“Girls Day Out”
Thursday, March 18th, 2010Here’s the opening of a speech given in celebration of International Women’s Day by Cathy Standiford (2009-2010 President, Soroptimist of the Americas). Note the excellent international details. For a PDF of the full speech, contact siahq@soroptimist.org.
One hundred years ago, a woman named Clara Zetkin had a dream. Clara was the leader of the “Women’s Office” for the Social Democratic Party in Germany, and she was bothered by the lack of rights for women both in her country, and around the world. At that time, women in most countries did not have the right to vote. Clara was one of the many women around the world working to change that.
So, it was 1910, and Clara was in Copenhagen, Denmark, attending the second International Conference of Working Women. At this conference there were more than 100 women from 17 different countries. They represented unions, socialist parties, working women’s clubs. At this conference, Clara shared her dream—that every year in every country there should be a celebration on the same day – A Women’s Day—a day on which women could gather together and advocate for their rights. And her suggestion was met with unanimous approval.
One year later, in 1911, Clara organized the very first International Women’s Day. And the success of that first International Women’s Day exceeded all expectations. Meetings were organized everywhere in small towns and villages. Halls were packed so full that male workers were asked to give up their places for women. Men stayed at home with their children for a change, and their wives went out to meetings.Now, 100 years later, Clara’s dream continues to be celebrated on March 8, International Women’s Day.