Do the preparation task first. Then read the article and do the exercise.
Preparation
International Women's Day on 8 March is a day to celebrate the social, economic and political achievements of women, reflect on progress and demand gender equality. For over a hundred years, International Women's Day has put the spotlight onto issues affecting women all over the world. Today, International Women's Day belongs to everyone who believes that women’s rights are human rights.
Why do we need an International Women's Day?
In recent years, progress has been made towards gender equality. There are now more women in leadership roles, politics, business and science than ever before. Many countries have introduced laws to support equal pay and protect women's rights at work and at home. These changes have happened because people have raised awareness, campaigned and taken action.
However, inequalities still exist, and even in the world's wealthiest countries, women and men do not have equal opportunities. Most countries are still led by men, and women continue to be under-represented in senior positions in business and government. Globally, women earn less than men on average for the same work – a difference known as the gender pay gap. Women are also more likely to take on unpaid responsibilities such as housework and childcare.
In many parts of the world, women have less access to good-quality education and healthcare than men. Access to reproductive care varies widely between countries. Although maternal health has improved in many areas, women in lower-income regions still face serious risks during pregnancy and childbirth. Violence against women remains widespread, with domestic violence and harmful practices affecting millions of women and girls worldwide.
International Women's Day is a chance to celebrate women's achievements and recognise how far things have come. But it is also a reminder that continued progress depends on effort and awareness.
The history of Women's Day
In 1908, 15,000 women in New York went on strike because of low pay and terrible conditions in the factories where they worked. The following year, the Socialist Party of America organised a National Women's Day, and one year after that, there was a conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, about equality and women's right to vote. In Europe, the idea grew and became International Women's Day (IWD) for the first time in 1911, and the United Nations declared 8 March International Women's Day in 1975.
What happens on 8 March?
In some countries, children and men give presents, flowers or cards to their mothers, wives, sisters or other women they know. But at the heart of International Women's Day lies women's rights. Across the world, there are protests and events to demand equality. Many women wear purple, a colour worn by women who campaigned for women's right to vote. Recently, marches and protests have gained force thanks to the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements against sexual harassment. There is still a lot of work to be done for gender equality. But women's movements all over the world are ready to do that work and are gaining momentum.
What are you going to do to celebrate or demand change on 8 March?
In 1953, women in Mexico got the right to vote. Since that year, women have fought for equal rights in this beautiful country.
For example, they can study, work, or pursue any profession. They also have access to sexual education and public health services. In summary, they possess many rights equal to those of men.
Currently, Mexico has its first female president, who has given a voice to Mexican women through government programs focused on elder women, widows, single mothers, pregnant individuals, and more. This opportunity aims to provide them a better way to live peacefully, calmly, and happily.
However, this represents the current government's point of view. Sadly, these rights often only exist for high- and middle-class women due to the pervasive impunity in our judicial system. As INEGI reported, 'for every 10 crimes committed, only about 1 is reported.' Consequently, if a Mexican woman lives in a vulnerable environment, she has less chance to live a peaceful life.
In conclusion, I'm a man and an elementary school teacher. While I may not have a direct voice in this movement, I'm learning and teaching this knowledge to the next generation of men with a deconstructive mindset. I dream of a safe world for everyone.
I have been told by my parents that in the past, in Vietnam the girls weren't allowed to go to school. Like in the magazine, they didn't have right votes, usually received bad words, low opinions. Getting birth of son in the past was cherished in family. They think that the boys can manage and do everything better than girls. Nowadays, everyone have right votes to go to school, to be loved and have opportunities to do anything they want. Getting birth of a son or a daughter is not significant. However, there are still some low inequality mindsets, that should be changed.
I do not think this myopic view of the role women play and how they are treated is neither accurate nor helpful.
Many womwn do not want to work in physically demanding jobs which is precisely why certain companies and organisations have a fewer number of females representing them.
Those more comfortable office jobs (your picture above is very appropriate by the way), are also by women who need a considerable amount of time off due to child care - which is why they are mostly paid less or not even employed as many managers need staff who are far more reliable and permanant in these roles.
As for your claim that women are more likely to be ignored when complaining of health issues ..................Where in god´s name did you get that from?
Hi Petrichor11
The British Council is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion. You can read more about our policy here.
The research about women in pain was carried out by the BBC. You can read more about it here.
Jo
LearnEnglish team
your opinion is right, but I don't think so.Women still want to do hard things and want to lead, but society always doesn't value them. Society only sees women with a lot of money and says they have impure money. What do you think about it?
If managerial and political jobs are so comfortable, why are they mostly held by men?
Housework, farming, childcare, elderly care, cleaning, waitressing, and cooking are all physically demanding jobs. However, they are mostly done by women, often with long hours, low salaries, or even no pay at all. On top of that, many women work both outside and inside the home.
And when women do want to assume physically demanding and risky jobs, they are often rejected. In my homeland, women who passed all the tests to become miners were still rejected by their male colleagues. No one seems to care when women do tough underpaid work, but the moment they ask for access to well-paid jobs, suddenly there a problem. Isn’t that discrimination?
Saying that women are ‘less reliable’ employees because of childcare just ignores the real issue: why is childcare still mostly a woman’s job?
In countries where both parents get good parental leave (companies always get financial advantages from governments so parental leaves don’t negatively affect their earnings), women have more career opportunities. The problem isn’t that women aren’t reliable—it’s that companies still expect them to handle family duties so men can focus on their job careers. Instead of blaming women for this, maybe we should question why jobs aren’t adapted to reality.
Many studies show that women are more likely to have their pain ignored, misdiagnosed, or undervalue as “psychological” compared to men.
Just look at how long it takes many women to get a proper diagnosis for illnesses like endometriosis, or how often their heart attack symptoms are overlooked because they don’t fit the “typical” male symptoms.
On top of that, illnesses like fibromyalgia took decades to be recognized by healthcare systems—because they affect mostly women and were dismissed as “hysteria” or exaggeration.
Regarding the reproductive health, a lot of women aren’t properly informed about medical procedures, and they suffer from mistreatment during childbirth and disrespect during pregnancy and postpartum care ignoring their needs and symptoms. This can have serious consequences for their health.
If you haven’t heard about it before, maybe it’s time to start paying closer attention.
All over the world, gender gap is higher. In Portugal we still have a long way to go for equal rights.
In my country despite some improvements, in my opinion, there are a lot of things to do. Every day we see news when women are victims of their husbands or partners and in some cases killed. When we talk in terms of leadership in companies, 38% are occupied by women, according to research from 2022.
In my country, Venezuela the women have improve their access to education and they are more free to select choices for jobs and other things. However, still they need to fight for rights about abortion, because in this country still is a crime and the woman can go to jail.
I think we should fight abortion laws and guarantee the right to decide whether to give birth or not. We also need to guarantee that the law ensures healthcare for all women.