MARCH 8: International Women's Day

March 8 is the International Women's Day (IWD). It is a major day of global celebration of women. The focus of the celebrations ranges from general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to a celebration for women's economic, political and social achievements.Throughout the years, March 8 simply became an occasion for men to express their love for women in a way somewhat similar to a mixture of Mother's Day and St Valentine's Day.

[caption id="attachment_972" align="aligncenter" width="520" caption="Beautiful flowers: by Alex Armani"][/caption]

In Armenia, after the collapse of the Soviet Union celebrations of IWD were abandoned. Instead, April 7 was introduced as state holiday of ‘Beauty and Motherhood’. The new holiday immediately became popular among Armenians, as it commemorates one of the main holidays of the Armenian Church, the Annunciation. However, people still kept celebrating IWD on March 8 as well. Public discussion held on the topic of two ‘Women’s Days’ in Armenia resulted in the recognition of the so called ‘Women’s Month’ which is the period between March 8 and April 7.