The Women's March and demonstrations of its type are all about showing up. Participants aim to make their presence heard. As L.A. Kauffman, the author of Direct Action: Protest and the Reinvention of American Radicalis told Vogue, they "create situations that shine a spotlight on injustice and force a crisis that authorities need to address."
Many who attended the D.C. march couldn't hear the speeches or were caught in human traffic jams so crowded they couldn't complete the official route. All of which didn't matter, of course, because the point was to be present. But what if there was one day where women didn't show up? A day women made their value known by their absence?
For their next big project, International Women's Strike organizers, including the activists behind the Women's March, are calling for an event of the opposite kind. The March 8 general strike for women aims to showcase women's importance by revealing what happens on a day without women.
Taking the day off from paid work is only the beginning. Planned to coincide with International Women's Day, the organizers request that participants engage in one or all of the following actions on March 8, as listed on their website:
Women take the day off, from paid and unpaid labor
Avoid shopping for one day (with exceptions for small businesses and businesses owned by women and minorities)
Wear red in solidarity with A Day Without a Woman
Exactly how to use this time is up to each individual participant, but across the country, women and allies of the strike are staging rallies, marches, benefit concerts and other gatherings to show support and solidarity. In New York City, they will assemble in Washington Square Park for a tour of sites critical to progressive history, such as the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, where young immigrant women died in a horrific fire in 1911, the deadliest industrial disaster in history at the time, which led to substantial labor reforms. In Philadelphia, strikers will stand in solidarity with the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, who have been without a contract for 1,200 days.
Some critics, including Maureen Shaw, writing in Quartz, and Meghan Daum in the LA Times, argue that this strike will mostly amount to a day without privileged women—women who can afford to take the day off without fear of lost wages or other repercussions from employers. Shaw notes that, "As empowering as strikes may feel, they tend to be most effective when they are centered on achieving a particular policy goal," and compares this strike to those of labor unions fighting for higher wages, better working hours, or specific additions to their working conditions.
But the women's strike is only one step in fighting for a platform that includes all of these asks and more: environmental justice, reproductive rights and fair wages. The point is to show how many unseen, uncompensated and unvalued tasks women perform, and how much society depends on them.
It's supposed to be inconvenient, but Daum and Shaw's responses also assume that organizers haven't considered the economic barriers to striking (in fact, they take pains to explain that there is more than one way to participate). You can attend a rally before or after work, wear red, decline to shop, or decline to perform unpaid labor if taking the day off from paid labor is not an option.
For more information, including a letter to inform your employer of strike participation, visit A Day Without a Woman. The International Women's Strike website has a complete list of events around the country.
Ilana Novick is an AlterNet contributing writer and production editor.
The Girl goes to "Stuart Country Day" which is a fancy Princeton school with Nuns. At least there used to be Nuns. Not sure about the Boy, but if he can stay home & play video games, good for Him.
Nice Kids. During the X-mas season, they ask their folks "Is Kwazy Uncle Disco coming over ??"
My list was an attempt, using humor, to demonstrate that, even decades after the movie "9 to 5" and progress that's been made since then, it remains the case that in typical offices, women still mostly perform these mundane but essential tasks. I witnessed engineers actually go & complain to the secretaries that the copier was out of paper instead of simply refilling it himself.
Out here, the women were working at all of the local establishments I visited yesterday, the bank, Goodwill, the cafe and the brewpub. We didn't see any women shoppers though, which was outside the norm. Lots of men were poking around early in the day, when the weather was better, so maybe the lack of women shoppers was attributable to the strike. Later in the day, the weather turned cold, wet and menacing, and foot traffic died altogether.
Between cruddy weather and civil discontent, it's been a brutal season for retailing. I've seen half a dozen local business go belly up in the last two months, including big stores like Big Five, American Apparel and Half Price Books. Spring can't come soon enough.
Yesterday, I was heating my soup in our relatively small lunch room and I turned around from the microwave to wish my fellow co-workers a Happy International Women's Day.
I was the only man in the room and I was surrounded by my female friends and acquaintances: immigrants from Chile, Mexico, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, The Philippines, Iran, and India. There were a few women who were born in the US as well. I'm not exaggerating: just a casual routine gathering of people from around the world eating lunch; sharing space.
It really hit me hard just how blessed I have been to live and work in such a wonderfully diverse community.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Furious E
Is it happening anywhere?
Is this happening anywhere?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: charmskooldropout
Will mcdonalds stay open?
Will mcdonalds stay open?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: _
Volunteering doesn't pay.
Volunteering doesn't pay.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: I rang a silent bell
A day without women is like a
A day without women is like a day without sunshine.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Semolina Pilchard
Is Lysistrata taking the day
Is Lysistrata taking the day off?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: That’s Nancy with the laughin’ face
No all can afford to take the
Not all can afford to take the day off, but the day also extends to not spending any money.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: jeff
the more i think about it the
get fucked slacker
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: admin
Change your strain, JR.
Change your strain, JR.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: _
If only you could get
If only you could get something done by skipping work.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: ________
I watched when we rise
I watched when we rise
I did my part
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: That’s Nancy with the laughin’ face
Oh no, pink clashing with red
Oh no, pink clashing with red!
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-daum-a-day-without-a-woman-20...
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: _
Don't forget to have a good
Don't forget to have a good excuse for your boss:
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/20/dozens-fired-after-skipping-work-to-parti...
Nancy,
Are you skipping zoning tomorrow to demonstrate your worth?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Sideshow Bob
Letters won't get typed
Letters won't get typed
Men will arrive at work in non-matching outfits
Office gossip will not get disseminated
The toner on the copier will not get changed
Coffee will not be brewed
Donuts & Bagels will not be brought in
Bosses phones will go directly to voice mail
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: thinthread
organized by 2 murderers and
organized by 2 murderers and a diehard maoist. change....
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: That’s Nancy with the laughin’ face
If I was required to pay to
If I was required to pay to zone then yes, Ender.
pretty sure my donation has already been 'spent'
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: That’s Nancy with the laughin’ face
And I will wear red to work
And I will wear red to work in solidarity
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Hitchhiker awaiting "true call"
Affluenza day
Affluenza day
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Oaksterdam Dan
How to Participate in the
How to Participate in the March 8th Women's Strike
The March 8 strike aims to reveal what happens on a day without women.
By Ilana Novick / AlterNet
March 7, 2017
http://www.alternet.org/activism/how-participate-march-8th-womens-strike
The Women's March and demonstrations of its type are all about showing up. Participants aim to make their presence heard. As L.A. Kauffman, the author of Direct Action: Protest and the Reinvention of American Radicalis told Vogue, they "create situations that shine a spotlight on injustice and force a crisis that authorities need to address."
Many who attended the D.C. march couldn't hear the speeches or were caught in human traffic jams so crowded they couldn't complete the official route. All of which didn't matter, of course, because the point was to be present. But what if there was one day where women didn't show up? A day women made their value known by their absence?
For their next big project, International Women's Strike organizers, including the activists behind the Women's March, are calling for an event of the opposite kind. The March 8 general strike for women aims to showcase women's importance by revealing what happens on a day without women.
Taking the day off from paid work is only the beginning. Planned to coincide with International Women's Day, the organizers request that participants engage in one or all of the following actions on March 8, as listed on their website:
Women take the day off, from paid and unpaid labor
Avoid shopping for one day (with exceptions for small businesses and businesses owned by women and minorities)
Wear red in solidarity with A Day Without a Woman
Exactly how to use this time is up to each individual participant, but across the country, women and allies of the strike are staging rallies, marches, benefit concerts and other gatherings to show support and solidarity. In New York City, they will assemble in Washington Square Park for a tour of sites critical to progressive history, such as the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, where young immigrant women died in a horrific fire in 1911, the deadliest industrial disaster in history at the time, which led to substantial labor reforms. In Philadelphia, strikers will stand in solidarity with the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, who have been without a contract for 1,200 days.
Some critics, including Maureen Shaw, writing in Quartz, and Meghan Daum in the LA Times, argue that this strike will mostly amount to a day without privileged women—women who can afford to take the day off without fear of lost wages or other repercussions from employers. Shaw notes that, "As empowering as strikes may feel, they tend to be most effective when they are centered on achieving a particular policy goal," and compares this strike to those of labor unions fighting for higher wages, better working hours, or specific additions to their working conditions.
But the women's strike is only one step in fighting for a platform that includes all of these asks and more: environmental justice, reproductive rights and fair wages. The point is to show how many unseen, uncompensated and unvalued tasks women perform, and how much society depends on them.
It's supposed to be inconvenient, but Daum and Shaw's responses also assume that organizers haven't considered the economic barriers to striking (in fact, they take pains to explain that there is more than one way to participate). You can attend a rally before or after work, wear red, decline to shop, or decline to perform unpaid labor if taking the day off from paid labor is not an option.
For more information, including a letter to inform your employer of strike participation, visit A Day Without a Woman. The International Women's Strike website has a complete list of events around the country.
Ilana Novick is an AlterNet contributing writer and production editor.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Sycamore Slough
Cool.
Cool.
I'm delivering Firewood to some Lady tomorrow, was thinking I might take her for Lunch if the Kids are at school.
Would free Lunch violate the Strike terms?
I think not.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: thinthread
kids won't be at school if
kids won't be at school if they have female teachers.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Sycamore Slough
The Girl goes to "Stuart
The Girl goes to "Stuart Country Day" which is a fancy Princeton school with Nuns. At least there used to be Nuns. Not sure about the Boy, but if he can stay home & play video games, good for Him.
Nice Kids. During the X-mas season, they ask their folks "Is Kwazy Uncle Disco coming over ??"
They teach me their insanely violent video games.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: aiq
Sideshow? Really?
Sideshow? Really?
Alexandria City, VA schools closed today...Several in DC. Maryland.
Much wider by the end of the day.
Standing Rock setting up on the NAtional Mall, something in the air all reet.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: MeditateontheQ
Is this thread about women
Is this thread about women striking from the Zone? ;)
I had to go to work today, too many deadlines.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: troubador
I'm a female teacher, Hillman
I'm a female teacher, Hillman. Lots of us worked today to educate our students. Please refrain from sexist comments.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Sideshow Bob
>>>>>>> Sideshow? Really?
>>>>>>> Sideshow? Really?
My list was an attempt, using humor, to demonstrate that, even decades after the movie "9 to 5" and progress that's been made since then, it remains the case that in typical offices, women still mostly perform these mundane but essential tasks. I witnessed engineers actually go & complain to the secretaries that the copier was out of paper instead of simply refilling it himself.
But yeah, I do enjoy Inappropriate humor . . .
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: aiq
That's a relief.
That's a relief.
My mother, 86, was taken by me to her new doctor I picked for her today.
Madre was not thrilled the doctor was a young woman. My wife's late mother had similar issues with women in what she considered men's roles.
Young woman doctor was so smart and kind that madre was won over.
A small victory.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: treat island
Aiq, you're taking care of a
Aiq, you're taking care of a lot of people - your mom is lucky you're helping her. I hope you're taking good care of yourself, too.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Hitchhiker awaiting "true call"
..
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: treat island
1993, with an update
1993, with an update
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: W. Claude Dukenfield
And in other news..sales of
And in other news..sales of Ivanka's clothing line are up over 300%.
http://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/322818-ivanka-trump-clo...
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: ParadiseWaits
Did anyone here actually
Did anyone here actually participate in this? I swear I heard more bitching about it by butthurt men than any relevant news coverage.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Philzone Refugee
Pearl Jam made a nice gesture
Pearl Jam made a nice gesture:
http://www.jambands.com/news/2017/03/08/pearl-jam-celebrate-internationa...
Out here, the women were working at all of the local establishments I visited yesterday, the bank, Goodwill, the cafe and the brewpub. We didn't see any women shoppers though, which was outside the norm. Lots of men were poking around early in the day, when the weather was better, so maybe the lack of women shoppers was attributable to the strike. Later in the day, the weather turned cold, wet and menacing, and foot traffic died altogether.
Between cruddy weather and civil discontent, it's been a brutal season for retailing. I've seen half a dozen local business go belly up in the last two months, including big stores like Big Five, American Apparel and Half Price Books. Spring can't come soon enough.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Johnny D
Yesterday, I was heating my
Yesterday, I was heating my soup in our relatively small lunch room and I turned around from the microwave to wish my fellow co-workers a Happy International Women's Day.
I was the only man in the room and I was surrounded by my female friends and acquaintances: immigrants from Chile, Mexico, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, The Philippines, Iran, and India. There were a few women who were born in the US as well. I'm not exaggerating: just a casual routine gathering of people from around the world eating lunch; sharing space.
It really hit me hard just how blessed I have been to live and work in such a wonderfully diverse community.
MUCH LOVE to the Women of the World.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Fly
Women rule the world, give
Women rule the world, give thanks and praise.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: _
>> It really hit me hard just
>> It really hit me hard just how blessed I have been to live and work in such a wonderfully diverse community.
Except for the cleaning lady and office manager, my office is 100% male.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Johnny D
Ender, for the heck of it, I
Ender, for the heck of it, I just checked into my colleagues' women vs. men numbers:
My agency has 401 people on our employee list:
345 are women
56 are men
There's little wonder why all of us are underpaid!