On the 8th of March, the International Women’s Day, the streets of Sarajevo were full of street flowers vendors as well as women and girls carrying flowers in their hands that they received as a gift or just wanted to give to someone.
Street vendors brought out their stalls on the Sarajevo streets early that morning, while men of all ages were carrying flowers and gifts for their mothers, wives, daughters, girlfriends, work colleagues etc.
Vendors stated that they are satisfied with the demand, and buyers with the offer that includes carnations, roses, orchids, hyacinths, daffodils, lilies and home flowers in pots.
International Women’s Day was marked for the very first time on the 28th of February 1909, in the United States (US) on the basis of the Declaration adopted by the Socialist Party of that country. Since 1975, the United Nations (UN) are officially celebrating the 8th of March as the International Women’s Day.
The new millennium has witnessed a significant change and attitudinal shift in both women’s and society’s thoughts about women’s equality and emancipation. Many from a younger generation feel that ‘all the battles have been won for women’ while many feminists from the 1970’s know only too well the longevity and ingrained complexity of patriarchy. With more women in the boardroom, greater equality in legislative rights, and an increased critical mass of women’s visibility as impressive role models in every aspect of life, one could think that women have gained true equality. The unfortunate fact is that women are still not paid equally to that of their male counterparts, women still are not present in equal numbers in business or politics, and globally women’s education, health and the violence against them is worse than that of men.
However, great improvements have been made. We do have female astronauts and prime ministers, school girls are welcomed into university, women can work and have a family, women have real choices. And so the tone and nature of IWD has, for the past few years, moved from being a reminder about the negatives to a celebration of the positives.
