MADRID’S MACHISMO ON INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
Placards at International Women’s Day demonstration in Madrid. Left placard: “Throwing up
on the machismo” embodied by Vox, an extreme-right Spanish political party
A GUIDEPOST report
Depending on where you’re reading from, International Women’s Day (IWD) is an offshoot of the labor movement that, under the auspices of the United Nations, is now an annual event. It germinated in 1908 when 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter working hours, better pay and suffrage.
On the IWD website, the first IWD gathering was held in 1911 and supported by over a million people.
Whatever your date is, what’s for sure is that the IWD is now a global holiday celebrated every 8th of March and has become a focal point in the women’s rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and gender-related crimes.
Madrid is reputed to be the Capital of the Land of Machismo, home to the hotheaded Latin Lover who acts as though he knew what was good for women and expects his womenfolk to take note. Whether this is pure myth in today’s modern Madrid or there’s a lingering truth to it, it should be interesting – elucidating – to see how Madrid celebrates International Women’s Day.
Click here for programming in the districts of Madrid.
For the special celebration at the Conde Duque Cultural Center, click here.
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Video of the Madrid municipal government’s slogan “8 M[arch] unites us” for the IWD celebrations
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Featured image (IWD demonstration 2019)/Consuelo Fernandez, CC BY-SA4.0 International via Wikimedia Commons
