Far too many people mistake the 8th of March for some sort of Valentine’s Day, to give flowers, presents and chocolates to their fiancees, spouses and female family members, and far too few know what this day stands for.
It’s all about equal rights, the focus here is in equality not egality, meaning that opportunities are the same in every field and nobody should be discriminated for their gender, in order to make sexism a thing of the past and that all enjoy the same rights, when it comes to career, equal salary, equal protection and an equal culture of respect and appreciation based on the person rather than gender bias.
On this date, over a hundred years ago, women working in a textile factory went on strike demanding better salaries and working conditions, the industry owners refused to meet their conditions, as a response the workers occupied the factory, as a response the owners locked them inside. That same night a fire started, the burnt down the whole factory, since the doors were locked from the outside the workers could not get out and perished there. It is said that near that factory grew a mimosa tree that happens to blossom in March and therefore became a symbol of this day.
So if you want to give flowers today, try to find mimosas, and honour the sacrifice of those workers who just wanted better working conditions and the same salary as men got for the same job.
Rescogita is a startup that focuses on education through training, coaching, capacity building and consulting, grounded on the principles of ecopsychology, meaning in identifying practical solutions to affect the wellbeing of the individual, the community and the biosphere in a single approach, and we are proud to define ourselves a feminist company.