Dear Diary,
Once again, my post about a holiday that I grew up with – International Women’s Day.
The meaning of this day has lost its politics on me and most of my generation long before we were even born. What we were taught from child care all throughout our childhood – it is Mum’s Day.
We made presents for our mums. We put on concerts and shows. Even little girls would get presents from their dads and granddads. Given that 8th March was always a public holiday, we would have lunches or dinners to celebrate the day (to eat, drink and be merry).
Men were supposed to do all the work on this day… Yeah, right, as if it ever happened.
Then, at school, we would get presents from our classmates. And we would have some special events pre-8th March and a whole school disco, of course.
After 26 years in Australia, we still celebrate 8th March as MUM’S Day or WOMEN’S Day.
Women would get presents and flowers (even little tiny girls). We would have a feast. And… a disco, of course.
Svetlana Tishchenko 