International Women's Day was born out of the Women's suffrage movement in the United States in 1908 as "National Women's Day," and ratified as an official international day in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1911.  Since then, it has been variously seen as a time to assert women's political and social rights, to review the progress that women have made, as a day of celebration and unification.  On its 50th anniversary in 1960, delegates from 73 countries again convened in Copenhagen, where they adopted a general declaration supporting the political, economic and social rights of women.  And in 1975 - deemed "International Women's Year" at the height of the Women's Rights movement - International Women's Day was given official recognition by the United Nations and taken up by many governments who had not previously known of its existence. It was nearly two decades later, in 1994, that Congress, urged on by Polish immigrant and Woman's Day USA advocate Beata Pozniak, passed H.J. Resolution 316, at last making International Women's Day official in the U.S.
 

March is Women's History Month

National Women's History Month grew out of a single week and a local event begun in Sonoma County, California in 1978.  Recognizing that, in order to provide a more balanced understanding of our human experience, it was important to include Women's History in their children's education, county leaders introduced Women's History Week into their elementary and high school curriculum - selecting the week starting March 8th which had by then become the official date for International Women's Day.  By 1981 the thought had caught on, and Congress passed a resolution designating the week as a national celebration, later expanding it to the full month of March in 1987.
 

The Art of LIVING Coalition's
Annual International Women's Day Events

The Art of LIVING Coalition began producing its annual International Women's Day Celebrations in 1999, out of an intention on founder Frankie Lee Slater's part, to bring Women's Day into the present - where it can better represent what it means to be a Woman today, empower Women and Men alike to play their part in ushering in a higher level of conscious living, engender greater balance in our society, and model what is possible when we affirm our connection and create out of this awareness.

Starting with Women's Day 1999 "We Are the Weavers, We Are the Weave", continuing in 2000 with "We Are All Artists of LIFE", in 2001 with "Celebrating the Mystery", in 2003 with "Cosion", and again this year with "Affirming Our Connection" that began with "The Great Sun Circles" in 1996, the Coalition brought many communities together into one larger community - inviting women and men who are artists and musicians, leaders of various movement, performance, environmental, spiritual, women's and men's groups across the greater Los Angeles area to co-create the experience in unison.   The connectivity created spanned far beyond the events themselves to broader and broader circles of relationship that were seeded then and have continued to flourish since.

The impetus to create a new kind of Women's Day for the 21st Century,  came out of an observation that International Women's Day had lost much of its luster, having become relegated to awards luncheons with so-called "important women" up in front of the room while everyone else sat passively in the audience, and angry women "going up against" without the skill level to actualize the outcomes they were seeking.  Though widely celebrated in other parts of the world, the day had lain fallow for so long here in the United States that it existed beyond the conscious awareness of whole generations who could have been benefiting.

Why Celebrate Women's Day?

In asking the questions, "How might our lives have been different if Women's Day had been a consistent presence as we were growing up and throughout our lives?  How might they be different now?" the answers compelled us to breathe new life into the day.

In earlier times, young women were brought into the ways of woman as a natural part of their upbringing.  Seasonal celebrations to the goddess, throughout many cultures - to Brigit,  Athena, Yemaya - kept the people connected to the feminine, to the rhythm and flow of life.  Nurturing and caring for others extended far beyond ones ability to bear children, yet Mother's Day is the one day which honors women that made it through to modern times in this country.

Foundationally, a young woman needs first to love and understand what it is to be a woman before jumping straight to a role, even that of motherhood - especially in this age when many women are following paths other than the traditional.  Add to that Secretary's Day and Take Our Daughters to Work Day, well intended as they may be, and you've got women defined by their doing, rather than their being.  At odds with themselves, many American women are caught in this mechanized worldview, working to achieve and make it on their own, angry about not being taken care of, often in opposition to men while they yearn for relationship, without knowing how to release their energy to create what they see to be possible or the skills to be in union.

Women's Day has a place in the world today - to honor women, support them in owning their true power, help free them to be their authentic selves and affirm the leadership roles they are playing - and also to serve a new purpose in helping us keep sight of our essential connection, bring balance and a more enlightened way of being into the world for men and women and nations alike.