A ride for Women, Trans, Femme, and GNC friends!
International Women’s Day
Tuesday, March, 8, 7-9:30p
Powderhorn Park
7p Meet at Powderhorn Park
8p Arrive at Butter Bakery: 3700 Nicollet Ave S
If you benefit from cis-male privilege, please sit this ride out- thank you for respecting our space.
2012 Grease Rag International Women’s Day Ride
2016 “Pledging for Gender Parity”
In 1975, which was designated as International Women’s Year, the United Nations gave official sanction to, and began sponsoring, International Women’s Day. Now, every year, the UN designates a political and human rights theme to IWD. 2016 is “Pledge for Parity”. The gender gap is real. REAL HUGE. And if you are a cis person or a white person or a person with economic privilege, recognize that the effects of the gender gap are more dramatic if you are POC, poor, and transgender.
The World Economic Forum predicted in 2014 that it would take until 2095 to achieve global gender parity. Then one year later in 2015, they estimated that a slowdown in the already glacial pace of progress meant the gender gap wouldn’t close entirely until 2133.
Everyone – men and women – can pledge to take a concrete step to help achieve gender parity more quickly – whether to help women and girls achieve their ambitions, call for gender-balanced leadership, respect and value difference, develop more inclusive and flexible cultures or root out workplace bias. Each of us can be a leader within our own spheres of influence and commit to take pragmatic action to accelerate gender parity.
Labor History: International Working Women’s Day
International Women’s Day, formerly known as International Working Women’s Day, did not start in 1975. In the late 1800’s the oppression of women politically, economically and socially was becoming unbearable, and globally, strong women were beginning to unite, campaign and speak OUT to demand rights, equality, humane working conditions and the right to vote. Many national celebrations of womanhood were organized around the globe in the early 1900’s.
Women have been politically active, organizing labor unions, striking, protesting, and fighting for every cent of the 77 that we earn compared to a man’s $1*, and for rights to manage our own bodies for much longer than International Women’s Day has been around. I mention this because I love IWD, but it’s important to me to recognize that we have been proud radical organizers since before it was sanctioned or recognized!
*2010 Census Data (There would be an even greater inequity if we broke this down by race.)
Google Doodle: One Day I Will…
Google Doodle made this video for International Women’s Day, about seeing the possibilities for women, globally.
Honoring those who came before us
I mourn the young Jewish and Italian immigrant women at the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in 1911, and celebrate the hard work done to liberate and protect workers of the world, even as tragedies like the 2012 Dhaka Bangledsh fire are still happening as we value cheap goods over human lives. Women and poor immigrants are most affected by this lack of protections for labor.
I am inspired with individuals like Annie Londonderry, breaking down gender barriers with a bike and a ton of heart.
I am encouraged by the women who worked and starved and bled and died for suffrage in this country. Especially the Black suffragettes who were not able to exercise their right to vote, universally in this country, until the 1960’s, even though the 19th amendment was ratified in 1920.
I stand with Slyvia Rivera, Marsha P. Johnson, and other transgender advocates fighting for justice before and after the Stonewall Uprising. Without their demands for the voices of people of color and low income trans people be heard the gay rights movement would look a lot more white, a lot more privileged, and a lot more cis than it currently is.
I am proud of movements like #BlackLivesMatter, started and guided by the wisdom and strength of queer black women: Alicia Garza, Opal Tometi, Patrisse Cullors
Celebrate together
For me, personally, the concept of “woman” is not the most useful category, as it does not contain me, or even my “womaness.” I celebrate this day as a WTF day of action, organizing, and solidarity.
Grease Rag WTF Friends- Let’s do what we do best!! Get together and ride and tell stories about what International Women’s Day means to us.