Three years ago, I was about one month into a four-month residence in Cuba. And on this one particular day, I had no idea why men on the street, deviating from the standard stream of whistles and marriage proposals, were offering congratulations. Do you know why? (Yes! you say, We read the subject line.) I’ll tell you why! Because it was International Women’s Day, and say what you will about the Communists, they really like women.
International Women’s Day doesn’t seem like such a big deal here in the U.S. (it’s probably because we’re all equal and we don’t have sexism, etc.), but there’s still some stuff going on. There is a website, for example. The White House celebrated it. Michelle Obama, herself a woman, and a historic one, says we’ve come a long way, but that there is progress still to be made. That much has been made especially clear in Egypt and the Cote d’Ivoire, where women (and men) protesting today were attacked and killed.
If you didn’t get a chance to celebrate women today, say by reading something by your favorite lady author, don’t worry, because we’re doing it all month! It’s Women’s History Month here in the U.S. And hey, did you also know you can celebrate women and their accomplishments at any time in the year? More to come on that.
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