With her Ph.D. in Sociology, Abigail is dedicated to helping bring light to issues affecting her community as well as the country at large. For more about Abigail, check her out on LinkedIn or follow her on Twitter.