- March 8 is International Women’s Day.
- The earliest celebration of International Women’s Day was in 1909. That year, the Socialist Party of America dedicated the day to honoring the 1908 garment workers’ strike in New York.
- Through the years, the day has been spent showing the progress that women have made, as well as the progress women (and men) around the world are working towards.
- This year, the day’s theme is #BalanceforBetter, a call to action for everyone to “help forge a more gender-balanced world.” The campaign says this includes creating more gender-balanced spaces in boardrooms, politics, media and sports coverage, and wealth.
- In support of International Women’s Day, we’ve rounded up some of the most poignant quotes from some of the most well-known supporters of the gender equality movement:
Hillary Clinton: former Secretary of State, former New York Senator and 2016 Democratic nominee for President of the United States
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Emma Watson: actress and UN Women Goodwill Ambassador
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Gloria Steinem: journalist and political activist
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Janelle Monáe: singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, actress, and model
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Malala Yousafzai: humanitarian and youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate
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Sheryl Sandberg: COO of Facebook, founder of LeanIn.org and author
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Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Supreme Court Justice
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Cecile Richards: president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America
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Michelle Obama: former First Lady of the United States
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Jennifer Aniston: actress, producer, and businesswoman
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Betty Friedan: author of “The Feminine Mystique”
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Melinda Gates: co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
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Jessica Alba: actress, philanthropist and co-founder of The Honest Company
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Amal Clooney: barrister and philanthropist
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Whitney Wolfe Herd: founder and CEO of Bumble, co-founder of Tinder
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Lupita Nyong’o: actress and activist
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Meghan Markle: actress, humanitarian and future royal
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Bell Hook: author of “Feminist Theory”
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Dilma Rousseff: first female president of Brazil
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Oprah: media mogul, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist
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Gal Gadot: actress and former Miss Israel
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Nancy Pelosi: Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives
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Ursula Burns: former CEO of Xerox, chairperson of VEON, senior advisor to Teneo, board member at Diageo and Uber
Foto: sourceShayanne Gal/Business Insider
Lena Waithe: actress, producer, and Emmy-award winning screenwriter
Foto: sourceShayanne Gal/Business Insider
Priyanka Chopra: actress, singer, film producer, philanthropist, and former Miss World
Foto: sourceShayanne Gal/Business Insider
Cheris Kramarae: author of “A Feminist Dictionary”
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Beyoncé: singer, songwriter and actress
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Cher: singer and actress
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Reese Witherspoon: actress, producer, philanthropist and entrepreneur
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Lori Greiner: inventor, entrepreneur, and television personality
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Madeleine Albright: the first woman to have become the United States Secretary of State
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Viola Davis: actress, producer, activist, and humanitarian
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Katie Couric: journalist and author
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Madonna: performer, businesswoman and philanthropist
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Coco Chanel: famed fashion designer and businesswoman
Foto: sourceShayanne Gal/Business Insider