Is the International Women’s Day going the way of other major holidays such as Christmas Day, Valentine’s Day and Easter reduced to a commercial celebration of the event?
That observation is being raised by some Chinese NGOs as they point out that the day which was the result of a movement about 100 years ago against injustice on women is now lost on a lot of females. Instead, March 8 has become a day of shopping for some, based on a significant number of “International Women’s Day” messages on social media that came from vendors of confectionery, makeup and clothes, reported China Daily.
In Romania, a woman got angry with her husband for allegedly failing to give her flowers on International Women’s Day that she drove a knife on his testicles on March 8. However, she denied that flowers were the reason; rather, they argued about him not helping in household chores that she grabbed his balls and ripped his testicles, reported IBT. In China, a mall in Liuzhou City held a bra unfastening contest.
It has similarities now to Christmas when people are preoccupied with shopping, while some groups ban the setting up of Nativity scenes in public places. Or Valentine’s Day being reduced to a bouquet of flowers, a box of chocolates and a date; and Easter, more known for an egg hunt.
Feng Yuan, co-founder of Chinese NGO Equality, lamented, “For feminists or women (in China) who understand the history of March 8, the day is a symbol of women’s rights, of equal rights, but for most others it is commercialized.”
As Chinese women moved from homes to the workplace, President Xi Jinping acknowledged at the National People’s Congress in Beijing on March 8 that now is a period that China needs so much the contributions of China.
However, because today’s feminist has changed drastically from the 19th-century concept, with today’s stereotype that of an angry middle-class woman with a high-pitched voice, in Australia, many shun using the word “feminist” which is considered a dirty word. Clare Wright, an Australian thinker, explained to those who attended the Bookworm Literary Festival in Beijing last week, “It shows aggressive behavior, but these are the same women who have reaped the rewards of the feminist movement.”