March 8th marks International Women’s Day. A Day to Celebrate females all around the world as well as raise awareness for inequalities that women face.

What is it?

International Womens DAy (IWD) started when in 1908, 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter working hours, better pay and the right to vote. It was the Socialist Party of America who declared the first National Woman’s Day, a year later. It is an International Day that is recognised by the United Nations.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/43301421/embed

What about Men’s Day?

There is indeed an International Men’s Day, on 19 November. But it has only been marked since the 1990s and isn’t recognised by the UN. People celebrate it in more than 60 countries, including the UK. The objectives of the day are “to focus attention on men’s and boys’ health, improve gender relations, promote gender equality, and highlight positive male role models”. The theme for 2017 was ‘Celebrate Men and Boys.’

Interestingly there are more Tweets about International Men’s Day on International Woman’s Day than in November.

But it’s illegal to treat men and women differently so why is it happening?

Unfortunately there is no straight forward answer to this. There is debate about public perception, opportunities and expectations of gender. This BBC Article explains a lot. The inequality happens all across the world in most sectors.

Lesson Ideas

We have been looking at IWD today in class. Here is a selection of activities we completed in class today to celebrate the achievements of females.

Post It Notes -Exit Cards

Pupils were invited throughout the period to think about a female that inspired them and as they were leaving the class they put the post it note on the board.

Research and Create a PowerPoint

Our S4 DAS group talked about role models and the Gender Pay Gap. We then went on to start researching and creating a Powerpoint on someone we admire. Some women we admire are Kylie Jenner, Perrie Edwards and Emma Watson.

 

Breaking Down Stereotypes

The S2 Skills class were asked to draw different occupations before sparking a discussion about Gender Inequality. Some in the class didn’t believe it still happened because they have learned about the Equality Act 2010 – so were sent to research a little further about Gender Inequality.

Other pupils have been inspired to create posters, poems and write letters. We used the fantastic resources from Teach Starter See some of our wonderful work below! I have so proud of all our pupils for really getting involved in International Women’s Day activities.