#international woman's day

[stylesispunk]

[but-a-humble-goon]

Shout out to that one time Playstation made some official International Woman's Day art featuring all their various strong female characters and it was so ill concieved hilariously one of them was just Lady Maria slumped over dead as a doornail presumably waiting for some poor unsuspecting schmuck to wander in and trigger her bossfight.

[girlactionfigure]

When she was a baby, she was given the nickname, “Schne”. Translated it means "a gentle breeze."

“She was a young woman who loved to sing, dance and travel,” according to writer Deutsche Welle.

But, in her country, like many countries, she didn’t have the freedom, to be herself, to even allow her hair to be caressed by a gentle breeze.

According to journalist and activist Masih Alinejad, “Schne” had told her mother:

I can’t choose what I wear . . . I don’t have the right to dance in public. By law, I’m not allowed to be myself. “‘I’m already dead,’” she said, according to journalist and activist Masih Alinejad.

She knew the dangers.

There was an ever-present fear of the police and the Guidance Patrols, widely known as "morality police," her aunt says.

“But when I go to the streets,” she said. “I have a dream. And that makes me alive.”

In 2022, Jina “Mahsa” Amini was with family visiting her brother when she was arrested for “improperly” wearing her hijab, according to Forbes. She was brought to a police station.

Her aunt says she heard what happened from one of the two cousins who avoided detention, according to Welle. She resisted being arrested, but she was still forced into the vehicle. The cousin followed the "morality police" to the police station, she says, and around two hours after the young woman’s arrest, some young women ran out of the station screaming "They killed her!"

According to writer Maggie McGrath, “after reports of the horrific incident emerged (thanks in part to reporters Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi, whom the Iranian regime has since jailed), protests erupted across Iran. They were led by women who tore off their hijabs, cut their hair and adopted a rallying cry of ‘women, life, freedom.’”

March 8 was International Women’s Day.

“Over 2.5 billion women and girls around the world are affected by discriminatory laws and the lack of legal protections, often in multiple ways,” according to the United Nations.

See the UN’s Infographic on Women's rights and the law in comments below.

In a speech ahead of International Women’s Day, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned, “Decades of global progress on women’s rights are ‘vanishing before our eyes,’ arguing sexual abuse, a lack of educational and employment opportunities and the rollback of reproductive rights have pushed the goal of gender equality ‘300 years away.’”

“It's a fundamental human right for girls and women to live autonomous lives, building futures for themselves that reflect their innermost dreams and desires,” said Jessica Giusti, deputy director of communications for Girl’s Up, writing for Newsweek. “But sweeping attacks on female agency—bodily, intellectually, and otherwise—from Afghanistan, to Iran, to the United States and beyond, deny girls and women their power and capacity to thrive.”

This is a new story for the Jon S. Randal Peace Page. The Peace Page focuses on past and present stories seldom told of lives forgotten, ignored, or dismissed. The stories are gathered from writers, journalists, and historians to share awareness and foster understanding, to bring people together. And, as such, the stories this month for Women’s History Month are never relegated to one single month - they are available all year in the Peace Page archives and on this page each week throughout the year. We encourage you to learn more about the individuals and events mentioned here and to support the writers, educators, and historians whose words we present.

~~~~~

Ashkan Amini, Jina Mahsa Amini's brother, wrote on Instagram on October 11, 2022:

"We never imagined the day would come when our mother would fall asleep crying on your bed, while our father sat in the corner of the room hiding his tears from us, and that I wouldn't be able to bring myself to open the glove box of my car in case I caught sight of your hijab. ... My only wish is to embrace you one more time ..."

“For girls and women the world over, the fight for humanity and dignity is as alive as ever,” wrote Giusti.

“Girls in Afghanistan are forbidden under order of the Taliban to attend public and private universities, following an edict . . . that kept children and young women from continuing their middle school and high school educations. The strict dress code enforced by Iran's "morality police," which launched massive, ongoing protests . . . following the death of 22-year-old Jina "Mahsa" Amini, while in police custody, prevents girls and women from expressing their own individualism, religion, and cultural identities safely and authentically.”

UN Secretary General Guterres pointed to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, where he said “women and girls have been erased from public life . . . girls have been barred from attending school past the sixth grade and women have been ordered to cover their faces in public and stay at home unless of a case of necessity.”

“In Ukraine, investigators have found widespread instances of sexual abuse by Russian forces, following the Kremlin’s invasion of the country last year, including rape and forced nudity—Russian officials have denied allegations its troops have committed human rights abuses on civilians. A U.N. report released in November found instances of Russian troops targeting girls as young as four years old and as old as 80.”

~~~~~

“Women's History Month is not just about celebrating famous figures but also about recognizing everyday heroes who make a difference in their communities,” according to writer Tricia Goss.

“On International Women’s Day, do we pay enough attention to those courageous women breaking new ground for the next generation, whether they are pointed out to us by international film crews in faraway places or whether they are right here serving others at our local nonprofits?,” wrote Susana Villegas of the San Diego Union Tribune.

“Mahsa Amini is now a global symbol for freedom, not just in Iran,” says Nina Ansary, a historian and women’s rights activist.

She was an ordinary woman to whom thousands could relate, according to Hadi Ghaemi, the founder of the Center for Human Rights in Iran. “She wasn’t an activist. Her face and her experience were very intimately and tangibly familiar to every family in Iran, because every time their mothers, sisters, and their daughters go out of the house, they have been harassed by the morality police, or detained or even beaten.”

Like Mahsa Amini, there are "anonymous mothers, daughters, grandmothers, granddaughters, sisters, aunts and childhood friends whose faces we see in the news demonstrating on the streets and in the schools of Tehran, Mexico City, Delhi, Tigray, Kabul, Abuja, Islamabad, Manila, and, yes, Washington, D.C. Namelessly, they persevere to simply exercise their rights to be who they choose to be.”

On Mahsa Amini’s tombstone is written "Dear Jina, you won't die. Your name will become a symbol."

~ jsr

The Jon S. Randal Peace Page

[silurisanguine]

Happy International Woman's day to many of my bad ass OCs!

[forpsalms]

Palestinian woman from Tayyaha tribe, Beer al-Sabe (Palestine), 1962

[carolinareyestorres]

Otra cosa insoportable n este #8M son esas chicas geniales q postean frases del tipo "no le debo nada al feminismo" un nivel de ignorancia hermana. Todo lo q damos x sentado en nuestra actualidad es xq otro grupo de mujeres antes dio hasta la vida para conseguirlo.

[elrincondejua]

[inogart]

International Woman's Day!

[docgold13]

[the-officially-kat]

"I’M A MOTHERF%CKIN’ WOMAN”

Happy International Woman’s Day to every beautiful being who identifies as a woman, may we all channel the energy of Harley Quinn confidently beating up an entire police station

[iluvsumbucky]

Wishing a

To all you

Women!!! I hope you all have a wonderful day full of love, happiness & laughter, y'all deserve it not just today but every day!!!

[sadlittlewanderingghost]

REMEBER NOT TO BE SEXIST PEICE OF SHITS TO WOMEN!!!!! (and dont use this as and exuces to be transphic either)

[midgeo]

“The greatest creation of God is a woman. Wishing you a Happy International Women’s Day 2024!”

[girlactionfigure]

In honor of International Woman's Day!

Jewish Humor

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

International Women's Day leftover...  [h/t Ian Sanders]

[ryansbedroom]