International Women’s Day is celebrated on March 8th each year by women’s groups worldwide. It is also celebrated at the UN and, in many countries, it is a national holiday.
When women from all continents, often divided by national borders and by ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic, and political differences, come together to celebrate their day, they can look back and see that it is a tradition representing at least 90 years of struggle for equality, justice, peace, and development.
International Women’s Day is the story of ordinary women who have made history. It has its roots in the centuries-long struggle of women to participate in society on an equal footing with men. In ancient Greece, Lysistrata initiated a “sexual strike” against men to end war. During the French Revolution, Parisian women demanding “liberty, equality, fraternity” marched on Versailles to demand women’s right to vote.
The idea of an International Women’s Day emerged at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, a period characterized in the industrialized world by expansion and turmoil, explosive population growth, and the rise of radical ideologies.
In Nice, the municipality has planned a varied program throughout the week.
On this celebratory day, there will be a roundtable discussion on “The Women of Nice in the Cultural History of Our City,” led by André Peyrègne, former director of the Nice Conservatory, and a presentation on “Women and Opera” by Melcha Coder, president of the associations L’aron, Contre-ut, and Art for Life.
