
100 years of celebrating women - Uncle_Sam
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/100-years-of-celebrating-women.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FMKuf+%28Official+Google+Blog%29
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Evgeny
In Soviet Union it was called "International Women's Day". I can't recall, but
I don't think it was a public holiday. Anyway, that was the day when you could
see a huge amount of men buying flowers for their wifes, mothers, and other
women they love :)

Only when I emigrated I found out that it's not so international as I thought
it is. The wikipedia page

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Women%27s_Day>

lists all the countries where this day is an official holiday, and it's a bit
funny. There's Russia and most of former USSR members, there are some USSR
"satellites" or best friends, and also some African countries.

~~~
rdtsc
I remember having a conversation with some friends related to the benefits of
having a Women's day vs just Mothers' day (as they do in US). I prefered
Women's day as Mothers' presumes that unless a woman is a mother, she doesn't
deserve to be celebrated. Of course I don't see a reason not to have both.

If we are talking about "fairness" the next question is "What about Men's
day?" In ex Soviet Union there was Army Day (February the 23rd). Since all men
had to serve in the Army that day became the de facto "Men's Day". As service
in the Army became volunatry (at least in the country I am from), people just
started celebrating that day as Men's Day and disassosiated it from the "army"
completely.

~~~
bokonist
_I prefered Women's day as Mothers' presumes that unless a woman is a mother,
she doesn't deserve to be celebrated._

If a woman works she is celebrated via labor day. If she fights she is
celebrated via veterans day. If a woman neither works nor fights nor is a
mother, why exactly does she deserve to be celebrated? (the same applies to
men too).

~~~
rdtsc
Because throughout history and even today their rights and voices are
suppressed. Even in America they couldn't vote up until 1920s.

It seems as long as there is memory of that oppression, and as long as there
are still glass ceilings, or places in the world were women are still
oppressed because of their geneder it is worth celebrating this day.

> why exactly does she deserve to be celebrated?

Well we didn't need much reason beyond their gender to oppress them all those
years (and still do) so it seems we can at least acknowledge their struggle
and suffering if nothing else. Or are you worried about reverse
discrimination? "Can't celebrate too much now, they'll get cocky and we'll
have to set them in their place again"

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jrmg
Stuff like the maps Pegwoman feature frustrates me. The world would be a
better place if, instead of letting Pegwoman join Pegman for a day, it was a
gender-neutral 'peg person' (or someing shorter - Peggle? Peggy?) to start
with.

The fact that one day of Pegwoman is thought of as a /good/ thing just
highlights the problem. Highlighting the problem is not a /bad/ thing - its
not a solution though.

~~~
glenjamin
And what would a gender-neutral 'peg person' look like?

Probably like pegman. For whatever reason we tend to see homo-sapien-like
figures as male, unless they have some specific female markers (I believe).

~~~
whateverer
Sources? Biologically, the default state for human embryos is female after
all, look up Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome.

~~~
glenjamin
More a general observation than an attempt to state a fact.

Consider the features which would inform a guess of gender based on only a
silhouette:

Skirt, Long hair, Breasts, High heels?

I can only seem to think of attributes whose presence would make me guess
Female, and absence would make me guess Male.

I'm open to suggestions of the shape of an androgynous figure, perhaps this is
a case of me projecting my though process onto others incorrectly.

~~~
eru
How about a beard, or some more primary markers?

~~~
spicyj
It's not clear you can see a beard in a silhouette.

