Does anyone know what Sunday’s holiday is?
Bueller?
Bueller?
Yeah… that’s what I thought.
Allow me to assist.
March 8 is International Women’s Day, a day to celebrate women’s achievements and renew the global call for equality.
March is also Women’s History Month, and — perhaps most importantly — my birthday on March 19, in case anyone feels inspired to send a card, cake, or small but tasteful gifts. I’m not picky. I’m just saying… the option exists.
Now, the choice of March 8 isn’t random. It actually comes from one of the most impressive “we’ve had enough of this nonsense” moments in modern history.
On February 23, 1917, according to the Russian calendar at the time—March 8 in the calendar we use today—thousands of women textile workers in Petrograd marched into the streets demanding “Bread and Peace.”
Why? Because World War I had wrecked the economy, food was scarce, and working families were carrying the entire burden while the ruling class… well… ruled.
So these women did what people do when they’re fed up: they walked off the job and started protesting.
And by protesting I mean they helped kick off the Russian Revolution.
Within days, the czar abdicated. The government collapsed. And not long after, women in Russia gained the right to vote.
So just to recap: a group of overworked women asked for bread and peace… and accidentally helped topple an empire.
Productive day.
That moment cemented March 8 as a day connected to women’s activism and demands for political and economic rights. Decades later, in 1977, the United Nations officially recognized International Women’s Day and invited countries around the world to mark the occasion.
Since then it’s become both a celebration and, let’s be honest, a bit of a reality check.
In the United States, the debate over women’s rights has taken some dramatic turns recently.
Two years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending the constitutional right to abortion that had stood for nearly half a century and sending the issue back to the states. The result has been a patchwork of laws and an ongoing political fight over reproductive rights.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump continues to reshape the national conversation around abortion and federal authority. His judicial appointments helped form the Supreme Court majority that overturned Roe, and the issue remains one of the most contentious in American politics.
So International Women’s Day isn’t just about looking back at history.
It’s also about asking what “Bread and Peace” might mean today: economic security, bodily autonomy, safety, and equal opportunity.
It’s about remembering that the rights many people take for granted today were won because people organized, protested, pushed back, and refused to accept the status quo.
History also teaches us something else: progress is rarely neat and linear. Gains can be challenged. Rights that seem permanent sometimes turn out to be… less permanent than advertised.
Which is why March 8 still matters.
It’s a celebration of how far women have come, and a reminder that the pursuit of equality requires vigilance, participation, and occasionally making a little noise.
After all, the women marching through Petrograd in 1917 had no idea their protest would help change the course of history.
They just knew things weren’t fair, and they weren’t going to stay quiet about it.
Turns out that’s still a pretty effective strategy.
