International Women’s Day — A Big Deal Outside of U.S.

Arriving yesterday morning at our usual Tuesday breakfast gathering I was surprised with several of the Mexican women greeted each other with “Feliz Día Internacional de la Mujeres.” Happy International Women’s Day.  Later Irma, owner of La Casita, the café where we meet, presented each of us a rose with our eggs and papaya. “For Carnival?” I asked. Even at this early hour, the festivities for the last Tuesday before Lent were revving up on the main avenida a block away. Children with masks were running around, and street bands were tuning up. “No, es para las mujeres!” she explained. It seemed perfectly natural to a Canadian friend who arrived in time to claim a flower. “Women’s Day is a really big deal where I come from.”

Well hooray! Seriously. Hooray!

“I don’t remember it being that big a deal in the States, do you?” I asked two friends, as we drove up to Chacala later in the afternoon. We were going to a special event honoring the day. I was speaking, along with two young women who live in Zacualpan, a farming center a few miles inland from the beach communities. One from Guadalajara, another from London, they have started an eco-friendly enterprise using local resources and the talents of women in the village.

“Maybe it’s because women have it easier in the States?” opined the woman in the passenger seat.

“All the more reason to celebrate!” came the response from the backseat.

Here are some links that helped me celebrate yesterday. They are good resources to help honor women every day.

Shelby Knox provided a constant stream of Tweets filled with essential facts about the status of women. You don’t have to have a Twitter account to read these nuggets. They are listed on her blog.

Courtney Martin, thirty-something, redefines feminism for a new generation, and inspires those of us in an older one. Watch her TED talk.

Kay Lindahl is interviewed about  “deep listening,” a practice she likens to playing midwife to birthing another’s thoughts. You’ll want to have a notepad ready when you listen to this.