International Women’s Day: For ALL Women and Girls

“I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own” Audre Lorde declared in her 1981 speech ‘The Uses of Anger: Women Responding to Racism’. Since reading this speech during my time as a late-teen at university it has continuously informed how I navigate myself and my feminism through the world. 

What’s become apparent to me though, is that unfortunately, not all people (or even all women specifically) operate with the mindset of ‘none of us are free till all of us are free’. 

It really stands out to me because as a Queer Blak woman I don’t fit into the mold of what typically has been represented by feminism. A lot of mainstream feminism, especially throughout the noughties and 2010’s, weren’t focused on intersections and were (and sometimes still are) focused on fighting freeing the nipple, burning bras and body hair. The way the ‘Me Too’ movement was started by Tarana Burke, a Black woman, but only caught popularity and attention after white women started saying it too. The way the feminist response to Trump’s first election was to take to the streets wearing pink pussy hats, alienating Black women, trans women, intersex women and women whose vulvas weren’t the perfect shade of pink.

That isn’t to say that these aren’t things that I or other Bla(c)k feminists care about, but when Bla(c)k women are disbelieved by doctors or have misogynoir to also face, it’s honestly not high on our priority list despite being what’s loudest.

United Nations International Women’s Day vs IWD in Australia

International Women’s Day, occurring on March 8th every year, is a global celebration of women, their achievements and histories, combined with a call to action to address issues like equal pay, domestic violence (femicide in Australia’s case) and bodily autonomy/reproductive rights. 

The date started as a push for women’s worker’s rights and has been recognised and celebrated by the United Nations every year since 1977. The way the day is commemorated has changed since its inception and now includes things like morning teas, stickers, high teas and an annual theme. 

This year, the official theme from the United Nations is ‘For All Women and Girls, Rights, Equality and Empowerment’.
This theme is really powerful and important for the moment we’re in right now, because ALL women and girls include Trans and Palestinian women and girls.

However, because nothing good exists without a little corporatisation or white washing, in recent years a new ‘International Women’s Day’ (IWD) organisation with no ties to the UN has appeared. If anything, they seem to have gained most of their inspiration from the UK Suffragette movement. The IWD site states the official colours of IWD (and of ‘women’s suffrage’), are green, purple and white, the colours of the Women’s Social and Political Union, a collective of women who often excluded the needs of Women of Colour.
Unfortunately, their use of the IWD acronym often pushes them to the top of search results despite them having zero information on their affiliations or what makes them the official spokespeoples for International Women’s Day, rather than the United Nations. 

This year, the IWD’s  theme for International Women’s Day is ‘Accelerate Action’ which they explain “emphasizes the importance of taking swift and decisive steps to achieve gender equality,”overcoming systemic barriers personally and professionally.
At first glance, it’s not a bad theme but it does raise the question of why they need to assign a different theme, and  separate themselves from the UN, who IWD themselves acknowledge started the theming of International Women’s Day in 1996.
In fact, ‘Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress” was the UN’s theme for 2024.

A quick glance at IWD’s theme page will show you photos of women and men, in a particular pose for that year’s theme. ‘Accelerate Action’ is an almost Rosy the Riveter style pose encouraging you to do the same and to spread their theme and message. Their previous themes also have similar photo prompts and are typically alliterative. Something equally important to them as you posting a photo and using their hashtags,  is you celebrating International Women’s Day by giving money to them.

Which seems fine, the UK IWD donation page promotes charities that assist with women fleeing domestic violence, survivors of slavery, and causes helping diverse women around the world. However, Australia’s branch only supports 3 charities, mostly focused on mothers and their bubs and post-natal support. Of course mothers deserve support especially during the post natal period but I was hoping I would find something specifically for Blak women and girls or incarcerated women, who are also often left behind. Truthfully, when I look at their website my feminist heart is not overflowing with fiery passion. And I’m not the only one who’s been underwhelmed by the soulless #girlboss corporatisation of a day that’s meant to represent so much more. We are in a very interesting and painful time in the world. International Women’s Day should be reflective of this and be something all women (or all people who care about women) are talking about.

In fact, it reminds me of White Ribbon’s past attempts to end men’s violence against women with unclear messaging, and cheese. Another corporation doing those morning teas we love so much,devoid of any passion or meaning. It’s no wonder there have been Blak women, like Aunty Jackie Huggins, who have previously said they prefer the term ‘Tiddaist’ rather than ‘Feminist’.

Despite IWD themselves platforming Trans women, IWD events in Australia have unfortunately been misused by trans exclusionary radical feminist groups, which makes for an ugly google result when someone is searching for ‘IWD’ events or information centred around certain areas. There is nothing radical or feminist about excluding trans folk.

Trans exclusionary feminist groups, while they don’t have the reach as the IWD have, are particularly dangerous because they spread misinformation about trans people and drag queens. As if that wasn’t going far enough, one group in particular have co-opted First Nations place names in the title of their group. Colonisation brought the closet with it, so the use of language and place names to further enforce a binary that never existed on this continent initially, is like a straight terra nullius, declaring queer people were never on this land.

In her 1981 speech, Lorde says “The angers between women will not kill us if we can articulate them with precision”. Reader, trans women are not our enemy. They are the light and love of our communities and their mistreatment by the colonial patriarchy is just as violent and sexist as yours and my own. 

This past week photos from Palestine showed Palestinian people breaking fast amongst rubble. News reports keep coming out about how Israel has consistently and continuously broken the ceasefire. It’s hard to celebrate International Women’s Day (or Mardi Gras to be honest), knowing what is going on there at the moment. The second half of Lorde’s quote about freedom is “And I am not free as long as one person of colour remains chained. Nor is any one of you”. And that’s exactly it. Feminism needs to be linked to and informed by the other intersections and marginalisations that exist. 

A website featuring a photo of a white man flexing his muscles to “accelerate action” does nothing for the women in Gaza, does nothing for Aboriginal mothers who have lost their children due to the violent hands of the police. It does nothing for us as a greater society or as a global community.

As I write this, I am on Ramaytush Ohlone Country in San Francisco and it is not lost on me the impacts recent global politics are having on the lives of women and girls on this continent. The United States is paring back reproductive rights, and access to life saving gender-affirming care, which will impact poorer communities more than others, and much like in Australia, the disappearances and murder of Indigenous women continue. Women around the world, women and children in Sudan are disproportionately impacted by the ongoing conflict, Palestinian women are being forced to have c-sections without anaesthesia and bury their children and other families if they themselves are not murdered, and the women of Congo must endure sexual and gender based violence.

I could maybe forgive a corporatised International Women’s Day event or organisation if the money they try to get from regular and passionate people like us went to providing period products for people in places like Palestine, donating to providing support for trans women, women seeking gender affirming care, women’s shelters or similar resources for women who have to make quick escapes for their safety from domestic or intimate partner violence. However, according to the Australian IWD site, it doesn’t.

There are ways to celebrate International Women’s Day in inclusive ways. 

International Women’s Day can be such a powerful movement and moment for us to highlight the ‘shackles’ other women are chained by. It’s important we really are moving through the world for ALL women and girls.