Women's Day in Poland

​I was very happy on a recent Friday because I had the opportunity to be in a country that actually celebrates Women's Day. Now, you may be thinking that this day is international in name and this means that every country should be able to celebrate. However, this is certainly not the case. Today, I am hoping to write about the lack of Women's Day in America and my observations from Poland on this day.

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​America has Women's day on the calendar, but that is basically it. The most a woman could expect on this day would be a remark from her husband or son. I believe that most workplaces would discourage any sort of celebrating of this day. This is because in America workplaces generally cannot celebrate anything that separates the workers. So, it is usually discouraged to celebrate any sort of religious holiday or gender-specific holiday.  So, unfortunately for the American women, this means that they generally only receive an 'oh wow, it's Women's Day, Happy Women's Day' type of comment from their husbands, sons, or close male relatives.

​I am happy to report that I saw the exact opposite of this type of behavior in Poland. Women's Day here seemed like a happy day and I was happy to celebrate. I celebrated by buying some tulips for me female co-worker and for my female students. I also talked about this day quite a lot with my students and I am happy that it still exists today. Unfortunately, it may have communist origins but I believe that it is a rather nice holiday today. I did not buy any pantyhose or carnations, but I certainly enjoyed the atmosphere and celebration of this holiday. When I return to America I will try my best to get more and more Americans to start celebrating this holiday.