The pioneers who paved the way
Olympe de Gouges (1748-1793)
Author of the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen in 1791, she was the first to demand legal equality between men and women. She was guillotined in 1793, partly for her writings.
Marie Curie (1867-1934)
The first woman to receive a Nobel Prize (Physics, 1903), then a second one (Chemistry, 1911). She remains to this day the only person to have won Nobel Prizes in two different scientific disciplines.
Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986)
Her essay The Second Sex (1949) laid the theoretical foundations of modern feminism with her famous phrase: "One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman." The work influenced generations of activists worldwide.
Valentina Tereshkova (born 1937)
In 1963, she became the first woman to travel to space aboard Vostok 6. It would take 19 years before another woman returned to space.
Malala Yousafzai (born 1997)
Surviving an assassination attempt by the Taliban in 2012 for defending girls' right to education, she received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014, becoming its youngest-ever laureate.
Where do we stand today? The numbers that challenge us
While considerable progress has been made, inequalities persist globally:
- Women represent 70% of people living in extreme poverty
- They perform 66% of the world's work but earn only 10% of income
- Only 27% of parliamentary seats worldwide are held by women (2024)
- The average gender pay gap remains about 16% globally
- The #MeToo movement, born in the United States in 2017, unleashed a global reckoning on sexual violence and harassment
These statistics remind us why March 8 is not a party, but a call to action: the fight for equality is far from over.
Did you know?
Some lesser-known facts about this day and women's rights history:
- Purple, green and white are the historical colors of Women's Day, inherited from the British suffragette movement
- In Italy, March 8 is associated with mimosa flowers, traditionally given to women by men
- Russia and many former Soviet countries consider March 8 an official public holiday
- In China, many companies grant women a half-day off on March 8
- The term "rights of Man" in its universal sense long served to render women's specific demands invisible — which is why we now speak of "human rights"
Go further
If this topic fascinates you, also discover our quizzes on great female figures and famous quotes:
Test your knowledge about exceptional women
A living legacy
From Clara Zetkin to the workers of Petrograd, from Simone de Beauvoir to Malala Yousafzai, International Women's Day carries the legacy of a century of struggle. Every advance was achieved through the courage of women — and men — who refused injustice.
March 8 is not a day for flowers. It is a day to remember, to learn, and to act. And the best way to start is to know the history.
