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8M 2023: Events, tools and some figures

Published: 08/03/2023

On Women's Day, we take a tour of some of the cultural, protest and scientific events that seem interesting to us to experience this celebration. We will also stop to see some figures. To do this, we suggest you consult some classic sources, which provide us with data to be able to take the pulse of the situation of women in society. Still far from parity in the decision-making bodies, the women's struggle is beginning to bear fruit, but there is much to be done until women have the place that belongs to them in society.

GENCAT's Manifiesto

Institutional Declaration on 8 March 2023, International Women’s Day

We are not born feminists; to adapt Simone de Beauvoir’s iconic quote, we might say we become feminists. This becoming feminist is not necessarily a conscious act and it does not come from having read all the theoretical output of the last three centuries against patriarchal normality. It does not even involve learning about the struggle of so many women who have gone before us to achieve the rights we have today. In fact, the patriarchy has been busy making them invisible, tearing down their contributions. Indeed, the patriarchy has worked tirelessly to mock and crack down on feminists who have exposed it. And it has done so with a very clear goal in mind: to make us disown the socio-political movement which is fighting to put an end to this system of oppression while also making us feel uncomfortable about identifying as feminists.

And yet it still hasn’t got its way. We become feminists because we decline to accept as “just the way things are” the inequalities, discrimination and violence which shape our lives, the lives of all women.

You don’t think it’s okay to get paid less for the same work or that the more feminised jobs are more insecure? Feminist. You don’t think it’s right that women should bear the brunt of domestic and care work, that we have no time for ourselves and that society teaches us to believe that we do it out of love and natural empathy? Feminist. Does it irritate you that colours and toys are identified with the gender of children, or that some sports are associated with women and others are branded as for men? Feminist.

Are you outraged by the imposition of unrealistic beauty standards which put at risk our self-esteem and health, or that advertising objectifies women and hypersexualises young girls? Doubly feminist. You find it intolerable that menstruation and menopause are still shrouded in taboos and that period products aren’t free? Fe-min-ist. If you’re exasperated by panels, talk shows and listings with no women and you’re tired of the excuse that they haven’t “found” any. If you’re fed up with being asked when you’ll be a mother, or why you don’t want to be one, or being told how you should be a mother. Feminist. If you believe that without sex education there are no equal and respectful relationships based on consent; you are very, very feminist. If it makes you angry to be treated like a girl at work, have your professional worth called into question or rumours spread about sexual favours when you’re in a decision- making position, you’re a feminist. If you’re annoyed by unwanted remarks about your body or being honked at in the street, you’re a feminist. If you’ve had enough of sexual terror imagery which restricts your freedom and use of public space while most sex offenders are known to their victims; evidently a feminist.

If you’re sick and tired of having a masculinity imposed on you which is often measured in terms of aggressiveness, you’re a feminist. If you want to freely express your feelings, you’re a feminist. If you believe that being jealous, controlling and possessive has nothing to do with love, you’re also a feminist. If you share housework and caregiving, take your kids to the doctor’s surgery or make sure you know what day they do PE at school and pack their gear; fe-min-ist, without doubt. If you reject sexist jokes and are unwilling to tolerate any of your friends being “creepy” when you go out partying; a feminist, obviously. If you’re actively committed to fighting male chauvinism every day and everywhere, then yes, you are a feminist. And you aren’t one because you have a mother, sisters or daughters. You’re a feminist simply because you find patriarchal normality unbearable.

As Angela Davis says, we are no longer accepting the things we cannot change. We are changing the things we cannot accept. We need everyone, women and men, to make feminist normality possible in families, schools, workplaces, leisure venues, associations and political institutions. Everywhere! A feminist normality which is also anti-racist, trans-inclusive and free of discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation, age, social class, nationality or disability, because feminisms are global justice. It doesn’t matter when you’ve joined this feminist common sense. With feminisms, it’s all about starting!

Some figures

Let's have a look to the Spanish Statistical Office new figures about men an women, which can be found here. We recommend that you stop at the most up-to-date section: Wages, income and social cohesion, since it allows knowing the income and the risk of poverty that is faced based on gender. And, therefore, the ability to carry out a vital project where the person has their needs covered and can develop in society.

The Spanish Institute of Women publishes a monthly infographic under the heading "Women in figures". We include below the one from February about the gender wage gap.

The European Institute for Gender Equality provides us the Gender Equality Index both for the average of the European Union and by country. With 68.6 out of 100 points, the European Union has a long way to reach gender equality. Since 2010, the EU’s score has increased by 5.5 points. Since 2019, the EU’s score has increased by 0.6 points. [Check it on https://eige.europa.eu/gender-equality-index/2022/country]

The Catalan Women's Institute hosts the Gender Equality Observatory which, in collaboration with the European Institute for Gender Equality, calculates the Gender Equality Index in Catalonia. According to this indicator, Catalonia is ninth in gender equality in Europe. It has to be highlighted also the thematic statistical dossiers offered by the Catalan Gender Equality Observatory.