Womens Strike Wednesday March 8: The Essentials
March 6, 2017
by Phoebe Maltz Bovy
March is Women’s History Month, and on March 8th, International Women’s Day, there’s going to be a Women’s Strike, called “A Day Without Women.” What does this mean? The Women’s March folks, who are organizing this as well, have the info:
Anyone, anywhere, can join by making March 8th A Day Without a Woman, in one or all of the following ways:
1. Women take the day off, from paid and unpaid labor
2. Avoid shopping for one day (with exceptions for small, women- and minority-owned businesses).
3. Wear RED in solidarity with A Day Without A Woman
In other words, you can take part even if you can’t get the day off. But if you can strike without risking your livelihood (and, ideally, in a way that involves handing off your tasks for that day to a man, not another woman), sounds like an excellent idea. Even those somewhat cringe-inducing stories of men who — horrors — had to do some weekend chores the day their wives went the Women’s March offered a hint of how even our absence can be political. For a deeper background on strike history, but aimed at a non-expert audience, see Sady Doyle in Elle. There is also, as some readers may know, a significant history of Jewish women laborers striking.
Read more: http://forward.com/sisterhood/365037/womens-strike-wednesday-march-8-the-essentials/
