International Women's Day (IWD) started, depending on which version of history you refer to, by women as part of the French Revolution in the late 18th Century, in New York in the middle of the 19th Century by the first women's strike for better pay and conditions, or … see links to various IWD histories.

It was recognised by the UN not long after it was adopted (some socialists would say appropriated) by the Women's Liberation Movement in the 70s as an occasion for the different stands of feminism to came together (in sisterhood?) to publicly demonstrate women's common cause of discrimination.

Nowadays an IWD event can be a business event, a local authority community event, a university discussion or debate, an arts event and all of the many occasions now listed on our calendars.

But why no IWD march? Don't women identify with each other any more or have we decided that being angry didn't get us any where?

Or is it that seventies Women's Liberationists identified the problems and now we are busy (still) finding ways to over come them (as service providers)?

Although when women's groups in the 70s and early 80s came together on IWD to show 'our unity in our diversity is our strength' it wasn't always a display of uncritical sisterhood. What with the jostling of groups to get their banner to the front of the march or the snatching of microphones by rival factions of liberation struggles to get their analysis heard, they could sometimes be quite bracing occasions.

But the annual niggling (in London anyway) as to whether the IWD March and Event should be organised by women's groups or the Trade Unions (“ … don't think of me as a man, think of me as a trade unionist … “) and whether either or both should be women only, meant that by the mid 80s no one was willing to come forward to take on the planning.

Or was that a result of women's groups starting to get funding that no one thought it was relevant any more?

Or maybe it was inevitable after the last National Women's Liberation Conference ended in disarray and disunity, that slowly but surely without the (leaky) umbrella of sisterhood that women's groups would start to form networks elsewhere rather than with each other.

So maybe the fact that women's groups don't come together in one central place nowadays is a realistic expression of the reality of our diversity.

But what do you think?

What if you were part of a planning group for a central IWD event this year? Who would you have invited to be a speaker or have a stall?

Women speakers from Iraq? pro or anti invasion?
One of the dinner ladies on strike because Jamie Oliver's doubled their work load but not their salary?
A woman MP or Councillor?
A representative of the Gate Gourmet strikers?
A woman entrepreneur?
A refuge worker and / or an unpaid rape crisis help line volunteer?
Or ..

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International as well as UK contributions welcome!

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The views expressed here should not be taken to be those of the groups who are part of the women in london directory
No disrespect is intended towards any organisers of any IWD event.

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