International Women's Day: Events, Tweets and "A Powerful Noise"

By Christine Cupaiuolo — March 5, 2009

International Women’s Day is this Sunday, March 8. As of today, 884 events in 58 countries have been added to the website; you can search to find activities in your area.

The United Nations formally started celebrating International Women’s Day on March 8 in 1975 (the UN focus this year is on violence against women and girls), yet IWD can be traced back to the labor struggles of women in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Feminist Peace Network has wonderful coverage of IWD-related news and events, with links to many actions around the world. There I learned that the International Mothers Network, the first global consortium of motherhood organizations, will formally launch March 8, and that Action for Development, a women’s rights group in Uganda, is boycotting IWD celebrations and will instead use the opportunity to present a petition to the speaker of parliament highlighting cases of violence against women.

FPN also alerted us, via email, to an IWD Twitter-thon. On March 8, use the hashtag #iwd in your tweets. (If that last sentence made no sense to you, take a look at Deanna Zandt’s recent articles on why and how to use Twitter.) I was excited to find Reuters editors tweeting about IWD.

Plus: “A Powerful Noise,” a documentary film about three women in different parts of the world overcoming social and economic barriers to claim a voice in their communities, will be shown tonight in New York City, followed by a live town hall discussion hosted by NBC News anchor Ann Curry. Panelists include Madeleine Albright, Natalie Portman and Nicholas Kristof.

Not in NYC? Not a problem. Movie theaters across the country will show the film and the discussion.

One response to “International Women’s Day: Events, Tweets and “A Powerful Noise””

  1. I saw the film not knowing much about the producer or much about the film, actually. I only read the description on my theater’s site and thought it sounded perfect (since I am a Women’s Studies major) as a kick-off to my senior year. I was wrong. The film was good… very captivating. I drove home and started looking up A Powerful Noise and much to my amazement, I was bombarded with articles about the “producer”… not just any articles, articles that made me so very very angry. For starters, she owns luxury resorts and hotels, pro sports teams and supported a republican candidate that supported anti-gay legislation, failed to support a woman’s right to choose (even if she happened to be raped or her health was at stake)… this so called candidate also went out of his way to keep an alleged gay judge from fulfilling her duties claiming “she broke the anti-sodomy statute”. I also read about her extravagant wedding… her very very extravagant wedding and how she treated the staff who organized it. I will never in a million years recommend this film to any of my students, friends, and co-workers. I mean, really, is this some sort of sick joke?

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