Women’s March

The US election of Donald Trump became a catalyst for women to assert themselves against misogynistic values, after many of trumps statements being considered anti-women and offensive. On January 21, 2017, the day after Trumps inauguration as US president, women-led marches across the world to came together in solidarity as part of an international day of action. More than 80 countries took part in the women’s march, the largest in Washington D.C. with between 500,000 to one-million people attending. According to organisers the goal of the march was to protect the fundamental rights and the safeguarding of freedoms that were threatened by political events of the time.(BBC, 2017)

From then on, the marches became an annual event held across the world with the aim to advocate legislation and policies regarding human rights and other issues including women’s rights immigration reform and LGBTQ rights. In 2018 the “times up” rally was organised, named in response of the campaign launched in January by women in Hollywood to counter sexual harassment in the entertainment business and workplaces following the Weinstein scandal and the #metoo movement.

Shortly after the #MeToo social media movement, gained popularity which encouraged women to share stories of sexual harassment and abuse, the #TimesUp campaign was launched by nearly 300 A-list Hollywood women hoping to end sexual harassment and misconduct in the entertainment industry and other fields. The intent behind the campaign was  to support victims of sexual harassment and assault by paying their legal fees. The campaign raised close to $19 million in matter of months. The Women’s March 2018 was named “Times up” to encourage support for the campaign as well as against sexual harassment and other serious issues demanding “time’s up” gender equality.

In 2019 the march returned for a 3^rd time with the name “Bread and Roses”, in honour of the Polish born American suffragette Rose Schneiderman, who famously devised the phrase in 1911 by saying “The workers must have bread, but she must have roses, too.” Organisers choose the theme in the hope to remind people of the protests that revolutionised workers rights for women and rally supporters against Austerity in the United Kingdom, in rise of the recent issue of Brexit, “with the imminence of Brexit, we want austerity to end and are demanding specific assurances from the UK government. It is time to eliminate the dividing line between the ‘Haves’ and ‘Have Nots’. Equality demands that we all get to thrive and not just survive. We demand Prosperity not Austerity.” (Women’s March on London, 2019)

Bibliography

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BBC, (2017). Women’s March marks end to ‘couch potato politics’. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/38637889/womens-march-marks-end-to-couch-potato-politics [Accessed 20 May 2019].

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Lyons, I. (2018). Time’s Up rally: Why thousands of women marched on London – in their words. [online] The Telegraph. Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/politics/times-rally-thousands-women-marched-london-words/ [Accessed 20 May 2019].

Petter, O. (2019). See the most beautiful bread and roses costumes at this year’s women’s march in honour of Rose Schneiderman. [online] The Independent. Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/women/womens-march-2019-london-rose-schneiderman-bread-and-roses-theme-costumes-a8736361.html [Accessed 20 May 2019].

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