Women of the World, Unite!

As you are doubtlessly aware by now, every March 8th we celebrate women in all their roles and spheres. If you, like I, grew up in the former Yugoslavia, you will vividly recall this as the day we children brought flowers for our schoolteachers-always an odd number, never even, as the latter represents death (or so we were warned). It never occurred to us back then that there male schoolteachers existed though, in our defense, there were none at my particular elementary school. During my years in the United States, the country whose women´s shirtwaist factory workers convened one of history´s earliest, and most important, women´s strike, this day tends to get paid lip service, and generally passes by without any memorable gestures. In Spain, on the other hand, March 8th has been referred to as El Día Internacional de la Mujer Trabajadora. I often found this a bizarre expression-why should we celebrate just the women who happen to be legally employed, and not all of us? Evidently, I was not the only one who felt personally affected by this turn of phrase and, therefore, this March 8, 2018, women all over the Iberian peninsula´s largest country have joined forces to call upon a 24 hour strike for all women-period. 

This movement, officially known as the ¨huelga feminista¨-or feminist strike-is being convened with the idea of ending the patriarchal, heteronormative, and capitalist system which constrains, abuses, and kills us merely for being women, for being black, brown or white, for demonstrating some form of impairment, for finding ourselves in illegal situations, for possessing ¨nontraditional¨ sexual orientations, desires, or bodies, for our culture, for being too small or too large, for not fitting snugly into the establishment´s tailor-made corset, for being women. For wanting to be free women.

Bearing that in mind, several meetings took place over the course of this past year to discuss ways of inspiring positive change so that oppression and discrimination could eventually become painful memories of the past. Over 400 activists and many feminist collectives united this January in Zaragoza to jointly compose a declaration and prepare the foundation for what will hopefully become known as the largest and most extensive women´s strike in Spain´s history. Here are four core environments, four cornerstones, in which this strike shall manifest itself. They include:

• The Workforce: This March 8th, women commit to not showing up at their jobs, nor working remotely from home or otherwise.
• Caretaking: Tasks that include domestic care and the caring of all members of the household are overwhelmingly assigned to women. Women shall not prepare food, clean, pick up/drop off their children at school or extracurricular activities, or participate in any other activity associated with caretaking.
• Education: This includes both formal, and informal schooling. The intent is to bring to a halt all elementary and high schools, universities, youth houses and afterschool programs, as well as other resources related to children and teens. The intent is to create spaces that are public, feminist-friendly, and secular.
• Consumption: Capitalism´s current form demonstrates the worth of groups or individuals through their purchasing power, regardless of the fact that social value is found in people, rather than objects. This March 8th, women commit to not buying anything for the duration of 24 hours, with the aim of demonstrating that we cannot end injustice, nor sustain lives and the environment, without reclaiming the importance of what truly matters. 

For those wondering whether the strike is legal, the answer is-yes. Unions provide the legal front that allows participants the right to strike, whether they are members of a syndicate or not. Men are also encouraged to participate, through striking on the education, work, and consumption fronts, and by showing support through solidarity and contributing by taking on the domestic tasks usually relegated to women.

This March 8th goes beyond the traditional ¨workers´¨ strike. Through collaborative and intersectional education and action, the aim is to make systemic violence obsolete. The Feminist Strike is an international, feminist movement that seeks to evoke change, create alternative ways to living, and bring about a better world for us all.

Many thanks to social worker Eva Tapia Lebrón and social and education worker Marta de Miguel Ovejero, both of Zaragoza, Aragón, for being a part of the 8M movement, and for disseminating information about its activities. 

To find out more about this year´s Feminist Strike, download flyers and posters, receive periodical updates, or sign up your own area´s local Feminist Strike, check out http://hacialahuelgafeminista.org.