International Women's Day in Montreal

Photo Courtesy of Immer_Lebend

Happy International Women's Day everyone! This year's theme: Women and men united to end violence against women and girls. (Apparently Rihanna will not be participating).

But it seems this important day is losing popularity in Quebec. About 250 people participated in the IWD march today in Montreal. That's about half the number of people who participated in last year's events (which took place in the middle of a snowstorm). But there was a lot more children attending this year's march. Many mothers brought their daughters to encourage a new generation to fight for gender rights as well. Although some seemed too young to understand most of the heated issues that were discussed such as the Tamils' situation in Sri Lanka.

Other political issues managed to infiltrate the women's march. In addition to speaking out against gender inequality, some women (including the organizers of the march) chose to speak out against the government's attempt to ban masked protests. I suppose masked protests could be viewed as a violation of women's rights, but the ban applies to both genders. So it seems like the march may have been an excuse to preach other political issues that are only somewhat related to this event.

For others, IWD is going commercial. In some countries, men honor women by giving them presents. (Although in China, women usually receive aprons, detergent and brooms as gifts). Some Montreal businesses are trying to promote this gift-giving tradition. Some florists are advertising beautiful bouquets especially for IWD. But women don't want flowers, they want equality!

Though Canada is still one of the top countries who hold the greatest number of events to celebrate this day, I fear the significance of IWD may be dwindling in Quebec. There are so many other political issues going on in this province that sometimes overshadow other issues. Protests and rallies are also very common in Quebec, so the IWD march may have trouble making an impact on a public that is becoming increasingly insensitive to opposition.