Looking at the origins of International Women’s Day, March 8, and the SA version, August 9, it is hard to reconcile them with the red roses, pink bubbles and spa days of the Women’s Month we’re encouraged to celebrate.
According to the UN, the international day begun in 1975 “as a day when women are recognised for their achievements without regard to divisions, whether national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic or political”.
Bubbles and spa days don’t negate this entirely but the UN’s intentions have more gravitas. And how did it go from a day of commemoration to become Women’s Month?
The day has changed with the times: “Since those early years, International Women’s Day has assumed a new global dimension for women in developed and developing countries alike. The growing international women’s movement, which has been strengthened by four global UN women’s conferences, has helped make the commemoration a rallying point to build support for women’s rights and participation in the political and economic arenas.”
Its origins go back more than a century: the first national Women’s Day was observed in the US when “the Socialist Party of America designated this day in honour of the 1908 garment workers’ strike in New York, where women protested against working conditions”.
Issues of survival and dignity underpin it. The first women’s rights convention was held in 1848, when Americans Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott congregated a few hundred women to protest against women being barred from speaking at an anti-slavery convention. “Together, they demand civil, social, political and religious rights for women in a Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions. A movement is born.”
The site lists the movement’s milestones, including the UN General Assembly’s adoption in 1979 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the creation in 2010 of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.
The Women’s Day entry on the SA government site is brief and is maybe testament to the lip service paid by the state. “Each year on the 9th of August, South Africans of all backgrounds, races and cultural groups join together in celebrating National Women’s Day. This annual public holiday commemorates an eventful day in SA’s history: August 9 1956.”
This may come as a surprise to many South Africans, who prefer to spend any public holiday around the braai.
In SA the day has a unique connotation, as the struggle for women’s rights is intertwined with the struggle against apartheid.
“What makes this day so special to South Africans? It was on the 9th of August in 1956 that a large group of women began a campaign to bring an end to the pass laws enforced by the government of the time.
“The campaign began when some 20,000 women marched to the Union Buildings in the City of Pretoria to protest certain proposed amendments to the pass laws or Urban Areas Act of 1950. This eventful march on 9 August 1956 was led by Sophia Williams-De Bruyn, Lilian Ngoyi ... Rahima Moosa and Helen Joseph... Over 100,000 signatures marked a number of petitions which were left with the prime minister at the time, JG Strijdom.
“After handing in these documents at his office they stood quietly outside for about 30 minutes. Soon the women began to sing a protest song with words which translated into ‘Now you have touched the women, you have struck a rock’. Indeed, these words show the immense courage and strength of these women.
“National Women’s Day celebrations were instituted in 1994 and now take place annually... National Women’s Day in SA is held in high esteem and is a reminder of the important contributions women make to society, as well as a time to ponder the advances in women’s rights.”
The post appears on the sport, art & culture page and is concluded with a video of minister Gayton McKenzie speaking on Mandela Day.
That there is a conflation of political and women’s issues in this message, not to mention some expedience in terms of McKenzie’s platforming, is undeniable. And maybe goes some way to explaining why the day and the month lack a common purpose or a clear identity. It’s open house, and in late July already one begins receiving invitations to champagne spa days and seminars led by gorgeously groomed women wearing Louboutins, surely a crucial signifier of success.
But paradoxically, many of the messages don’t contain enough about the political struggle, being less about hard-won rights and the work still needed than about revelling in some marketing team’s idea of being a woman. And one suspects the extension of the day into Women’s Month is to accommodate all this marketing rather than to more seriously address women’s empowerment issues. And while some in SA who have access to it, happily enjoy the Women’s Month junkets, others are less keen. In a country where women’s progress into leadership positions is slow, where women-owned businesses are the exception and their daily security is severely compromised, it appears many companies prefer to skirt around the issue rather than keep in mind the day’s true raison d’être.
Asked how her company would be marking it, Reana Rossouw, the founder of Next Generation and creator of the III Investment Impact Index, said: “No, we do not celebrate Women’s Month or Women’s Day as we believe there is little to celebrate. We will, however, participate in events when invited to share [our] experiences and views on the plight of women in SA. This includes talks on gender-based violence [GBV] or the lack of investment finance for women entrepreneurs. In addition, we prefer to share the stories of women in SA who have overcome adversity against all odds.”
Rossouw is averse to the champagne and roses approach to Women’s Day and month, seeing it as a failure when companies hold “a cocktail party or high tea celebrating the success of celebrities, completely ignoring the plight of ordinary SA women who bear the brunt of a patriarchal society. For example, women who despite their meagre resources, still get up every morning to care for the homeless and vulnerable in society. Women who feed their communities and look after their children’s children, women who care for the disabled, women who started and run not-for-profits”.
What she would prefer to see is for corporate leaders to “publicly speak out and take a stand against GBV and proactively support organisations that work in the sector; financially supporting organisations focused on gender issues, for example, buying rape kits for police stations, funding female students’ bursaries for a year, funding programmes that support female entrepreneurs exclusively, supporting female not-for-profit organisations who deliver services in their communities free of charge, or supporting female activist organisations”.
On the question of its commercialisation, she is unequivocal: “Big brands see Women’s Day ... as a day to ‘sell more’ to female customers. By putting a female spin on their products and services, the aim is consumerism and not so much in keeping with the spirit of the day.”
Commenting on a hotel chain promoting Women’s Day lunches on Joburg.co.za, Rossouw says: “For me the question is a) what is the company’s position really on women empowerment?; b) what programmes are they funding to ensure women empowerment?; c) what is their opinion on women’s issues?; [and] d) in particular, what is their position, for example, on women in the hospitality or gaming sectors?”
Carmen Murray, founder of the women-in-leadership initiative Conscious LeadHERS, says the work needs to go beyond devoting a day or a month to women: “A key aspect of supporting women’s upliftment is raising awareness about systemic issues and understanding why these challenges persist. It requires deep, ongoing research and a commitment to addressing root causes, not just superficial fixes. This approach must extend beyond Women’s Month or Women’s Day, becoming an integral part of the organisational culture.”
But many corporates are ahead of the curve: “We are seeing great strides with progress for women though various initiatives in organisations. Significant investments are made for inclusive workplaces through diversity targets, bias training and diversity councils to ensure a more diverse workforce. SA is miles ahead with progress in comparison to the rest of the world, and if we compare apples with apples, it’s exciting, because once again it shows that Africa has so much to offer to the rest of the world. I don’t believe we talk enough about the great progress corporates are driving within the diversity, equity and inclusion space, specifically for women.”
Rossouw says that on the eve Women’s Day 2024, pressing questions remain:
- What impact do these events have on the lives of ordinary women?
- Do they result in targeted interventions to improve women’s quality of life?
- Do they lead to the much-needed changes in policy and behaviour?
- Can they reduce violence against women?
“Clearly, Women’s Day events cannot do this on their own, and need to form part of a series of strategic interventions. The conversations that will take place over the next few weeks, in our schools, workplaces, communities and places of worship, must galvanise community activism and mobilise networks to take up the issues impacting women in SA.
“If Women’s Day and Women’s Month interventions do not compel us to pause and take stock of our democracy and whether this lives up to the aspirations of the women of 1956, then there is absolutely no need to celebrate this day.”
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.