International Women's Day - the history and traditions of the holiday. International Women's Day - the history and traditions of the holiday Celebrate the holiday on March 8

Oddly enough, of all the holidays established during the time of communism, none of them has caused so many emotions, disputes, and criticism in recent years as March 8th. One of the first provisions of the unwritten "catechism", which was mastered by the neophytes of the early 90s: "March 8 is not a holiday, and it cannot be celebrated."

To tell the truth, in our post-communist consciousness, International Women's Day has long been associated with no international affairs, but has simply become Mother's Day (sisters, grandmothers, teachers ...).

All the more surprising are the stormy emotions with which some respected Orthodox publicists wrote about March 8. There are no trifles in the work of salvation. In one childish, but quite serious Christian poem, there are such lines: "There is no small hell for miniature sins." If the celebration of March 8 is indeed sinful, then this must be said in the fullness of our Church. And if not, then the topic should be closed and the attention of believers should be drawn to more serious problems, of which, alas, we still have very, very many.

Apparently, the most consistent and well-argued position of the opponents of March 8 was stated by Deacon Andrei Kuraev, probably the most famous Orthodox publicist of modern Russia. In the sensational book "How to make an anti-Semite" a separate chapter is devoted to this holiday, entitled "Is it possible not to celebrate March 8?". Father Andrei has a happy talent not to leave his readers indifferent. He has both ardent admirers (both in the Church and outside it), and no less ardent opponents (again, on both sides of the church fence). So this article (as well as the book as a whole) caused a strong reaction, where sometimes emotions outweighed the arguments. It was also quite expected that in certain circles the book was simply called "Judophobic". But for us, Orthodox, it is important not to understand someone's likes and dislikes, but to decide whether the holiday of March 8 is really unacceptable for an Orthodox person?

The starting point for Father Andrei was the fact that the choice of March 8 as the date of "Women's Day" has no historical justification: "neither official historiography, nor folk legends have preserved anything about any event that once happened on March 8." Unfortunately, this statement is incorrect. Even at school, we were all told that it was on March 8 that working women in one of the Western countries rose to fight for their rights. Or, as a modern journalist puts it, “according to the official, widely known version, “Women’s Day” was timed to coincide with the events of 1857, when on March 8, textile workers from New York factories marched through the streets of the city. They demanded a 10-hour working day, bright and dry workers premises, equal wages with men," etc. So the official version existed.

Another thing is that the historical events at the heart of the March 8 holiday have long gone somewhere on the periphery of consciousness and no one was interested in the era of late communism. The socio-political dimension of the holiday, at least in everyday life, was completely forgotten. Children, giving flowers to "Maryivanna", did not think about her salary or the length of the working day. But let's move on. Since there were no significant events in history that day, Father Andrei writes, therefore, we are only "extras invited to the holiday," and the organizers on March 8 "are celebrating something completely different." "How could this day be dear to the leaders of the European revolutionary movement of the turn of the century," who launched this holiday? - the author asks. . They also had an ethnic relationship. The International, as it turned out, was extremely mono-national... It was the Jewish people who raised the world to fight against the "world of violence" and called for it to be destroyed "to the ground". "It is ridiculous to argue that the Jews played a colossal role in the European revolutionary movement (as Archpriest Sergius Bulgakov, quoted by Father Andrei, writes, who cannot be accused of anti-Semitism in any way: "The Jewish share of participation in Russian Bolshevism, alas, is exorbitantly and disproportionately large.") And this fact deserves serious consideration.

But Father Andrei, a brilliant polemicist, turned out to be a hostage of his own wit. The pun about the "mono-national International", of course, was a success. But I immediately want to ask Father Andrei: what about Engels? and our domestic "demons", brilliantly described by Dostoevsky? and a descendant of Rurik Kropotkin? and Prince Bakunin? and Sofia Perovskaya? and Plekhanov? and Lenin? (However, Ilyich, perhaps, can be enrolled as a Jew - because of either his grandfather or great-grandfather Blanc, it is true, a conversion - but won't we go too far in such digging?).

Alas, Father Andrei took his own joke as a historical fact and a starting point for further constructions. "Imagine yourself in the place of, say, Clara Zetkin. You came up with a wonderful idea to create a women's revolutionary detachment ... And in order to consolidate and propagate this movement, you need a symbolic day that would be the day of the Revolutionary Woman ... The revolution, as you know, lives on religious pathos … And the myth-making instinct of the revolution demands that the question be put in this way: were there any woman's stories who raised the people to fight against tyranny and succeeded? A German, a Frenchman, an Englishman, with such a formulation of the question, would immediately remember Joan of Arc.

But Clara Zetkin is Jewish. And for her, associations with the history of her native people are quite natural. And in this story there was such a figure - Esther. Many centuries ago, she saved her people from a tyrant." Alas, despite her "suspicious" surname and participation in the revolutionary movement, Clara Zetkin, usually associated with the institution of March 8, is a purebred German. She grew up in a traditionally Lutheran family (dad taught the Law of God and played the organ in a church. True, she was married to a Jew Zetkin. But is a Jewish husband enough to build such bold assumptions about Zetkin's ardent desire to perpetuate the memory of Esther?

In the new edition, Father Andrei partly corrected his position. Now we are talking about the fact that "the International turned out to be rather mono-national" (our italics), and there is no mention of Zetkin's Jewish roots. But the idea itself: March 8 = "the holiday of Purim, even under a different name", is still defended. An impatient reader at this point may ask: when will it be about March 8? What does Esther, German Clara Zetkin and her Jewish husband have to do with it? After all, we started with the fact that March 8 is a day that does not have any special "signs" in history, and we tried to determine what caused the choice of this particular date. "Esther is dedicated to the annual and most joyful holiday of the Jewish people - Purim. And it is celebrated just at the turn from winter to spring (the Jews keep moon calendar, and therefore the time of the celebration of Purim slides in relation to our solar calendar in almost the same way as the time of celebration slides in relation to it Orthodox Easter),” recalls Father Andrei in this regard. “Perhaps, in the year when the decision was made to start celebrating International Women’s Day, Purim fell on March 8.”

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Even if such a coincidence happened in "that year" - what does it give to the worshipers of Esther, who tried to impose their holiday on the rest of humanity? Next year, Purim will be, for example, February 25, and "Women's Day" will still be March 8 ... Purim lovers, Father Andrei explains, simply had no other choice - if the date of the Revolutionary Day changed every year, "it would be too much It is noticeable that only Purim is being celebrated. And therefore, it was decided to separate the celebration of the Destroying Woman from the Purim holiday, to fix it and annually on March 8, regardless of the lunar cycles, to call on all the peoples of the earth to glorify the Warrior Woman. To glorify Esther. That is, to congratulate (even if you don't realize it).

It is difficult, of course, to penetrate into the depths of the psychology of Jewish revolutionaries, but even if we take all the assumptions of Father Andrei on faith, I can’t imagine that they would be satisfied with such an insignificant result on the way to the worldwide glorification of the national heroine. So what if the day of women's struggle for their rights is celebrated, for example, three weeks after Purim? Is it possible to assume that in this case, people who have not heard of Esther still glorify her on March 8 (“even without realizing it”)? And most importantly, should we Orthodox be afraid of the glorification of Esther?

After all, she is our, dear, Orthodox saint. In the first edition of the book, Fr. Andrei, while expounding the book of Esther in a popular way, does not mention this. In the second, he claims that “there is no name of Queen Esther in the Monthly Words of the Orthodox Church. In the weekly service of the Forefather, there are warm memories of the holy Jews of the Old Testament: “The splendor of women also rejoices with them: Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Anna, and the glorious Mariam of Moses is large" (stichera in Praise). Esther is not in this list. In the calendars of the Moscow Patriarchate, the name of Esther is absent until 1977. " It is difficult to say why Esther was not mentioned in the calendars of the Moscow Patriarchate, but this is not the most important thing. The stichera quoted by Father Andrew is taken from the Service of the Holy Fathers. And Esther is remembered on the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers: “Your stronghold of ancient times made the daughters, Lord, Anna and Judith and Deborah, Olda, Jael, Esther, Sarah, Miriam and Moses, Rachel and Rebekah and Ruth, wise” (1st troparion 9th ode of the canon of the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers). "The highest, divine evaluation of the actions of Esther and Mordecai is not in the Bible.

In the Hebrew text of the book of Esther, the name of God is never mentioned at all... Before us is a historical legend rather than a revelation of God," says Father Andrew (and in the first edition, it is generally categorical: "This is a historical legend, not a revelation of God") Father Andrew gives evidence that both the Jews and the early Christians doubted the canonicity of this book.

But the Church rejected their doubts! It is all the more strange that Father Andrew in this regard quotes another enemy of the book of Esther - Martin Luther, whose desire to adjust the Bible to his taste reached the point that he rejected the canonicity of the Apocalypse and the Epistle of James (with his thesis "Faith" that is deadly for Luther's theology). dead without work"). Yes, and Purim, which Father Andrei calls - within one paragraph - "the day of deliberately unpunished mass murders", "the day of the pogrom", "the day of the murder of thousands of children", was celebrated by the Old Testament Church (see the introduction to the book of Esther in the Explanatory Bible edited by Lopukhin ).

And, as we see from the service on the week of the Holy Forefathers (“By Thy strength, of old, I made my daughter…”), Church Tradition, despite the silence of the Jewish Masoretic text, also connects the deeds of Esther with the help of God. In one and, perhaps, the most important thing, we unconditionally agree with Father Andrei. For us, Purim is ancient history. For the Jews, at least for a certain part of them, this is still a model of attitude towards the outside world. The problems posed by Father Andrei in his book are very relevant.

But we, Orthodox Christians, in polemics with modern liberal journalists, who often bear Jewish surnames, may we not dare to condemn the Old Testament righteous - Abraham, Joshua, David, Esther - from the height of New Testament morality. "So is it unfounded the assumption that in the minds of the Jewish leaders of the International, the women's revolutionary movement was associated with the name of Esther, and March 8 was chosen by them due to their habit of celebrating the family holiday Purim these days?" Father Andrew asks. In the light of everything that he himself puts forward in support of his hypothesis, his question can be answered categorically - without foundation.

The idea belonged to a non-Jewish woman, to penetrate into the minds of the long-dead "Jewish leaders" and check the existence of the association "women's revolutionary movement - Esther" is unlikely to be dared by the most sophisticated telepath, and why exactly March 8 became for them a surrogate for the usual " family holiday", and remained unexplained. Moreover, the following conclusion is unacceptable: from the fact that March 8 is Purim, Father Andrei concludes that February 23 is also Purim. - This is February 23 old. Here's the answer - why "men's" day and "women's" so close to each other. When the European brothers in the International celebrated "the eighth of March", in Russia this day was called "the twenty-third of February". Therefore, in the pre-revolutionary years, party members and sympathizers were accustomed to consider February 23 a holiday. Then the calendar was changed, but the reflex remained to celebrate something revolutionary on February 23rd. The date was. In principle (given the floating nature of Purim), this date is no worse and no better than March 8th. But - it was necessary to find a cover for her.

A few years later, the corresponding myth was created: "Day of the Red Army". The memory of the first battle and the first victory. Here, perhaps the most valuable consideration is that for the celebration of Purim on February 23, "no worse and no better" than March 8. In other words, neither one nor the other has nothing to do with Purim But for some reason, Father Andrei makes the exact opposite conclusion, and February 23 also becomes Purim (moreover, its "male" version - maybe the Jews thereby wanted to glorify the protagonist of the book Esther Mordecai?). penetration into the depths of psychology - "remained a reflex to celebrate something revolutionary."

In a word, it's not about people (even if not very good ones), but about Pavlov's dogs. And when did this reflex develop? Women's Day in Russia (actually, in those years it was not a holiday at all, but a day of struggle for rights) was celebrated for the first time on March 2 (according to New Style), 1913 - at that time the date had not been worked out throughout Europe. A single day on March 8 (= February 23 according to the old style) throughout Europe, including Russia, was established only in 1914. (As Kuraev's meticulous critics found out, that year Purim was celebrated on March 12, but Father Andrey is not embarrassed by this: "Where is Purim here? Yes, next to it: it was Sunday, the closest before Purim. Prefeast, so to speak ...").

So February 23, like March 8, has nothing to do with Purim (except that all three occur within the same month). Another thing is that the events near Narva, which are very dubious for the Red Army, to which we owe the establishment of the Defender of the Fatherland Day on February 23, in fact, hardly deserve a nationwide celebration. In the history of Russian weapons, there were much more significant victories. But the date of February 23 has been fixed - whether we like it or not. Perhaps, in fact, a less far-fetched date should have been chosen?

Theoretically, this is quite possible, given the conventionality of "February 23". And practically - it is absolutely unrealistic. Even if all the Purim studies of Father Andrei turned out to be true, it would hardly have any meaning for those who are used to celebrating "their" day in the circle of comrades on February 23rd. Who would be embarrassed that on this day someone once seemed to celebrate Purim? Or even the fact that the February Revolution began on that day?

We, Orthodox Christians, have a wonderful, but, unfortunately, not yet become a national holiday - the Week of the Myrrh-Bearing Women, celebrated two weeks after Easter. Of course, ideally, it should be "more important" than "International Women's Day", which is not rooted in church tradition.

But to congratulate a mother or a teacher, especially if we are talking about a non-church person, is still quite acceptable from March 8, and Father Andrei himself admits this: “However, it’s a sin to congratulate a colleague in secular work on the“ women’s holiday ” , will not". "Of course kind word wish women all the best, and it’s better to do this not only on this day, but more often,” explained Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, deputy chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, on March 8 last year. Another thing is that this day, as a rule, falls on the Great fasting, which is incompatible with entertainment.So you can congratulate, but you should avoid a feast with a fast and drinking at work.

P.S. And what about our foreign brothers in Christ? Father Andrey insists that March 8 is unknown abroad, because in countries where the revolution has bogged down, the "revolutionary holiday" has not taken root. This statement needs to be corrected. Here is an excerpt from last year's RIA "Novosti" message: - The peculiarity of the celebration of March 8 in Greece is that this date is perceived here exclusively as a day when women's struggle for their rights is paid tribute to. Archbishop of Athens and All Hellas Christodoulos addressed the Greek women on the occasion of International Women's Day. "The Church rejoices in the rights of women and always prays for their spiritual exaltation in all the peoples of the Earth. This day is dedicated throughout the world to the rights of women, and rightly so: a woman is not a thing, not a vessel of dishonor and an object of enslavement. She is God's creation, an adornment of a husband and pillar of civilization,” writes the Primate of the Greek Church.

Even a preschooler will tell without hesitation that March 8 is annually celebrated as a bouquet and candy International Women's Day, but not every adult is familiar with unusual story this beloved holiday. How did the tradition of congratulating the beautiful half of humanity originate, and what exactly was the reason for the appearance of this wonderful spring holiday on the calendar?

Origin story

The historical roots of a fun and flower-filled holiday have a feminist and political flavor. For the first time, the day of March 8 appears in the events of the distant 1901. On that day, American housewives filled the streets of Chicago with pots and pans turned upside down. So original way they wanted to attract the attention of society and the authorities. The procession participants demanded the equalization of political rights, respect for themselves, the opportunity to work in production and serve in the army next to men. Seven years later, the feminists repeated their demands, but on a national scale. After that, National Women's Day was proclaimed in the United States.

The parent of International Women's Day is Clara Zetkin, a German communist, a female reformer who made a huge contribution to upholding women's rights. It was she who, as the leader of the women's group of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, in a difficult year for the communists in 1910 at the International Women's Conference, made a proposal to establish the Day of Solidarity of Working Women of the World.

Clara Zetkin believed that annual holiday, celebrated on the same day, will unite women from different countries in the struggle for equal rights. The main purpose of the new holiday was the struggle for freedom and equality of female workers. This initiative received a response in the form of a wave of rallies that swept through Europe. The first women's holidays in different countries were celebrated on different dates in March. And only in 1914 did the workers of the world celebrate their holiday on March 8.

On March 8, 1957, women workers in New York garment factories came out to fight for their rights. They actively demanded better working conditions, a reduction in the inhuman 16-hour work day, and an increase in wages that were meager compared to men. wages. As a result of this event, a women's trade union appeared, which continued its activities in the future.

The United Nations adopted International Women's Day in 1975, this year was also declared the International Year of Women, and the next ten years, from 1976 to 1985, were proclaimed the International Decade of Women. In 1977, a resolution was issued according to which the Day of the struggle for the rights of women was dated for March 8th. Now the spring women's holiday is celebrated in more than 30 countries around the world. In some states, it is still a working day.

In Russia, Women's Day was first celebrated in pre-revolutionary St. Petersburg on March 2, 1913. On that day, the government-approved "Scientific Morning on Women's Issues" was held, with issues of motherhood, inflation, and women's voting rights on the agenda. The event was attended by one and a half thousand people.

In the revolutionary year of 1917, the current government did not allow the women of St. Petersburg to celebrate the international women's holiday. Attempts to join the women of other countries ended in clashes that turned into a demonstration and into the February revolution. In 1921, at a meeting of the 2nd Communist Women's Conference, it was decided to coincide with the celebration of March 8 in memory of this demonstration, which unwittingly became a harbinger of the February revolution.

In the new Soviet state, Women's Day immediately received the status of a holiday, but continued to be a working day. The workers of Soviet enterprises gradually received equal rights with men to the opportunity to work, and to legal rest, and to receive education, and to govern the state. Freed from oppression, Soviet women morally supported their friends from the capitalist countries at rallies and meetings.

On a holiday, Soviet ladies were not given flowers or gifts, but they used to be released from work, awarded diplomas, thanks and prizes. There is evidence that in some stores, female employees were pleased with pleasant discounts. True, the discounts were not on perfumes and cosmetics, but on galoshes - shoes that were relevant in those days.

International Women's Day was declared an official holiday in the Soviet Union in May 1965. Since 1966, March 8 has been a public holiday. Gradually, Women's Day lost its original political overtones and violent connotations of feminism. Also in Soviet times there was a good tradition to give ladies flowers, sweets, cards and gifts.

In Russia, Women's Day was officially included in the list of public holidays of the Russian Federation in 2002. Under the new conditions, it gradually became a day of admiration for women, mothers, and wives. On March 8, men are especially gallant and courageous. They are happy to take on women's duties and free the fairer sex from household work and everyday affairs.

DAY AFTER TOMORROW not only Russia, but the whole world will celebrate International Women's Day. The celebration of March 8 in modern Russia is associated primarily with an extra day off and obligatory flowers and gifts for women, while the original political and social meanings of the date are almost ignored. However, this was not always the case. We understand how International Women's Day appeared, why today March 8 is perceived differently than a hundred years ago, and how it can be celebrated.

daria tatarkova

Was March 8 always
"Women's Day"?

Yes and no. The two main gender-defined holidays have been inherited by modern Russia from Soviet times. February 23 and March 8 were not so unambiguous at the time of their occurrence. They came up with the idea of ​​celebrating the 23rd in 1922 as the Day of the Red Army and Navy, over time the name was changed twice, and those marking quite strongly deviated from the essence. Instead of honoring military personnel, February 23 gradually became a day to celebrate all men and the idea of ​​masculinity. A similar fate and have 8 March. Invented as a symbol of the struggle for gender equality and respect for women's work, the holiday has become just an excuse to give a woman a gift once a year, except for her birthday. In modern folklore, the essence of International Women's Day was fully expressed by the phrase "be quiet, woman, your day is March 8" (3 million results in the Yandex search), and the most popular joke on VKontakte about the holiday remains, for example, this video.

How did it appear
International Women's Day?

The date was coined by the socialist movement. In February 1909, the women of New York took to the streets demanding equal pay and giving women the right to vote - it's amazing that a century later, the question of wages is still open. German socialists and the notorious communist Clara Zetkin together with Rosa Luxembourg in next year at the Women's Conference agreed that a holiday was needed that would promote equal rights for women, including suffragette ideas.

The celebration reached 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, March 8, according to the new style), the strike of textile workers and the subsequent organized procession demanding equal rights for women became one of the triggers for a further wave of protests that led to the February Revolution. Coincident in date with one of the most important turning points in the history of Russia, the holiday as a tradition has become stronger in the USSR. Until about the 70s, March 8 was primarily associated with the participants in the revolution and their successful struggle for the independence of women. One way or another, the history of the holiday in the West and in Russia shows that, first of all, it was invented as an instrument of emancipation and popularization of respect for women.

Why is it customary in Russia to give gifts on this day,
rather than strike for equal pay?

History is silent when and why marches 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 1930s, the much-needed zhenotdels, which were engaged in agitation, education, assistance and the struggle for women's rights, were abolished. 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 like 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 died out. Today, the holiday has finally turned into a day of following stereotypes about women. This is also noticeable in traditional gifts, and according to the description of International Women's Day on the Russian-speaking Internet. According to the Levada Center, in Russia the most popular

gifts on March 8 are 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 much more capable than women. The gender of the survey participants was not specified.

Where else is March 8 celebrated?

International Women's Day is recognized as an official holiday not only in Russia, North Korea and China, but also, for example, in Burkina Faso. In the rest of the world, March 8 is not considered public holiday, however, is gaining more and more popularity every year, while maintaining a feminist bias. The main promoter of the date today is the United Nations. In 1977, the United Nations invited the participating countries to choose any day to sing the ideas of women's equality and world peace, they became March 8.

Countries that supported the UN primarily use the holiday as an occasion to raise social issues important to women. From year to year, the UN selects a priority topic on which efforts will be directed. In 2013 it was an opposition to violence against women, last year - "Equality for women - progress for all." In 2015 - "Inspiring Women - Inspiring Humanity". The purple ribbon is the symbol of the holiday.

As noted
March 8 this year?

This year's theme comes with the #MakeItHappen hashtag. In Afghanistan, men donned burkas and protested to support women's rights. In India, March 8 this year has become a date against which women continue to demand justice for the victims of violence, who are not protected by law or society. Many publications focus on remembering the origins of the date, and offer to mark it not with flowers, but with a call to action and attention, for example, to key health issues and brave feminists in world history. Forbes explains the real difference in the salaries of men and women and gives advice on how each can improve the situation. Among other things
On March 8, the #UpForSchool petition will be launched to get world leaders to educate 31 million boys and girls around the world.

Today, the Internet plays a key role in making International Women's Day a part of global pop culture. Since 2000, the number of searches on Google in the format "International Women's Day + current year" has grown from 49 million to 196 - that is, 4 times. Specifically, in 2015, on the eve of the holiday, a hashtag appeared #DearMe, under which video bloggers send inspiring messages to themselves - a teenager from the past. This, perhaps naive approach has resonated with the audience, and girls from all over the world write grateful comments for moral support. The hashtag became number one on the service. Many YouTubers just focus on gender role-themed videos, like Kristen from Stuff Mom Never Told You. Must see sketch about "gender rolls" - behind the funny wordplay lies a clear and relevant message that it's time to stop imposing behavior patterns on us depending on biological sex. Social networks the matter, of course, is not limited. Internet favorite and UN Women's Rights Envoy Emma Watson, for example, will host a Q&A on International Women's Day and answer all the viewers' questions about sexism and inequality. By the way, this is a great way to celebrate.

Women, therefore, have
meaningful holiday,
but what about men?

What other days do they celebrate
important events for women?

The UN actively promotes March 8 as a universal date, but there are several other major holidays. One of them is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. It is celebrated on November 25 to commemorate the Mirabal sisters who were killed in the Dominican Republic. Violence against women is still an incredibly common problem that is often not brought to justice. On this day, countries are encouraged to hold events that increase publicity of the problem and talk about ways to solve it.

October 15 marks the International Day of Rural Women, whose rights are sometimes given very little attention. In South Africa, they celebrate their women's day - August 9 - and at the state level. The date is intended to commemorate the struggle of local activists against the tyranny of the apartheid government. So, on August 9, 1956, they prevented the introduction of compulsory passportization of women in South Africa.

About the history of the holiday on March 8, why exactly March 8 became Women's Day, when and how it was first celebrated March 8. This is a story about the holiday of March 8 for adults and children. Teachers can use the materials in this article when developing holiday class hours and scenarios dedicated to March 8.

Today, almost the entire planet celebrates March 8 as a day of worship. real woman, her beauty, wisdom and femininity that save the world.

From the history of the holiday on March 8

This beloved holiday on March 8 dates back to the traditions of Ancient Rome in the 1st century BC. It was believed that the goddess Juno, wife of the great Jupiter, was endowed with great power and had great opportunities. She had many names: Juno-Calendariya, Juno-Moneta. .. She gave people good weather, harvest, good luck in business and opened every month of the year. But most of all, the Romans bowed before Juno - Lucius (“bright”), patronizing women in general, and especially during childbirth. She was revered in every home, she was brought gifts upon marriage and at the birth of a child.

The most joyful for the female half of Rome was the holiday of March 1, dedicated to this goddess and called the Matrons. Then the whole city changed. Festively dressed women walked with wreaths of flowers in their hands to the temple of Juno Lucius. They prayed, brought flowers as a gift and asked their patroness for happiness in the family. It was a holiday not only for respectable Roman women, but also for slaves, whose work on this day was performed by male slaves. On March 1, men gave generous gifts to their wives, relatives and girlfriends, did not bypass the attention of maids and slaves ...

IN modern world Women's Day is celebrated on March 8th. The history of this holiday began in the 19th century, and it was timed to coincide with the day of the struggle for women's rights. It was on March 8, 1857 that a demonstration of workers of clothing and shoe factories took place in New York. Then they demanded that they be given a ten-hour day, acceptable working conditions and equal pay with men. Before that, women worked 16 hours a day and received mere pennies for this. After March 8, 1857, women's unions began to appear, and for the first time women were given the right to vote. But only in 1910, at the International Women's Conference of Socialists in Copenhagen, Clara Zetkin was asked to celebrate World Women's Day on March 8th. It was a kind of call to women all over the world to join the struggle for independence and equality; and they responded by joining the struggle for the right to work, respect for their dignity, for peace on earth. For the first time this holiday was celebrated in 1911, but only on March 19, in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. Then more than a million men and women took to the streets of these countries, and the demonstration was held under the slogan: "Elective rights of workers - to join forces in the struggle for socialism." In Russia, International Women's Day was first celebrated in 1913 in St. Petersburg. Its organizers called for economic and political equality for women. One of the most powerful performances of women took place in Petrograd on March 7, 1917. And in 1976, International Women's Day was officially recognized by the UN.

Today, March 8, is a holiday of spring and light, a tribute to the traditional role of a woman as a wife, mother, friend.

Who was the founder of the holidays on March 8: Clara Zetkin or Esther?

Many may have a question: was Clara Zetkin the only ancestor of March 8? Historians also believe that the celebration of this celebration is connected with the legend of Esther. Many centuries ago, she saved her people from a terrible death. Therefore, the most cheerful holiday of the Jewish people, the holiday of Purim, is dedicated to her. It is celebrated almost at the same time as International Women's Day: at the end of winter - beginning of spring, on March 4th.

Once, in 480 BC, all the Jews captured by the Babylonians gained freedom and could freely return to Jerusalem. However, there were practically no people who wanted to leave Babylon, where the Jews spent almost their entire lives. Hundreds of thousands of Jews remained in the Persian Empire, and not at all as a labor force. Many of them managed to get a very good job and earn a good living.

Over time, the Jews took root in Babylon so much that even the indigenous people no longer understood who conquered whom: the Persians of Jerusalem or the Jews of Babylon. Then one of the ministers of the powerful ruler of Xerxes - Haman - came to the king and told him that the Jews had flooded their state. Xerxes decided to exterminate all the Jews.

About the terrible plan of Xerxes, his wife Esther accidentally found out, who hid her ethnic origin from her husband (she was Jewish). Clever Esther did not beg the king for mercy, but decided to use Xerxes' love for herself. When the king was under the influence of her spell, she took from him a promise to exterminate all the enemies of her people. Xerxes agreed to everything, and only some time later he discovered that he had promised his beloved wife to destroy all the enemies of the Jews, but it was no longer possible to retreat ...

And on Adar 13 (the month of the Jewish calendar: approximately the end of February - the beginning of March), a royal decree regarding pogroms is distributed throughout the Persian Empire. But it was radically different from what was originally intended to be created: this decree of Xerxes made it possible to compose Esther and her cousin and teacher Mordecai.

“And the royal scribes were called, and everything was written as Mordecai ordered to the rulers of one hundred and twenty-seven regions on behalf of the king - that the king allows the Jews who are in every city to gather and stand in defense of their lives, to destroy, to kill and destroy all the mighty in the people and in the region that are at enmity with them, children and wives, and plunder their possessions ”(Est 8, 8-11). And for two days, “all the princes in the regions, both the satraps and the executors of the king’s affairs, supported the Jews. And the Jews beat all their enemies, and destroyed them, and dealt with the enemies according to their own will" (Est 9, 3-5).

Minister Haman, who gave Xerxes the idea of ​​exterminating the Jews, was executed by hanging along with his entire family. During this struggle, about 75 thousand Persians were destroyed. The Persian Empire was practically destroyed. The day of this significant victory for the Jews is honored and celebrated to this day.

Among the greatest sages, “there is even an opinion that when all the books of the prophets and hagiographers are forgotten, the book of Esther will still not be forgotten, and the Purim holiday will not cease to be observed.”

Perhaps this legend was true, and Esther really saved her people. And in gratitude for such a feat, the Jews honor the savior at the present time, celebrating Purim. And everyone understands that such a legend about the celebration world day women also have a right to exist.