Today is International Women's Day, which appears an especially needed moment to reflect and recommit to women's equality in the face of (in the United States) of the recent attacks on women, particularly around reproductive health. Of note about March 8 is the strikingly similar history it shares with another international holiday, May Day or International Workers' Day. Both started in the United States by radicals on the left, in the case of International Women's Day it was the idea of women involved with the Socialist Party. Both became globally-recognized days when leftists in Europe and elsewhere looked to commemorate tragedies occurring in the U.S. (the Haymarket massacre in the case of May Day, the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire in the case of International Women's Day). Then, particularly with the claiming of the holiday by the Bolshevik revolution, the holiday quickly lost cache in the United States.Remembering this history is important for a few reasons. First, much as the conservative right tries to label everything liberals do as radicalism, progressives should recognize that part of the proud history of the left (broadly speaking) has been radical forces pushing the big visions and often pointing to injustices before anyone else. Second, the origins of International Women's Day remind us that to concentrate too much on specific issue silos (labor, feminism, GLBTQ, etc.) makes us miss the interconnections among them.
This is not to say that one must devote oneself to all issues equally, but to at least acknowledge the relationships is vital. Certainly on the conservative right such relations are recognized; one can see this in the fact that many of the same GOP governors who have flexed their legislative muscles in attacks on labor rights have also targeted women's health. At the same time, it is important not to become carried away by the overlaps, as with those who attempt to create a model where one core issue sits as a sun, with other issues as mere orbiting planets, miss the point. For example, the marginalization of women has strong economic components - that does not mean it is a mere function of our economic system (newsflash: the oppression of women is a much older feature of society than capitalism). And it is only natural that personal interests and experiences will direct people to specific causes. We should instead always endeavor, whether it is in how we frame a public address or how a coalition is constructed, to at least be aware of how interdependent all of these causes are.