BY ADELE SAMMARCO

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Did you notice your Google doodle on Friday?

The artwork is dedicated to International Women's Day, which has been observed since the turn of the century.

It was a time of great expansion and turbulence in the early 1900s with the industrialized world witnessing a booming population and the rise of new and innovative ideologies.

There was great social unrest and critical debate occurring among women as oppression and inequality spurred women of all ages to become more vocal and active in campaigning for change. Then in 1908, 15,000 women marched through the streets of New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights.

A year later, the first National Woman's Day was observed across the nation. In 1911, the ‘Triangle Fire' in Manhattan took the lives of more than 140 working women, most of them Italian and Jewish immigrants. The disaster drew attention to poor working conditions and improved labor legislation in the United States that became a focus of the women’s rights movement. 1911 also saw the 'Bread and Roses' campaign. The slogan appealed for both fair wages and dignified working conditions.

The passage of the Nineteenth Amendment granted women the right to vote in the United States and marked the end of one long battle in 1920, but began another chapter in advancing women’s rights and equality issues for years to come.

Today, International Women's Day is an official holiday around the world, where great improvements have made and great strides have been taken in the name of women's rights. Although a younger generation may feel the battles have largely been won for women, many who lived through the women’s revolution of the 1970s know too well the longevity and ingrained complexity of patriarchy that still exists.

With equality in legislative rights and increased visibility in every aspect of life that appear with invaluable female role-models, one would think that women have gained true equality. The unfortunate reality is that women are still not paid equally to that of their male counterparts. Women are still not present in equal numbers in business or in politics, and violence against women is far greater than it is against men.

International Women’s Day not only raises awareness to these issues, but also celebrates the advancement of women since the movement first began, and sets the stage for future generations to acknowledge the accomplishments and contributions of their mothers, sisters, daughters, wives and friends who pioneered the way.