From
the Midwest to
Budapest
Day of March 8 annually calls attention
to women and their roles
Hungarians, like most of Europeans, celebrate International Women’s Day with all of the excitement and honor of other holidays. It is a way to remember all of the women in a person’s life, whether that woman is a mother, wife, sister or friend.
“Usually we get flowers from men around us,” said Zsófi Kiss, a 22-year-old student from Budapest. “For example, every year I get flowers from my father and my brother and even from some of my friends, not just (a) boyfriend.
”It’s like Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and a birthday all rolled into one all-encompassing holiday, but Hallmark still has not picked it up for the American audience.
When we arrived in Hungary on March 8, International Women’s Day was seen everywhere. Shop windows advertised sales, and restaurants and bars advertised food and drink specials for women.
While I didn’t see any cards made especially for the holiday, it was clear that some souvenirs and gifts were catering to shoppers wanting to buy something for a loved one.
When our tour guide came to pick us up from the hotel to go to the Hungarian dance performance our first night in Budapest, he brought all of the women a daffadil as an International Women’s Day gift.
Story by Lisa Ryan
Celebration of the holiday might have evolved into just another gift-giving occasion, but the reasons behind the holiday are much more serious, and some groups take the day as an opportunity to spread awareness about inequality.
Today, the United Nations uses the day to raise awareness about women’s issues globally. On the U.N. website, worldwide women’s issues are featured. Fifty percent of sexual assaults are committed against women under the age of 16. Seventy percent of women report physical or sexual violence against them in their lifetimes. According to its website, the U.N. wants International Women’s Day to be a “time for action to end violence against women.”
International Women’s Day is mainly celebrated in countries in the European Union, Afghanistan, Cambodia, China, Russia, Tajikistan, Vietnam and, of course, Hungary.
After experiencing International Women’s Day to its fullest extent in the country, I would say receiving gifts and special treatment might not necessarily be the best way to raise awareness of inequality, but it is a fun way to show a woman in your life that you care.