Monday 8 March 2010

Today is the Festa della Donna!


On the 8th of March the International Women’s Day is celebrated widely around the World. The history of this celebration brings us back to the 8th March 1857, when, in the United States, a strike led to the death of a group of female employees and the formation of the first Women’s Union in the U.S.
In 1945 (when the Italian Republic was born after the Fascism) the Union of Italian Women declared that March 8th - also known like "Festa della Donna"- should be dedicated to the celebration of womanhood across the country. Men and women offer a bunch of yellow Mimosa (the yellow spring flower you can see in the photo above) to all the important women in their life. It is an important moment of the year that gives the chance to talk and discuss about women’s rights and their role in society.

2 comments:

Jan Usher said...

United Nations web page about the day: http://www.un.org/en/events/women/iwd/2010/

Valeria Fioretti said...

The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) just published this report: "Aid in support of gender equality and women's empowerment 2007-2008":
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/40/7/42759705.pdf
which highlights how in rich democratic countries women are paid a fifth less than male colleagues. The reason is that mothers spend much more time with children than fathers (and this is NOT because of breastfeeding! it is obviously a cultural matter).