March 8 is International Women’s Day. It’s a day that has its roots in political activism in “celebration of women and their social, economic and political achievements”. The day is celebrated world-wide, and modern communication technology increases the breadth of participation each year.
IWD demonstrations in Russia are largely credited as being a triggering event that led to the 1917 Russian revolution.

Today, IWD is still viewed as an opportunity for political expression - - except in Russia,Ukraine, and other FSU countries. There, Russian women, in their wisdom, have de-politicized the day. Instead, in these countries, they have created to have this day represent a day for women to enjoy being taken care of by their men and children.

 In FSU countries, Women’s Day is a National Holiday and  in several other countries is celebrated with a day off work. For us in “the west” (wherever that is nowadays), Russian Women’s Day is most easily understood by thinking of it as a celebratory combination of Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day; the juxtaposition of two special days of heartfulness and appreciation.

Excuse me please for a brief sociopolitical rant - -

Consider this men - - These Russian women, rather than getting “in your face” and demanding their rights to this and that, instead, stand at your side and request, with refreshing feminine guile, only to be loved and respected. What a novel idea. And I, as a long time resident of Marin County, California, the new-age wu-wu, feminist capitol of planet earth now feel proud to celebrate Women’s Day with a real women.

Thanks for your indulgence - - let’s continue - -
Traditional gifts for women this day include flowers and chocolates, but anything that expresses your love, appreciation and devotion can be appropriate depending on the woman. I refer you to our “Gifts For Her” page for excellent gift sources. The chocolates from zchocolate.com are awesome and I can tell you from experience that she’ll love them. Or, give her a gift from NOVICA either as a gift you’ve chosen or as a shopping adventure for her via a gift certificate.

So give her a gift and particularly, give her a gift of yourself. Go out of your way to do something she really likes. Here’s an example. Maybe your Russian woman is like this or maybe not. But Alla adores to go grocery shopping. And when we return home from a shopping trip, she will not let me help bring in or unpack the bags. It satisfies something primal in her to select the items at the store, and to carry those packages and restock the cupboards and fridge. So on Woman’s Day, I’ll take Alla to her favorite Russian food store in San Francisco and then to a very “hoity-toity” specialty supermarket in San Rafael that she’s not been to before. I know that this combination will “make her day”. So that’s great for us, but the point here is for you to be creative - - do something special. Let her know that she’s special. It’s her day.

So I close for now and leave you with this parting thought - - “Special things for special people”. Go for it!!

Gary

p.s. I’ve updated our links page with a WikiPedia link to an exhaustive description of Women’s day.

p.p.s. Alla and I have collaborated to update our “About Us” page with the story of how we met. Check it out, it’s a “different” story.

p.p.p.s. I’ll tell Alla about having written this post on the evening of March 8. So right or wrong, what’s here is all mine. Of course, if she reads it on her own before then, I’ll be involved in another language lesson - - “Honey, what does this “hoity-toity” mean? Hopefully I’ll be dealing with that question late in the day after I have a good example for reference.

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