An International Women’s Day rally in Lisbon, Portugal
Credit: © Sonia Bonet, Shutterstock

Monday, March 8, is International Women’s Day (IWD). It is observed annually in many countries around the world. It serves to recognize and celebrate women’s cultural, economic, political, and social achievements and to promote women’s rights and gender equality. In some countries, IWD is a national holiday. In Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, the day falls within Women’s History Month.

Many different groups, such as businesses, charities, governments, international and nongovernmental organizations, and schools organize activities and events for International Women’s Day. Some groups declare a different IWD theme each year. Many people observe the day with political actions, including marches and rallies for women’s rights, and protests against sex discrimination, sexual harassment, and violence against women. Others participate in such activities as conferences, exhibitions, labor strikes, performances, and sporting events. Women in some countries traditionally receive flowers and small gifts, or time off from work.

International Women’s Day has its origins in the women’s labor and suffrage (voting rights) movements of the early 1900′s. The first National Woman’s Day was observed in the United States on Feb. 28, 1909. It was designated as such by the Socialist Party of America to commemorate a women garment workers’ march in New York City in 1908 demanding suffrage and better work conditions. In 1910, an International Conference of Working Women met in Copenhagen, Denmark. German attendees Luise Zietz and Clara Zetkin proposed an annual international women’s day to further women’s rights, especially woman suffrage. The proposal was received with great enthusiasm.

International Women’s Day first was held in 1911. It was observed on March 19 by more than 1 million people in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland. Men and women participated in hundreds of demonstrations. They demanded the right of women to vote and hold public office, and protested sex discrimination in employment. People later began observing IWD on March 8. This date corresponds with protests by Russian women in the 1910′s against World War I (1914-1918) and conditions preceding the Russian Revolution of 1917. In 1975, as part of International Women’s Year, the United Nations (UN) began celebrating IWD on March 8. Today, IWD is celebrated in more than 100 countries.

Baseball executive Kim Ng, shown at a youth promotional event for Major League Baseball, became general manager of the Miami Marlins in 2020.
Credit: © Rob Leiter, MLB Photos/Getty Images

On November 13, the Major League Baseball (MLB) team the Miami Marlins named Kim Ng as general manager, making her the first woman hired to run a major league team’s operations. As general manager, Ng’s responsibilities include making trades, negotiating contracts, and running the team’s draft. Ng’s appointment is significant not only for baseball, but for all sports—Ng became the first woman general manager in any major North American men’s professional sports league.

In 1990, Ng began working for the Chicago White Sox as an intern. Seven years later, she left the White Sox for the American League office. (The National League and American League kept separate offices until owners voted to consolidate their management in 1999.) At the American League office, she served as the director of waivers and records. At age 29, she became the youngest assistant general manager, when she joined the New York Yankees in 1998. In 2002, she moved to the West Coast, serving as the Los Angeles Dodgers’ vice president and assistant general manager. In 2011, she became the senior vice president of operations for MLB. She worked in this role until her appointment as the general manager of the Marlins in 2020.

Ng was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, but she grew up in Queens, one of the five boroughs (districts) of New York City. Despite growing up close to the home of the New York Mets, she became a Yankees fan. She graduated from Ridgewood High School in New Jersey in 1986. She then attended the University of Chicago, where she played softball. She graduated in 1990 with a degree in public policy.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933-2020), associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
Credit: Supreme Court of the United States

The world lost a legal and feminist icon on Friday, September 18, with the death of the associate justice of the Supreme Court Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the age of 87. Ginsburg served on the Supreme Court from 1993 to 2020. As a Supreme Court justice, she provided a steady liberal voice and was a passionate supporter of women’s rights.

Ginsberg was the second woman to serve on the court. Sandra Day O’Connor became the first in 1981. President Bill Clinton appointed Ginsburg to the court to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Byron R. White.

Ruth Bader was born on March 15, 1933, in New York City. She graduated from Cornell University in 1954. She married Martin D. Ginsburg, who also became a lawyer, later that year. She earned a law degree from Columbia University in 1959.

Ginsburg taught law at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, from 1963 to 1972 and at Columbia University from 1972 to 1980. During the 1970′s, Ginsburg served as general counsel to the American Civil Liberties Union, an organization that works for citizens’ rights. In this position, she argued before the Supreme Court and won many cases involving equality between the sexes. She actively supported women’s rights.

In 1980, President Jimmy Carter appointed Ginsburg to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. During her years as a member of this court, she became known for working to bring about agreement between her liberal and conservative colleagues.

November 5, 2018

Tomorrow, November 6, is election day in the United States and voters will have the chance to choose the people who decide the direction and tone of government. Today, most U.S. citizens over 18 years of age have the right to vote. This was not always so, however. Voting rights have been won gradually—and with much difficulty—over the history of the United States. In most places, only white men who owned property were originally allowed to vote. The property requirement was gradually dropped, but it was not until 1870 that the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States ensured that men of all races could vote. To the dismay of many Americans, however, the amendment excluded women from voting. This exclusion fueled the woman suffrage movement that fought for decades to get women the right to vote. A few states and territories began giving women the right to vote in 1870, but for most American women, voting was illegal. On Nov. 5, 1872, 146 years ago today, a woman named Susan B. Anthony dared to vote—and she was arrested for it.

Susan B. Anthony helped organize the woman suffrage movement, which worked to get women the right to vote. Credit: Library of Congress

Anthony, a steadfast reformer who had already campaigned against slavery and the drinking of alcohol, helped organize the woman suffrage movement. In November 1872, Anthony and a group of women cast their ballots for president in Rochester, New York, days after persuading election inspectors to register them. The women were arrested for illegal voting, but Anthony, the “ringleader,” alone went to trial. 

Women on horseback participate in a suffrage parade in Washington, D.C., in 1914. Women at last gained the right to vote in 1920. Credit: Library of Congress

The trial’s presiding judge, Ward Hunt, did not let Anthony argue on her own behalf, and he directed the jury to find her guilty (instead of letting the jury decide). Judge Hunt fined Anthony $100 (a large sum at the time), but she vehemently refused to pay it. At the end of the trial, which attracted nationwide attention, Anthony made a speech that ended with the slogan “Resistance to Tyranny Is Obedience to God.” She was then released and faced no further prosecution.

The Anthony dollar, minted for circulation in 1979 and 1980, honored woman suffrage leader Susan B. Anthony. Credit: WORLD BOOK photo by James Simek

In the following decades, Anthony published several books arguing for woman suffrage. She also established the International Woman Suffrage Alliance and served as president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Unfortunately, Anthony died in 1906—14 years before women finally won the right to vote with ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920. In 1979 and 1980, the U.S. government honored Anthony by minting $1 coins bearing her likeness. She was the first woman to be pictured on a U.S. coin in general circulation.

U.S. voting rights were not exactly settled as of 1920, however. The Twenty-third Amendment (1961) allowed citizens in Washington, D.C., to vote for president. The Twenty-fourth Amendment (1964) prohibited the forced payment of poll taxes to vote. The Twenty-sixth Amendment (1966) lowered the voting age from 21 to 18. And, to counter voter suppression of minority groups, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned discrimination (with regard to voting and many other things) because of a person’s color, race, national origin, religion, or sex. 

January 24, 2017

On Saturday, January 21, more than 3 million people in hundreds of cities throughout the United States and the rest of the world participated in the “Women’s March” protesting the often-divisive policies and comments of new U.S. President Donald Trump. In the United States, the marches were principally in support of women’s rights but also included appeals to protect health care and the rights of immigrants, LGBT citizens, and Muslims. The majority of the millions who joined the marches were women, but the crowds included large percentages of men and children as well.

The Women’s March on Washington took place on Jan. 21, 2017. Attracting more than 500,000 people, it was one of the largest demonstrations in the U.S. capital’s history. The Washington, D.C., march also inspired “sister marches” for women’s rights worldwide. Credit: Mark Dixon (licensed under CC BY 2.0)

The planning of an original protest, the Women’s March on Washington, blossomed into a worldwide movement as “sister” marches for solidarity were organized in such U.S. cities as New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Boston, Atlanta, and Seattle. Protests also took place throughout Canada and Mexico and in such world cities as Paris, Berlin, London, Prague, Cape Town, Tokyo, and Sydney. Marches took place as far away as New Zealand and in the small African republic of Malawi—even on an expedition ship in Antarctica.

The original Washington, D.C., rally attracted over 500,000 people—many more than Trump’s inauguration drew the day before. One of the largest demonstrations in the capital’s history, the women’s march was also largely peaceful, with no arrests reported. A common chant directed at the new president was “Welcome to your first day. We will not go away!” In Chicago, where 250,000 marchers showed up, people chanted, “This is what democracy looks like!” The women’s march in Los Angeles was the largest of the bunch, with 750,000 people attending.

Aside from protesting, marching, and chanting, some events also featured programs of music and speakers. Women’s rights icon Gloria Steinem, filmmaker Michael Moore, singer Madonna, and actress Scarlett Johansson spoke at the Washington, D.C., rally, and cast members from the popular musical Hamilton performed at the rally in Chicago.

Trump, who was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States on January 20, has made numerous controversial comments about women, immigrants, and others. Trump and the Republican-dominated U.S. Congress have said they plan to cut off funding for Planned Parenthood and repeal the Affordable Care Act—moves that would limit, reduce, or remove health care coverage and services for many women and millions of other Americans. Trump and the Republicans are also taking aim at legislation and executive orders that protect such things as LGBT rights, consumers’ rights, and the natural environment.

Other World Book articles:

• Feminism
• March on Washington
• Women’s movement

December 14, 2015

Women in Saudi Arabia were elected to office for the first time in landmark municipal elections held on December 12. It was also the first time that Saudi women were allowed to vote and to run for office. Although women won only a fraction of the total number of local council seats—about a dozen of the 2,106 available—it was seen as a turning point in this ultra-conservative monarchy in which women are still deprived of many basic rights, including driving or traveling abroad without a male relative’s permission. Saudi Arabia had been the only other country besides Vatican City that denied women the right to vote where men had the right.

Women made up a small portion of the electorate in the elections. Only 130,000 women registered to vote, compared with 1.36 million men. While overall turnout was a little less than 50 percent, the turnout of women was nearly 80 percent in some places. Nevertheless, local councils have limited powers. They oversee urban development projects in their districts, but have no final say on how the public money is spent. A third of 3,159 municipal council seats nationwide are appointed, rather than elected.

The national government of Saudi Arabia is a monarchy under the Al Saud ruling family. In 2005, municipal elections were held throughout Saudi Arabia for the first time. Only men were allowed to vote in them. They were the country’s first political elections of any kind since 1963. In 2011, King Abdullah announced that women would be allowed to vote and run for office in the 2015 elections.

Many people hoped the vote would pave the way for more progress on women’s rights in Saudi Arabia. Prince Fahad bin Sultan, the governor of Tabuk province where two women won seats, called the women candidates’ victories a “major shift” and said he hoped they would encourage more women to participate in future elections.

Additional World Book articles:

• Woman suffrage
• Women’s movement
• Saudi Arabia (2011) – A Back in Time article
• Saudi Arabia (2013) – A Back in Time article
• Saudi Women Granted Vote (2011) – A Behind the Headlines article
• Saudi Women to be Lashed for Driving (2011) – A Behind the Headlines article

October 28, 2014

A new report from the World Economic Forum (WEF) has revealed that women around the world have made some progress in narrowing the gender gap, particularly in access to government and the workplace, over the past 10 years. Broadly speaking, the gender gap refers to the amount of inequality between women and men in a wide range of areas. The new report, the ninth from the WEF, found that 105 of the 142 countries surveyed have become more equal since 2005. Six countries have become less equal: Croatia, Jordan, Macedonia, Mali, Sri Lanka, and Tunisia.

The WEF report measures the size of the gender inequality in:

• Economic participation and opportunity (salaries, participation, and leadership);
• Education (access to basic and higher levels of education);
• Political empowerment (representation in decision-making structures);
• Health and survival (life expectancy and ratio of sexes).

Although no country has closed its gender gap, Iceland ranked first in overall gender equality. It was followed by Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Nicaragua, Rwanda, Ireland, Philippines, and Belgium. The United States placed 20th, with Canada placing 19th; New Zealand, 13th, and Australia, 24th.

According to the report, the gender gap is narrowest in health and survival, at 96 percent. Thirty-five countries have closed the gap in this category entirely, compared with 33 countries in 2013. The United States ranked 62nd; Australia, 70th; New Zealand, 96th; and Canada, 100th.

The education gap is the second narrowest, at 94 percent. Twenty-five countries have achieved gender equality in education, including Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The United States ranked 39th.

Canada has eliminated the gender gap in education, according to a recent report by the World Economic Forum. The country also ranks high in economic participation and political empowerment. However, it ranks 100th among the 142 countries surveyed in health and survival. © Bryan and Cherry Alexander, Alamy Images

The economic gap narrowed to 60 percent in 2013, from 56 percent in 2006. At this rate, the report notes, the economic gap will not be eliminated for another 81 years. In this category, the United States ranked 4th; Australia, 14th; Canada, 17th; and New Zealand, 30th.

The gap in political empowerment remains the highest, at 21 percent. However, this category has also seen the greatest improvement since 2006.  Saadia Zahidi, the author of the report, said there are now 26 percent more females in legislative bodies and 50 percent more females in cabinets and other ministries than there were in 2006. She attributed the increase mainly to quotas and targets. In the political category, New Zealand ranked 14th; Canada, 42nd; Australia, 53th; and the United States, 54th.

Additional World Book articles:

• Feminism
• Sex discrimination
• Women’s movement

July 12, 2013

Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl shot by the Taliban, spoke today at the United Nations (UN) on the occasion of  “Malala Day.” She told a specially convened youth assembly that books and pens scare such extremist groups as the Taliban. A Taliban gunman shot Malala in the head on a school bus in October 2012 because of her campaign for girls’ rights, including the right to an education.

Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai spoke today to a special youth assembly in the plenary chamber at the United Nations.  (© Mario Tama, Getty Images)

“They are afraid of women,” Malala told the forum, noting that the Taliban’s attack had only made her more resolute: “Weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, courage and fervor was born. . . I speak not for myself but for those without a voice,” she continued, stating that she is fighting for the rights of women because “they are the ones who suffer the most.”

According to the UN Statistics Division, fully one-quarter of all young women worldwide have not completed primary school. Malala’s native Pakistan ranks among the lowest in terms of female literacy and the enrollment of girls in school.

After Malala presented UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon with a petition demanding universal education, he addressed the special assembly: “She is calling on us to keep our promises, invest in young people and put education first.” He credited Malala with bringing the issue of women’s education to worldwide attention. Her petition bore more than 3 million signatures.

After being shot, Malala Yousafzai was flown from Pakistan to the United Kingdom for treatment. She now lives in Birmingham, England.

Additional World Book articles:

• Pakistan 2012 (a Back in Time article)
• Fifty Years of Defending Human Rights for All (a special report)

October 28, 2011

The 16 Commonwealth nations that acknowledge Queen Elizabeth II as their monarch unanimously agreed today to a major series of reforms regarding the monarchy. In the future, female members of the British royal family will have the same rights as males to ascend (move upward) to the British throne. Any first-born child of an heir to the throne or of a monarch will be first in the line of succession. (Succession is the act, right, or process of succeeding to an office, property, or rank, such as king.) Under the old succession laws, dating back more than 300 years, a monarch’s first-born son was automatically the heir; the crown passed to a daughter only if there were no sons.  The new rule of succession will first affect any children born to Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge.

Prince William © Indigo/Getty Images

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge © Adrian Dennis, Reuters

The reforms also lift a rule, dating back to the Reformation, that barred a British monarch from marrying a Roman Catholic. (The Reformation was a religious movement of the 1500′s that led to Protestantism; England broke away from the Catholic Church in 1534.) The reforms also change a legal requirement that an heir must have the permission of the monarch before marrying.

Additional World Book articles:

•  Kings and queen of the United Kingdom
• The Queen Mother: Creator of the Modern Monarchy (a special report)