Tag Archives: International Women's Day

Re-claiming International Women’s Day

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As International Women’s Day (IWD) 2023 approaches we should proudly acknowledge and celebrate its socialist roots.

We should also brace ourselves for an onslaught of commercially driven Facebook posts, tweets, pop up ads and Instagram photos all proclaiming the ‘empowerment of women’ and, of course, the opportunity to buy the advertisers products.

The creeping commercialisation of IWD, a fate which has now largely overtaken events like Pride, has been in process for some time.

Commercial Cancer

This Wednesday will see that commercial cancer ramped up even further with hypocritical, phoney and cringe worthy claims to support and empower women, many coming from companies with gender pay gaps, precarious employment practices and zero hours contract cultures.

Equality, rights and recognition have had to be fought for in every century, every decade and every day. Progress has been won, not conceded. That struggle continues, not just on International Women’s Day but on every day and across the world.

Defining realities

The issues defining woman’s position in society cannot, and must not, be defined in consumerist terms

Violence, murder, trafficking, exploitation misogyny, social barriers, uncertain employment contracts, access to the workplace, child care support, funding for women’s services, ensuring maternity rights, bodily autonomy, abortion services, access to period products: these are just some of the realities defining women’s lives.

Women are not commodities – commercial or otherwise. The socialist imperative in International Women’s Day needs to be re-stated and re-enforced. International Women’s Day needs to be reclaimed and its dignity and purpose re-established.

The Workers Party’s contribution to  that cause will be evident in our on-line panel discussion this Wednesday evening addressing Childcare, Women in Employment and Human Trafficking and Exploitation.

#IWD

To Join the Zoom Meeting; Click the link below

Begins at 7pm on Wednesday 8 March – log in from 6.45pm onwards

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82688054661?pwd=WXNNZllCem1Rblh0Y00rWVZWclpadz09

International Women’s Day: ‘Women and the Pandemic’

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in the real world, working class women are left with little to celebrate

“At a time when celebrities and the media attempt to take over and trivialise International Women’s Day, it is important to point out that, in the real world, working class women are left with little to celebrate”

Announcing the launch of the Workers Party event to mark this year’s International Women’s Day, Party spokesperson Joanne Lowry said,

“Beyond the commercialisation, the glossy magazine features and the celebrity photo opportunities lie the women, mostly working-class women, whose daily routine is a struggle against the inequalities and oppression visited on them by the capitalist system”

“The theme of our event this year ‘Women and the Pandemic’ will be an opportunity to explore the myth that we are all in this together and address the fact that women in particular are disproportionately affected by poverty, domestic violence, precarious and low paid employment and the responsibilities of caring”, Joanne said.

“We will also be discussing the Mother and Baby scandals and looking at how women continue to be abused by systems of power, social and political institutions, misogyny and at how that continues even through to the outcome and the reaction to the recent reports”.

“Today’s discussion and debate will underscore our firm conviction that women must be at the forefront of the struggle for a socialist society. Only a socialist, secular society can deliver the equality that women need to achieve their full potential as citizens”, concluded Joanne.

Email workerspartyni@yahoo.co.uk for the Zoom link

Women and the Pandemic: panel and speakers

Chair: Nicola Campbell, Workers Party Newry / Armagh

Speakers:

Maura McKenna – Trade Unionist

Joanne Lowry, Chair Workers Party Women’s Committee

Anne Finnegan, Workers Party Dublin

Maureen Consideine, University College Cork

Catherine Coffey, Workers Party Cork

Workers Party International Statement

wpi-statement-iwd-2021Download