Interesting Facts About International Women's Day March 8th

On International Women’s Day, March 8, let’s explore some interesting facts about women around the world.

Researchers have confirmed that, on average, women speak about 20,000 words per day, while men only speak around 7,000 words.
According to Care.org, women produce 50% of the world’s food but own only 1% of the farmland.
Out of the 157 million women living in the United States, nearly 85.4 million (equivalent to 54%) are mothers.
On average, a woman owns more than 25 pairs of shoes.
Among the 197 countries in the world, 22 have women as heads of state, which accounts for 11.2%.

Women have higher educational attainment than men, with 58% of female students graduating from college. Women make up the majority of graduates in the humanities and arts (about two-thirds), while men continue to dominate in the natural sciences.
Men are promoted based on their talent, while women are promoted based on their past achievements.
In almost all countries, women work more hours than men but are paid less.
Studies indicate that women living in regions closer to the equator have a higher probability of giving birth to daughters than sons.
Women in poorer countries perform more unpaid labor, work longer hours in the informal economy, and face increasingly deteriorating working conditions.
Research confirms a direct correlation between economic growth and the gender gap in this area.
The International Women’s Day was not originally on March 8: About 50 years after a protest took place on March 8, 1908, over 15,000 women marched again in the streets of New York demanding better wages and shorter working hours. In response to this situation, the Socialist Party of America designated February 28 as International Women’s Day. It wasn’t until March 8, 1910, at the second International Women’s Conference, that delegates agreed to establish March 8 each year as International Women’s Day.
Not every country celebrates March 8: While March 8 is recognized as International Women’s Day, not every country observes this date, and it is not a globally celebrated holiday. Only 28 countries, including Vietnam, hold celebrations for this day. Additionally, in some countries like China and Nepal, this day is an official holiday for women only, not for the general public.
The flower symbolizing March 8. In Vietnam, people often buy roses to gift to women on this day. However, in Italy, men commonly give yellow mimosa flowers to women to commemorate this occasion. The choice of mimosa flowers is attributed to American politician Teresa Mattei, who prioritized yellow mimosa as a symbol for International Women’s Day because violets or lilies are quite rare and expensive in Italy.
Moreover, in Russia and Albania, many people also use yellow mimosa flowers as gifts on March 8.
March 8 is also a day for waist measurements: In Taiwan, every year on March 8, the government conducts a survey of women’s waist sizes across the territory. Through these measurements, they issue health warnings regarding women in Taiwan.
Symbol ♀: Today, the symbol (♀) is used to represent the female gender. It is also the symbol for the planet Venus (the goddess of love) and is considered a stylized representation of a Roman woman’s face.
The first proposal for March 8 as International Women’s Day came from a German woman: Clara Zetkin is the notable woman associated with the establishment of International Women’s Day on March 8. She was born in 1857 in Germany. At a meeting in Copenhagen on March 8, 1910, Clara Zetkin was the first to propose a day dedicated to women worldwide.
The first author of a novel in human history was a woman: This was Murasaki Shikibu, the author of what is considered the first novel in human history – the Japanese masterpiece, Tale of Genji, written more than 1,000 years ago.
When a mother lives near the equator, the probability of giving birth to daughters is also significantly higher.
Not every March 8 is a joyful day: Unfortunately, in many countries, March 8 is also a time when many acts of oppression and attacks on women occur. In 2011, in Egypt, hundreds of men descended on Tahrir Square in Cairo to suppress women protesting. A reporter once wrote, “Many women marched to the central square of Cairo, Egypt on March 8. However, a crowd of men appeared, overpowering and beating them.”