I was going to write a post today about feminism. Several things made me think of this: the appearance of one of my feminist heroes (Jessica Valenti) at my university, my article in the student paper about gendered language. I was going to talk about the use of the generic masculine in English grammar is damaging to women (and especially to girls learning the language as children). I was going to talk about the many double standards which face women in our society, especially when it comes to sexuality. I also planned to discuss how women of my generation often avoid the term “feminism”, thinking it synonymous with man-hating and bra-burning.

I had the post pretty well figured out (because I, um, always have my posts carefully planned out before beginning to write…) and was ready to go when I opened my email inbox this morning. I had an email from the National Organization for Women, announcing that today is International Women’s Day.

International Women’s Day has been observed since the early 1900s. In some incarnations it has been similar to Mother’s Day and is treated as an opportunity to give gifts to mothers and grandmothers. It is an official holiday in 15 countries and is still often celebrated with flowers and gifts, but in the 21^st century it has taken on a more ambitious bent.

For decades (centuries, really) people around the world have been fighting for women’s equality. Today International Women’s Day serves as a catalyst for social change to benefit women. Thousands of events take place around the world celebrating women’s achievements and bringing attention to causes which require further work.

Globally, the inequality between men and women is fairly obvious (some may argue that it is obvious in the United States as well, but I think that if so many young women are so averse to the word “feminism” then it isn’t). Women are dwarfed in numbers by men in business, politics, and the sciences. 25% more girls than boys are out of primary school. More than half a million women die every year from complications from pregnancy and childbirth. Violence towards women and girls is prevalent, and some of it is even proscribed by society, as in the case of honor killings and female genital mutilation.

From a global perspective, the feminist issues I normally write about seem paltry. But I don’t think we should dismiss them. Any efforts, subconscious or deliberate, to undermine women need to be reversed. And the more empowered women from this country are, the more able they will be to help women around the world. So from that standpoint, I think International Women’s Day needs to serve as a reminder to Americans that yes, while we have work to do in our own country, we cannot forget the women of other nations who struggle so much more.

The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is “Women and men united to end violence against women and girls.” Violence against women is unfortunately a problem that is just as familiar in this country as it is in others. On average, every day in the United States 600 women are raped or sexually assaulted. One-third of female murder victims are killed by an intimate partner, and domestic violence affects millions of women every year. And this is in the United States alone. In the world as a whole, the statistics are truly horrifying.

One in five women will be a victim of rape or attempted rape. Homicide is a disturbingly high cause of death among women of reproductive age. In some countries as many as 50% of women have been abused by an intimate partner. Violence is often underreported, and the victim is frequently held responsible for the violence against her. In many cases the patterns of abuse are so engrained, and the public support structure so faulty (or absent) that the task of reversing these statistics is unbelievably daunting. But I think that the global community, and Americans in particular, cannot forget or ignore the issues of women. I also think many of the problems women are facing are interrelated. Education, health care, legislative rights, all these things will help improve the lives of women. They may not alone end violence against women, but if we look at all the issues together we have an excellent chance of succeeding.

Clearly there is work to be done. But International Women’s Day also serves as an opportunity to celebrate all the progress that has been made. We have women prime ministers, Olympians, astronauts, Nobel Prize winners, and CEOs. The world is full of women role models, women who work or raise families or do both. Women are accepted into universities around the world, and in the United States graduate at greater rates than their male classmates. We have far to go, but we have come so far already. At the dawn of the 21^st century, the future is very bright.