International Women's Day risks becoming
'corporate Mother's Day', feminists say
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| International Women's Day risks becoming 'corporate Mother's Day', feminists say |
McDonald’s were accused of ‘McFeminism’ when it turned the company’s logo upside down. Photograph: Reuters
International Women’s Day is in danger of becoming little more than a corporate Valentine’s Day, with companies jumping on the bandwagon to whitewash their brands rather than promote women’s equality, leading feminists have said.
With International Women’s Day products on offer from red roses to hipster T-shirts emblazoned with slogans such as “Woman Up”, equal rights campaigners have called on companies to take action and donate to grassroots causes on International Women’s Day, which takes place on Sunday, rather than using it as a promotional opportunity.
Vivienne Hayes, chief executive of the Women’s Resource Centre, said: “This use of International Women’s Day by companies is part of the co-option of feminism and women’s equality into a much more mainstream position, that has led to the corporatisation of the advancement of women’s rights.
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“There’s a risk that it becomes an event a bit like Mother’s Day or Valentine’s Day instead of giving visibility to the work that women are doing around the world.”
Hayes is a leading figure in the Million Women Rise march, for which thousands of women will head to central London on Saturday to protest against violence against women and girls. All members of the collective are volunteers and the event, in its 13th year, has no corporate sponsorship or formal funding. It is strictly a women-only march – if men want to get involved, they are politely asked to “babysit children while your mum, partner, sister, daughter, friend or relative, attends the march”.
In recent years McDonald’s was accused of “McFeminism”, when it turned the company’s golden arches upside down to form the letter W, while the brewer Brewdog was accused of cynical marketing after releasing a pink beer around International Women’s Day, ostensibly to raise awareness about gender pay inequality and sexist advertising.
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But International Women’s Day was born out of a movement of working class women who marched through New York in 1908 demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights, with the first National Women’s Day held the following year.
This year’s theme is #EachforEqual, with participants encouraged to “actively choose to challenge stereotypes, fight bias, broaden perceptions, improve situations and celebrate women’s achievements”. This year marks 10 years since the establishment of UN Women, and the 20th anniversary of the UN security council resolution 1325 on women, peace and security.
On Sunday another march, organised by Care International, will go through London, the event promising “stars from stage and screen marching shoulder-to-shoulder with grassroots campaigners for gender equality and climate justice”.
There is a way for brands and companies to get involved in International Women’s Day, according to Liv Little, founder of gal-dem, a magazine created by women of colour. But they must show long-term, genuine commitment to be part of positive change. Feminism is for life, not just for International Women’s Day, she said.
Little says: “When you are a woman of colour, it can feel like you are only of interest during that one week in March, and of course people are doing this work all year round. I think it’s really important that people have an understanding of the political roots of the day because that’s easily lost in fancy dinners and slogan T-shirts.”
If brands want to jump on the bandwagon, they should open their sizeable wallets, said Katie Russell of Rape Crisis, who is walking on fire before International Women’s Day to raise money for Support After Rape and Sexual Violence Leeds.
Russell said: “It’s only acceptable if some of the money that companies are making through aligning themselves with International Women’s Day is being ploughed back into women’s charities and services. If it’s just about making money for a brand it’s just completely inappropriate and cynical.”
But wall to wall coverage of the event – in whatever guise – could be beneficial to the women’s movement overall, said Sam Smethers, chief executive of the Fawcett Society.
“I have mixed feelings about it, because for us to succeed in advancing women’s rights then we really need to get people who are not currently engaged and involved to be part of that cause,” she said. “It’s nice people get excited about it but actually making a difference is hard work – and that takes more than just wearing a T-shirt.”
International Women's Day and the glass ceiling
Women running for the House in 2020 vs. 2018Women running for national and state office may be on track to break the record-setting runs and gains of 2018, as Republicans try to catch up with their Democratic counterparts.
Yes, but: The Super Tuesday results, and Elizabeth Warren's withdrawal, effectively ended any chance that this will be the year a woman wins the presidency. On International Women's Day this weekend, it's worth remembering that the struggle to reach the White House masks a lot of real progress at lower levels.
Driving the news: International Women's Day is Sunday, and the U.S. also observes March as Women's History Month. Every year, this is an opportunity to take stock of women's gains, starting with politics — the arena in which nations define who's in charge and what they stand for.
Each day next week, Axios will examine other measures of women's gains in society.
The big picture: Congress counts its highest number of women after the historic 2018 midterm elections, and there's a push to go higher.
Senate races: 17 female candidates already have filed and 45 more are likely, for a potential of 62, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. That would surpass the previous record of 53 in 2018.
House races: As of late February, there were 584 women running or likely to run, compared with 437 two years earlier, per the center.
That includes 217 Republican female candidates for the House this year — a sharp increase from 2018, when there were just 96. Democrats have increased their numbers a bit, too.
The most powerful woman in American politics today is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
But it's not just Congress. There's also progress in the state legislatures:
Nevada's legislature made history last year when women captured a bare majority of the seats in both chambers. New Hampshire and Colorado have hit majority milestones for individual chambers.
There's potential for female majorities in legislatures that are around the 40% range now, including Vermont, Washington, Oregon and Colorado.
Reality check: The door's been flung open for women seeking the presidency, yet with Warren's withdrawal from the race, we're on course for a general election that pits a white man in his 70s against a white man in his 70s.
Voters' fears about "electability" — even if unfounded — hurt female candidates running for the highest office in the land, experts say, especially women of color.
A record-breaking six women (including two of color) were among the crowded 2020 Democratic presidential nominating contest.
Now, only Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii remains a candidate — and with just one delegate after Super Tuesday, she won't be a factor in the rest of the contests.
But there's significant pressure for a male Democratic presidential nominee to choose a woman as his running mate.
"This constant drumbeat of, 'Who's electable?' is based on poor analysis of women as candidates," said Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics. "Women in general win at about the same rate as men do in comparable races."
In 2018, she noted, "it was women who flipped the House from red to blue. It was women who turned governorships around the country. Women outperformed men both in the primary and in the general."
"But it did not seem to translate into the narrative" of the presidential race, she said. "And I think that has gotten us a set of candidates that are old and white and male."
Between the lines: August marks the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which gave American women the right to vote, so we'll see the theme of women's political power get more attention than usual in the 2020 elections.
One fun thing: The nation is torn over whether America is ready for a socialist president, but you can thank socialism and the labor movement for International Women's Day.
The Socialist Party of America organized a National Women's Day in 1909, as women pushed for equal rights, suffrage and better working conditions.
International observations took hold two years later. For years, the movement grew mostly in socialist and communist nations.
Starting in 1975, the United Nations designated March 8 of each year as International Women's Day.
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