Mother’s Day In Russia

It is Mother’s Day here. Actually, as I tell my kids, every day is Mother’s Day. I don’t expect gifts every day. I don’t even expect them on the official Mother’s Day, although they did each make me some lovely cards and pictures. But just as I say that we respect the earth every day, we make sure to respect mom 365 days of the year.

It isn’t Mother’s Day in Russia today. Russia celebrates something that, in a way, I like more: International Women’s Day. Yes, before you jump all over me, I know that the Soviet holiday has all sorts of political overtones that are wholly unnecessary. But Mother’s Day, as it has come to be celebrated in the United States, creates a lot of needless stress and distress for women who have experienced motherhood in a way that doesn’t square with greeting card platitudes. Or who aren’t mothers yet. Or who do not want to be mothers.

Russia’s holiday is celebrated on March 8. The holiday is echoed in many places that once had strong ties to the former Soviet Union, although Wikipedia, interestingly enough, says that the first International Women’s Day was celebrated by socialists in the United States in 1909. Though the Soviets celebrated a women’s day for decades after the revolution, it wasn’t an official holiday until 1965.

So why do I like International Women’s Day better than Mother’s Day? I am, after all part of the group that could mark the latter day, although it took me a long, long time to get there. I like International Women’s Day because it celebrates all that women do: their lives as mothers, to be sure, but also their accomplishment in their professions and in building their country.

It’s also a handy reminder of all that remains to be done for–and by–women.

Image Credit: Plakaty

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