International Women's Day 2019: Everything you need to know

International Womens Day is celebrated on March 8 every year It is a day when the world comes together to appreciate womanhood and their importance in society The day also celebrates the social economic cultural and political achievements of womenHistoryEarlier it was called National womans day and was acknowledged by the US on February 28 1909 This was done because of the labour movement which was started in 1908 where 15000 female employees went on strike in New York City to protest against poor working conditionsNational Womens Day was recognised as International Womens Day only in 1910 after German womenrsquos rights activist Clara Zetkin suggested at an International ConferenceThemesThis year the themes for International Womenrsquos Day are BalanceforBetter which is described on IWDrsquos website as a ldquocalltoaction for driving gender balance across the worldrdquo and More Powerful Together The themes stress upon the need for more men to get involved in the fight against gender equality and feminismLets build a genderbalanced world Everyone has a part to play all the time everywhere the IWD official website says Why March 8It was on this day that women in Soviet Russia gained the right the vote in 1917 hence March 8 was declared a national holiday for them The United Nations General Assembly invited member states to proclaim March 8 as the UN Day for womens rights and world peace in 1977For those who are wondering if there is a Mens Day too there is It is celebrated on November 19ColourInterestingly purple is a colour for symbolising women It has been associated with womens fight for gender equality The combination of green purple and white was also used earlier Purple symbolises justice and dignity while Green stands for hope White represents purity but it is no longer used because purity is a controversial subjectWomens history is full of pioneers who have broken gender barriers and were the firsts in their fieldsFirst Indian female physician Anandibai Gopalrao JoshiCountrys first woman autorickshaw driver Shila DawreFirst female amputee to climb Mount Everest Arunima SinhaFirst woman to score a double hundred in Test Cricket Mithali RajFirst Indian woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize Mother TeresaFirst woman Prime Minister of India Indira GandhiFirst woman President of India Pratibha PatilFirst Indian woman to reach space Kalpana ChawlaFirst woman police officer Kiran BediFirst Indian woman to win the Womens Tennis Association Sania MirzaOnly woman boxer who has won a medal in each of the six World Championships Mary KomFirst Indian woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest Bachendri PalFirst Indian female pilot and captain of Indian Airlines Durga BanerjeeFirst lady cadet in Indian Army Priya JhinganThe writer of a book titled New Age Fairy Tales Ariana Gupta spoke to midday and said I think we get to read a lot about womenrsquos achievements on womanrsquos day but apart from the WhatsApp forwards there isnrsquot a drastic change in how women are treated Yes they might receive a little more attention than usual but thatrsquos about it As soon as the day is over the sexism returns and everythingrsquos back to how it wasShe also touched upon how women are stereotyped all the time in our society When asked about some of them she said In my opinion one of the worst stereotypes that I have come across would be where women are still always expected to compromise their work life when they want to start a family because women are still seen as primary caregiversSo this year lets pledge to not just celebrate womens day on March 8 but throughout our livesCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates