The 8th of March. A Holiday of Sweets and Flowers, or a Day of the Fight for Rights

The 8th of March is one of the few pre-revolutionary holidays that has carried over into modern society, though it has changed somewhat over its more than century-long history. Already in the first days of March a pre-holiday fever begins, with ceremonial gatherings at enterprises, corporate parties in companies and festive events in schools.

No one any longer associates this beloved spring holiday with the "march of the empty pots" of the New York textile workers, who demanded a shorter working day and equal pay with men.

 

According to the sceptics, the origin of the holiday was invented by Soviet propagandists, while in reality its roots may be traced to the events of 1894, when representatives of the oldest profession paraded through the streets of Paris, having felt the need to create a trade union of the priestesses of love. The next year they were supported by their colleagues in Chicago, and a year after that by the ladies of the night in New York. In 1908 American Social Democrats joined the demonstrators, staging street actions with the participation of women of all professions demanding the vote and working conditions equal to men's.

 

The tandem of Clara Zetkin & Rosa Luxemburg, who are credited with authoring International Women's Day, have no direct connection to it.

 

In 1910 the revolutionaries called on women to stage rallies and marches every year to gain them the vote, but comrades Clara and Rosa did not name a specific date, and the European participants in the rallies held their actions on different days.

 

In the first years of Soviet power, on the 8th of March women went out to demonstrations and held workers' meetings, but no one greeted them with flowers.

 

In the 1930s, with the strengthening of socialist ideology, women who had been freed from "domestic slavery" no longer needed to fight for the right to have a voice and to be elected, and at enterprises they were Stakhanovites on a par with the opposite sex.

 

The party leadership used International Communist Women's Day to spur the weaker half of humanity to new labour feats, rewarding them with Certificates of Honour for conscientious work.

 

Now a woman pulled three straps at once -- production, domestic problems and the family. Records in socialist competition and achievements in overfulfilling the five-year plans could not but be reflected in a sharp fall in the birth rate.

 

Women managers who had proved themselves in the hardships of wartime were squeezed out by the stronger sex in the post-war years. Enterprising, initiative-taking women more than once had to hear "Your place is in the kitchen" from men who did not wish to submit to a "woman".

Under the pretext of caring for women's reproductive health, the list of professions was cut and a ban on abortions was introduced. The illegal procedure of terminating a pregnancy in most cases led to infertility and even death. The taboo on certain specialities weeded out the best female specialists, who did their work more thoroughly and carefully than their male colleagues.

 

In 1966, in the era of Brezhnev's rule, the holiday received the status of a state holiday, and all Soviet people gained one more day off. In Soviet society everyone now congratulated all the representatives of the fair sex, from little girls to pensioners.

 

In many ways the spring holiday gathered momentum thanks to the celebrants themselves, for two weeks earlier they had congratulated their husbands, fellow students, colleagues and classmates on the Day of the Soviet Army. On the 23rd of February the whole fair half of the USSR reminded the strong half of the approaching spring, giving all servicemen and those who had never smelt gunpowder some cologne and a pair of socks. This stimulation of chivalrous qualities did not go to waste, and on the 8th of March men, spreading their "peacock tails", gave compliments, perfume and tulips with mimosas. Thirty to fifty years ago the March holiday resembled a modern Saint Valentine's Day, when a woman felt herself loved.

 

At enterprises, too, they did not forget the contribution of women to the development of the Soviet economy. In the houses of culture ceremonial gatherings were held, at which the leading workers were noted with carnations and trivial certificates of commendation. In the second act the mother-toiler was glorified at concerts of amateur art, whose participants were mostly women.

 

On the holiday people went to visit one another for get-togethers. On the eve of the invasion of guests, every hostess spent the greater part of her day off in the kitchen, so that the tables would groan with food and the visitors would not go hungry. Postcards appeared for sale bearing images of delicate primroses and the inscriptions: "Congratulations on International Women's Day, the 8th of March!", "Happy holiday, dear women!"

 

What is notable is that in most cases they were most often signed by the women themselves, congratulating their friends and relatives. And when they met, women did not forget to wish one another warmth and love.

But holidays give way to workdays; the weavers returned to their looms, the milkmaids to the farms, the teachers to the lecture halls, and the musketeers and knights, taking off their armour, turned back into boors and ordinary louts, showing disrespect on public transport, at enterprises and in public places.

 

Despite the fleeting nature of this illusion of happiness, women will not let anyone forget the spring day when they find themselves at the centre of attention. Even if male officials decide to ban the celebration at the state level, this day will remain a folk holiday, when everyone remembers Her Majesty the Woman.

 

Spring always adds strength, cheer and inspiration, and after the tiresome winter one wants to take off one's hat and breathe in the fresh spring wind, which will bring joyful news and a festive mood.