Darby Hinkley

Today, March 8, is International Women’s Day, a day to celebrate women’s achievements and tell the women in our lives what they mean to us.

International Women’s Day was first observed in 1911, nine years before women in the U.S. were granted the right to vote. (That occurred on Aug. 18, 1920, when the 19th Amendment was ratified).

We’ve come a long way since then, through decades upon decades of fighting for equal rights, to what may seem like an equal playing field to any layman. But there is still work to do.

The International Women’s Day website explains it well:

“With more women in the boardroom, greater equality in legislative rights, and an increased critical mass of women’s visibility as impressive role models in every aspect of life, one could think that women have gained true equality,” the site states. “The unfortunate fact is that women are still not paid equally to that of their male counterparts, women still are not present in equal numbers in business or politics, and globally women’s education, health and the violence against them is worse than that of men.”

There are many more opportunities for women in 2024 than there were in 2004, or 1984, or 1964. Things have improved, and seem to be trending in a positive direction.

International Women’s Day is an official holiday in many countries, including Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, China (for women only), Cuba, Georgia, Guinea-Bissau, Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Madagascar (for women only), Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nepal (for women only), Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Zambia.

“The tradition sees men honoring their mothers, wives, girlfriends, colleagues, etc. with flowers and small gifts,” internationalwomensday.com states. “In some countries, IWD has the equivalent status of Mother’s Day where children give small presents to their mothers and grandmothers.”

Today, I encourage you to think of the special women in your life and bless them somehow, whether it is with a phone call, visit, or a small gift. Maybe you can take your aunt to lunch. Maybe you can bring your sister a coffee at work. Maybe it’s as simple as sending a sweet text to your mom. Or maybe you just hold the door open for a nice lady at the drugstore. Whatever you choose to do, I hope it honors women today. They work hard, and it’s Friday. They’re probably exhausted. Why not brighten their day with a little gratitude?

Let’s think about how far we’ve come, and remember to encourage the girls in our lives, too. They’re our future female leaders, and they need our support to succeed.

Lastly, I’d just like to say I believe Alpena is a great example of a city full of female role models for those young women to look up to, including Mayor Cindy Johnson, City Manager Rachel Smolinski, Downtown Development Authority Executive Director Anne Gentry, Alpena County Library Director Debra Greenacre, and Mary Beth Stutzman, Alpena Area Convention and Visitors Bureau president and CEO, just to name a few.

There are so many wonderful women in this community, I cannot begin to list them all here. If you happen to see some of them today, share a smile and a “THANK YOU!” for all they do on a daily basis to make Alpena such a lovely place to live.

Darby Hinkley is Lifestyles Editor at The Alpena News. She can be serious sometimes, but it might catch you off guard. Reach her at dhinkley@thealpenanews.com or 989-358-5691.