March 8 is International Women’s Day and University of Toronto faculty, students and staff are marking the annual event in various ways (see below for a partial list of how U of T is acknowledging the day, which has been observed in one form or another since the early 1900s). 

U of T News spoke to former U of T Status of Women officer Connie Guberman, who teaches in the women and gender studies program at University of Toronto Scarborough, about International Women’s Day.

What is the significance of International Women’s Day? Why is it important?

That IWD is acknowledged and celebrated in countries around the world speaks to its continuing relevance and importance. In some countries, like China for example, women have the day off work.

I was reminded of the importance of the day this past Saturday when I was a guest speaker at the IWD celebrations hosted by Women's Place, Malvern Family Resource Centre. More than 75 women attended and they talked how they loved the chance to get together, to have a day for themselves. Women spoke, in their own way, about the need for change in expectations for girls, the importance of sharing household responsibilities, ending violence against girls and women, encouraging young girls to gain higher education. They laughed about the traditional attitudes that many of their men still have.

Has it changed over the years?

Much has changed in the past 50-100 years, but of course there is still so much to do. It's an important step that Ontario high schools now teach courses in gender and social justice. Many young women I speak with tell me they feel they have a choice – they have the right to be themselves in all their difference. In other words, they feel they can be non-conformist without being vilified or ridiculed to the same degree.

What about the future of International Women’s Day? Will the focus shift to other issues affecting women, such as race or socio-economic class?

The focus on IWD is always shifting depending on the context or the organizers. I like to draw on something Gloria Steinem has said about generations of feminists: that we all get radicalized and active for change depending on what has happened to us. There are so many young activists now. Sometimes people perceive this as a disagreement in perspective with older generations of feminists, when really it is a difference in experience. It's so important to support each other in what we do and have done.

Below are just a few examples of research, outreach and activities related both to International Women's Day and to women's issues in general: 

• Women in House: Putting a human face on politics for female U of T students

• Feminist scholars at OISE discuss what International Women’s Day means to them.

• Angela Colantonio, CIHR research chair in gender work and health and director of the Rehabilitation Sciences Institute in the Faculty of Medicine, believes we need to pay more attention to women’s head injuries.

• The U of T Women & Gender Studies Institute and other groups are sponsoring a talk by Indigenous (Mississauga Nishnaabeg) poet and academic Leanne Betasamosake Simpson on “Islands of Decolonial Love: Exploring Love on Occupied Land.”

• U of T dentistry alumnae have started a project that provides restorative dentistry for victims of domestic violence.

• Women who Inspire: U of T students, alumni and others reveal the woman who inspired them the most.

• Law alumnae Insiya Essajee and Gillian Hnatiw are pushing boundaries in their advocacy for human rights and sexual violence respectively.

• U of T's Rotman School of Management and TD Wealth have released a joint report that paints an intimate portrait of how women across the country perceive challenges and opportunities in advancing their careers. 

• OISE professor emerita Dorothy Smith recalls her fight for maternity leave for teachers.