International Women's Day
Description:
God has broken the human race into half.
That life may have colours forever,
One of the halves he declared beautiful.
We accept this holiday as the arrival of Spring, as a tribute to love and respect for the Woman.
March 8 was first included in the list of commemorative days in 1994. The Seimas was then dominated by the Democratic Workers’ Party of Lithuania. But in 1997, after conservatives and Christian Democrats came to power, Women’s Day was removed from the list. In early 2002, the then ruling Social Democrats and Social Liberals adopted an amendment to the Memorial Days Act, which included March 8. Since then, this day has been celebrated as International Women’s Solidarity Day.
Even when the amendment was adopted, discussions on this issue in parliament were very lively and in some ways even resembled a television show, where some men spoke out for the need to celebrate International Women's Day (we are not talking about the "red day of the calendar"), and another part, on the contrary, condemned this holiday, considering it a relic of the Soviet era. However, most of the men were real men, and the majority of the votes were in favour of the amendment, although there were a small number of protesters as well as abstainers.
Thus, which began to fade after the restoration of Lithuania’s independence, Women’s Day is gradually being revived. Moreover, according to entrepreneurs, even being removed from the list of memorable days, this day in the number of flowers sold surpasses such holidays as Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day. In addition, the number of agencies organizing various events and using the March 8 trademark is increasing annually.
But despite the growing popularity of International Women’s Day, there is no consensus in the society in Lithuania, and many different points of view can be heard. Some believe that this is the International Day, a beautiful holiday of spring, so it is necessary to celebrate it. Others, including women themselves, do not see the point in celebrating March 8, as this holiday is still associated with the Soviet era, when in schools girls gave flowers to boys on February 23, and boys brought each tulip on March 8. Usually, one of the arguments of such people is that a woman should not be honored only once a year, and flowers can be given for nothing, on any other day.
To some, March 8 seems to be a purely communist holiday, which also violates the equal rights of men and women. If there is a day for women, then there is a day for men.
In any case, an extra reason to give flowers - is it bad?