Views: Emilija Petreska  Wait a minute, what would we do without 8 March  What is 8 March not? 8 March is not mothers’ day. It is not sisters’ day. It is not some old-fashioned socialist holiday. It is true that 8 March was declared the official women’s day at the international women’s conference held by the Socialist International in Copenhagen in 1910. It is true that the proposal was made by the Germen socialist Clara Cetkin. However, that was not a decision easily brought or valid only for the left-wing movements/states. The year 1910 was the moment of concentration and synchronization of demonstrations and the fight for better economic, political and social condition of women, which had already started in most other places in the world. This is a fight that neither conquering the rights nor passing of time can stop. Therefore, in 1975, declared as the International Year of Women, the United Nations started officially supporting 8 March as the International Women’s Day. What is 8 March? It is a day when we thank the millions who demonstrated before us and with much suffering and efforts managed to provide the right for all of us women in Macedonia to get education of all degrees; to have the right to work, have careers and salaries equal to those of our male colleagues; an 8 hour working day; a nine-month maternity leave and three more months shortened working hours if we breastfeed our child; the right to decide ourselves whether, when and who to we are going to get married; be equal partners in the marriage and the property gained during the marriage; have the right to decide, how we are going to raise and educate our children; have the right to inherit our parents’ property the same as our brothers; have the right to vote or not vote if we decide that no political option deserves our vote; have the right to apply as candidates and be elected for parliament members, counselors, mayors, ministers, prime ministers and presidents of countries (why not!?)… What do we do on 8 March? Mostly we are ashamed of ourselves. We say: What is 8 March? A bunch of women sat in restaurants and got a bit tipsy? And so on, by replacing theses, due to disagreeing with the way 8 March is celebrated in Macedonia, we give up the millions of women who had won our rights. Or, we say: I understand the whole thing about 8 March and the equality and women’s rights, but I cannot celebrate this day since there is no counterpart – Men’s Day”. Thus, in our attempts to be equal, we negate the truth that half of the humankind had been discriminated for centuries just because the fact that they were born with a female body anatomy. Let us make a comparison – are we ready to give up celebrating “Ilinden”, “11 October”, “8 September”, only because these holidays that represent the core of the Macedonian nationality, are not officially celebrated in other countries? Or because we may not agree with the way they are marked? I do not intend to place accusations or preach the women; millions before us fought for us to think with our own heads. And exactly because of that right I feel awkward on 8 March. I refuse to negate the fact that I am a woman whose personal history was marked by the millions of known and unknown who paced the way before me. I refuse to forget that in Macedonia, there are still women whose father, brother, husband or any “superior” takes from them the rights guaranteed by the law. I refuse to close my eyes before the family violence, whether mental or physical. On 8 March, I am not ashamed to put behind what I have achieved in life as an equal human being and I say: Yes, I am a woman and I am proud because of that”. The remaining 364 days, as much as I can and as I can, I walk the path of the millions before me who gave me the right to walk it.  (the author of this text is MA in Communications, she is employed at the Radio Diffusion Council, a feminist and fighter for women’s rights, and most of all – a woman).