We all know the official history of this holiday, but Françoise Picq, a sociologist and expert on feminist movements, talks about the rather hazy roots of this holiday.
Women's Day was born out of "a clearly anti-feminist gathering," she argues. The fact is that in 1910, feminism, in the opinion of many, was inextricably linked with the bourgeoisie.
When, at the second International Conference of Socialist Women in Copenhagen, Clara Zetkin proposed the creation of International Women's Day, she was faced with two tasks at once. She sought to ensure that the leadership of the socialists took up the demands of women (the right to vote, equal pay …), and at the same time wanted to weaken the influence of bourgeois feminists on women from the working class.
Clara Zetkin and Rosa Luxemburg.
German socialists and the notorious communist Clara Zetkin, together with Rosa Luxemburg next year at the Women's Conference, agreed that a holiday was needed that would promote equal rights for women, including suffrage ideas.
“Socialists were forbidden to fight together with bourgeois feminists,” explains Françoise Pic. "The tradition of International Women's Day was originally the choice of only one group, within which feminism and socialism excluded each other."
This is how it all began …
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The beginning of the 1917 revolution
After the decision was made, socialist organizations began to celebrate this holiday on different days of the year, depending on the country. In Germany, Austria and Denmark, demonstrations took place on March 19, 1911. In Russia, Women's Day was first celebrated on March 3, 1913, and then on March 8, 1914. The choice of dates was completely arbitrary, no official decision was made here.
On March 8, 1917, Russia again celebrated Women's Day. Striking workers and ordinary women took to the streets of Petrograd. The crowd grew, men joined it … This was the beginning of the February revolution, which was born precisely on March 8 due to the discrepancy between the Gregorian and Julian calendars.
In 1921, the Soviet Union officially approved March 8 as Women's Day in memory of that women's demonstration in 1917, which no less marked the beginning of the revolution in Russia.
The countries of Eastern Europe, China, Vietnam and Cuba gradually followed this example. March 8 became a communist holiday.
But then, in 1955, an explanation of the roots of this day on March 8 appeared in the press. On March 8, 1857, a strike of women working in a textile factory in New York began. All demonstrations of women in the 19th and early 20th centuries were invariably followed by severe repression. But no traces of similar events on March 8, 1857 remained. Besides, that day fell on Sunday, which is not very suitable for a strike …
The Myth of the 1857 New York Strike
It turns out that the Americans were trying to pull over Women's Day, which until then was 100% a communist holiday? In the Cold War, this explanation may seem very attractive. But the myth of New York workers appeared in the pages of L'Humanité, which, as far as we know, was not an American-sold newspaper … In addition, the material came from the pen of such committed communists as Yvonne Dumont, Claudine Chomat), Madeleine Colin (Madeleine Colin).
The legend about the American origin of this holiday has existed for over 20 years, and no one even tried to verify its historical accuracy. The scene was truly beautiful and heroic: American seamstresses march out in the middle of New York. They chant slogans about equal wages and reduced working hours. Their fists are raised and their hair flutters in the wind. It all ends with the appearance of the police and the brutal dispersal of the women's demonstration.
“There were several options for the scenery (spring sun or cold winter wind) and actors (textile factory workers or seamstresses), while the emphasis was on fighting repression, a vow to meet every year or a terrible industrial accident,” says Françoise Pic. "Nevertheless, everyone agreed on the place and time (March 8, 1857) and the political meaning of this event."
In any case, this excited the imagination much more than some incomprehensible conference of socialist women against the background of the congress of the Second International.
However, in 1977, Françoise Pic and four colleagues decided to shed some light on the origins of March 8 for the feminist magazine Histoires d'Elles. By that time, this legend of the New York strike was firmly embedded in the minds:
"All the newspapers told the same story, copied each other."
Nevertheless, the results of their work made any self-respecting historian turn green with envy:
“When we got to the source, we found that there was nothing there! Nothing worked out at all."
There was no indication of any incidents on the streets of New York on March 8, 1857.
Why did L'Humanité create this myth?
Then scientists found the first mention of this myth in a 1955 article by L'Humanité. And they asked themselves the question: “Why was it necessary, in the midst of the Cold War, to try to find more ancient and arbitrary roots for Women's Day than the decision of women from the party? What is the reason for this desire to untie Women's Day from Soviet history? Indeed, why …
Ultimately Françoise Pic came to the conclusion that there was internal tension in the communist movement, disagreements between the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) and the Union of French Women (UFF): “Madeleine Colin wanted to make March 8 a part of the labor struggle again. And the UFF turned it into something like a mothers' holiday, like in the USSR. In the East, March 8 could hardly be described as a day of struggle.
“Women were allowed two hours early to leave work, and they could go to the hairdresser,” says Françoise Pic.
It was about "opposing the struggle of the working people to the communist holiday of women." Even if for this it is necessary to tie the labor struggle to America?
“The events that could serve as the basis for this myth, and the contradictions that surrounded it, are still hidden by a veil of secrecy,” Françoise Pieck admits. - Nevertheless, one cannot fail to note the speed of its spread. Everything looks as if he was the answer to some unformulated expectation."
With the spread of the myth, Women's Day became international. American feminists appreciated his alleged New York roots and brought the holiday to the United States. In the 1970s, he was adopted by all feminist movements.
In 1977, the UN launched an initiative to dedicate a day to women's rights and world peace.
In 1982, the Minister for Women's Rights, Yvette Roudy, officially introduced Women's Day in France.
“We wanted to explain to Yvette Rudy that this is all an unconfirmed myth,” recalls Françoise Pic. "Nevertheless, this legend suited the minister perfectly: it glorified the struggle of women in the class struggle."
The myth of March 8, 1857 was gradually forgotten, although he still had several pockets of resistance, for example, in the same L'Humanité. “This date has been in the press for a long time, but it still allows us to track the development of key issues at one time or another,” concludes Françoise Pic, emphasizing the importance of such a holiday for the fight for women's rights.
The celebration came to Russia in 1913. Women's Day was not at all as peaceful as it is now, but was accompanied by rallies and demonstrations. So, on February 23, 1917, according to the old style (that is, on March 8, new), the strike of textile workers and the subsequent organized march demanding equal rights for women became one of the triggers for a further wave of protests that led to the February Revolution. Coinciding with one of the most important turning points in the history of Russia, the holiday has become a tradition in the USSR. Until about the 70s, March 8 was primarily associated with the participants in the revolution and their successful struggle for women's independence. One way or another, the history of the holiday in the West and in Russia testifies that, first of all, it was invented as a tool for emancipation and popularization of respect for women.
History is silent as to when and why the processions and demonstrations were replaced by the current candy-bouquet tradition of celebrating March 8. Some authors believe that the reason for this was the conscious and consistent policy of the Soviet leadership. Already in the 30s, the much-needed women's departments were abolished, which were engaged in agitation, education, assistance and the struggle for women's rights. Thus, women have lost their social lift, and have not reached new heights in equality. Subsequent women's organizations were largely nominal. Gradually, the revolutionary theme disappeared even from postcards, and the emphasis shifted to the glorification of female beauty and motherhood, making the holiday more similar to Mother's Day in other countries.
In 1966, under Brezhnev, March 8 became a day off, so that the active idea of the date finally faded away. Today the holiday has finally turned into a day of following stereotypes about women. This is noticeable both in traditional gifts and in the description of International Women's Day on the Russian-language Internet. According to the Levada Center, in Russia the most popular
gifts for March 8 remain flowers and sweets, as well as perfumes and cosmetics. According to VTsIOM, only 5% associate the holiday with emancipation. On the one hand, this survey shows a positive trend in terms of equality - the number of those who believe that women deserve the same privileges as men has increased by 1.5 times. On the other hand, every fifth respondent still considers men to be much more capable than women. The gender of the survey participants was not specified.
PS: There is International Men's Day in the world, it is celebrated on November 19. This holiday is intended to draw attention to exactly the same issues as women, only in relation to men, and also to maintain gender balance. Unfortunately, in Russia it is not celebrated at all, preferring to give socks and colognes to men on Defender of the Fatherland Day.
Hélène Ferrarini