With every milestone in women’s rights history, we’re reminded of how much we’ve accomplished and how much work remains to be done.

Celebrated since the 1900s and adopted by the United Nations in 1975, March 8 marks International Women’s Day. The day is celebrated across the globe as communities highlight women’s achievements while calling for more gender parity. And this year, International Women’s Day is just as important as ever.

Women are still underrepresented in global political leadership, and we’re more than 200 years away from attaining global gender parity, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap 2017 Report. In the United States, the Trump administration has endorsed policies that roll back women’s access to reproductive healthcare. Trump has also been accused of sexually assaulting multiple women, and recently defended an aide accused of domestic violence against multiple women. The administration’s “America First” agenda has also harmed women immigrants and refugees and hindered international feminist coalition building.

For these reasons, we must commemorate events like International Women’s Day as part of a greater effort to resist the normalization of gender discrimination on all fronts. Donna Moore, a member of the Syracuse organization New Feminists for Justice, highlighted aspects of discrimination such as equal pay, a disproportionate amount of attention paid toward men’s sports and the lack of an Equality Act to protect women going forward.

“Women’s International Day is important to continue to highlight that we still have work to do to bring full equality to women in the workplace, in sports, in all aspects of life,” Moore said in an email.

The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is #PressForProgress, a title influenced by the momentum of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, in addition to the global women’s marches. The theme reflects the celebratory history of the day and its agenda to improve women’s standing globally.

In 2017, Syracuse University commemorated International Women’s Day with events organized by community and university partners. This year, local organizations including ArtRage and Women TIES have organized events that bring women together to acknowledge local women’s achievements and celebrate the day.

On SU’s campus, aerospace engineering students Dalya Omar and Bridget McDonough produced a short film highlighting the achievements of women in STEM. The video, which includes interviews with SU faculty and administration from the College of Engineering and Computer Science, was released via the COSMIC RESONANCE YouTube channel on Saturday in honor of International Women’s Day.

Events like these are essential, especially when they’re mobilized to create spaces for more women to lead. Without progressive action, the day risks becoming filled with acts of ceremony instead of supporting acts of social justice.

“Political activism efforts go hand in hand with our efforts,” Moore said. “Giving women platforms where they can speak and find support is essential to giving them the power to run for political office.”

Perhaps the best way to celebrate Women’s International Day this year is to contribute our time and resources toward creating more support for women in leadership and the creation of organizations and traditions that raise awareness of gender discrimination through a variety of lenses. This would mean more intersectional activism, which Moore acknowledged as an essential ingredient for women’s empowerment.

“We need to find ways to build relationships with women of color and immigrant women so their voices will have an equal platform,” Moore said.

In addition to engaging more with the voices and experiences of women of color, feminist movements must continue to advocate for folks who identify as transgender and non-binary.

As we celebrate women on Thursday, we should reflect on how we support inclusive practices in everything we do. From making purchases from companies without wage gaps to supporting women- and-minority-owned businesses, we need to be increasingly conscious of which institutions and brands we support and the reputations they have regarding gender discrimination and the reinforcement of gender stereotypes.

And these are the questions we should ask ourselves every day, not just on International Women’s Day.

C.C. Hendricks is a doctoral candidate in composition and cultural rhetoric. Her column appears biweekly. She can be reached at crhen100@syr.edu.

Published on March 6, 2018 at 8:50 pm