INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S WEEK 2008 March 3-9



International Women’s Day is a celebration of female strength, global influence, and power that has been observed since around the turn of the 20th century. IWD is relatively new, but influential women are not. From the queens of Egypt centuries B.C. to the women’s rights activists and world leaders of the 20th century, women have been shaping the world.

In 1908, 15,000 women marched through New York City in response to intolerable work conditions and low pay. The following year, in accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America, the first National Women’s Day was observed in the United States. In 1910, an International Women’s Day proposal is made in Europe, and is first observed the following year in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. In the following years, IWD would serve as a strong catalyst for recognition and positive change for women worldwide with each year hosting events drawing attention to current issues politically and socially. In some countries today, IWD has been replaced with forms of Mother’s Day and Valentines Day.

Here at DeviantART, we like to keep the party going longer. International Women’s Day has become International Women’s Week. For the past couple of years, $chix0r has done interviews with female deviants in recognition of IWW. This year, we hope to raise awareness of issues facing women today even more by holding more interviews, contests, featuring work done by the women of our DeviantART community, and writing news articles in hopes that you will get involved as much as possible. This is a community driven even, so help spread the word!

Everyday women are managers, business leaders, world leaders, politicians, doctors, lawyers, teachers, wives, and mothers, and more often than not, they’re more than one. It’s time to show some appreciation. Here’s a good opportunity to learn a little about just a handful of the most influential, world-shaping, and most powerful women in history.

Queen Isabella, Queen Elizabeth I, Eleanor Roosevelt, Rosa Parks, Marie Curie, Jane Addams, Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, Mother Teresa, Emily Dickinson, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Anne Frank, Amelia Earhart, Catherine of Aragon, Mary Kingsley, Alice Hamilton, Julia Morgan, Sister Elizabeth Kenny, Margaret Mead, Indira Gandhi, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Mary McLeod Bethune, Emma Goldman, Sandra Day O'Connor, Margaret Thatcher, Maya Angelou, Margaret Mitchell, Virginia Apgar, Marie Curie, Barbara McClintock, Rosalind Franklin, Martha Stewart, Oprah Winfrey, Marian Anderson, Ella Fitzgerald, Frida Kahlo, Madonna, Billie Jean King, Princess Diana, Benazir Bhutto, Wu Yi, Christine Todd Whitman, Mary Robinson, Queen Beatrix, Sherry Lansing, Nadine Gordimer, Nafis Sadik, Hanan Ashrawi, Vidgis Finnbogadottir, Winnie Mandela

For news and updates on IWW 2008 events, check out the journals of *int-womens-week and ^sbaraci.

Here are just a couple of pieces done by my favorite female artists and friends here on DA:



Here, go get some education!
[link]
[link]
[link]
[link]