What to Expect During 'Day Without a Woman'

Some schools are closing for Wednesday's protest
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 7, 2017 11:18 AM CST
What to Expect During 'Day Without a Woman'
Men might have to pick up some slack Wednesday.   (Getty Images/moodboard)

International Women's Day is March 8, and coinciding with the occasion this year is another event that's prompting some schools to close for the day. BuzzFeed reports that hundreds of teachers in North Carolina and Virginia indicated they'd be absent for Wednesday's "Day Without a Woman" protest, created to stand for the "equality, justice, and … human rights of women and all gender-oppressed people." Superintendents in Chapel Hill and Alexandria say they were forced to close schools for safety reasons, not politics. More coverage:

  • Vox offers an explainer. The US event will piggyback on the International Women's Strike, said to be planned by women in 30 different countries. Strike organizers say it's a protest againist what they call the "misogynist policies" of President Trump and also what led him to emerge: specifically, years of "economic inequality, racial and sexual violence, and imperial wars abroad."

  • USA Today gets more granular on how people can participate—take the day off, give female employees the day off if you own a business—as well as where rallies are taking place across the country and why red is the shade to sport.
  • Heidi Stevens looks at what men can do to support their wives and female co-workers, offering tips in the Chicago Tribune on how to collaborate on domestic chores and advocate for women colleagues. The effects will endure "far longer than a day," she writes.
  • Glamour serves up "quick talking points" so women can more effectively communicate with men about what this day means.
  • Some think the concept is good in theory, but maybe not in reality. Maureen Shaw writes the idea is "a noble one" at Quartz, except that the women who will likely be participating in the greatest numbers are the "privileged" ones. Meghan Daum agrees, noting in the Los Angeles Times that "for the millions of women who have no choice but to show up and meet their responsibilities on March 8 (and every day), it will be business as usual."
  • Bustle lists 10 tweets it says shows why this strike is a necessity, including the "fake news" of equal rights.
  • Wonder what the impact of the protest will be? The Boston Globe speculates in chart form.
(More strike stories.)

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