Ohio University’s Women’s Center will host its annual International Women’s Day Festival on Sunday to celebrate women’s history, struggles and progress on an international level.
The theme of this year’s festival, “Equality for women is progress for all,” corresponds with the theme that the United Nations sets for International Women’s Day, which occurred during Spring Break on March 8. Susanne Dietzel, director of the women’s center, said it is an important day to celebrate.
“I think it’s important for us to sit down and think about where women are, because obviously there is still a reason for us to have International Women’s Day because women don’t have the same status that men have,” Dietzel said.
The festival will boast free food, child-care and about 30 presentations and performances including dances, speeches and vendors set up around the Baker University Center Ballroom for attendees to come enjoy. Another presentation will be a FACES fashion show as well as a traditional and cultural fashion show.
Kathryn Warren, a college student personnel graduate student intern for the center, said she is looking forward to seeing the planning of the event come together and the inclusion of women across cultures.
“(The day is) something obviously worth celebrating: what women have accomplished in the past, what we’re doing now and the future of women in our community and women around the world,” Warren said.
Bhakti Shah, executive committee member of the Indian Students Association and Hindi instructor, said she will be partaking in a Bollywood fusion dance and doing henna on attendees. As an international woman from Mumbai, India, here in Athens, the appreciation of women during the festival is necessary for women and their progress, she said.
“I come from a culture where women are not easily acknowledged,” Shah said. “There is change, but the change is so slow and for me it matters to be recognized, to be appreciated for what I am.”
Warren said she hopes people will come out to appreciate women and come together as a community.
“We live in our own little bubble and we forget maybe about the other things that are going on around the world, and together we are all united,” Warren said. “We all can contribute to the greater good of each other and for equality.”
Creating henna is a personal connection between Shah and the people she is working with, she said. She learns a lot about them and likes to be someone they can talk to. With Shah seeing a need to recognize women, she urges students and faculty to be a part of the festival.
“For the students it is very important (to attend) because they are the future,” Shah said. “Their actions will determine what the future holds for us. And for the faculty, because they are the ones who inspire these students.”
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