International Women’s Day 2011 (March 8th)

March 8th (e.g. this coming Tuesday) marks International Women’s Day 2011. I have always had a little bit of difficulty trying to understand issues of feminism because to me, women are just as equally capable (or sometimes even more) of doing things than men. I always saw my Mom as an equal to my Dad (although my Dad did NOT have to endure painful 24 hours of labour as my Mom did for me).

I have co-authored research papers and a book with my Mom, and to me, the women in my family were always worthy of respect and equality. I know that for many people, “machismo” has been a prevalent attitude of men in Mexican society, but my parents and their parents were extremely progressive and thus I really didn’t see it (if anything, I’d say I saw matriarchy rather than ‘machismo’). My favorite chemical engineering professor wasn’t a male, but a female (who in fact was an expert in chemical processes control, which requires some sophisticated math). And I am always a big fan of encouraging and mentoring my female students (I do that for every student of mine, though!).

It’s my understanding that there’s a march today (Saturday March 5th) to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of International Women’s Day. Here are the details as posted on the International Women’s Day Vancouver website.

The Parade will take place on Commercial Drive, followed by an indoor Festival at the WISE Hall on Victoria Drive in Vancouver.

When: Saturday March 5th
Gather: 12:30 pm at McSpadden Park (between East 4th and 5th Avenue and Victoria Drive)
Parade Route: West on East 3rd Avenue, North on Commercial Drive, East on Adanac to Salsbury Park, 1898 Adanac St.
Community Festival: 2:00 pm – 4:30 pm at the WISE Hall (1828 Adanac Street, Vancouver)

Hopefully many people will want to attend this event. And to women worldwide I say, let’s celebrate every day!

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