Women’s Day: August 9

Women’s day is a national holiday that celebrates the women’s march on Pretoria protesting the passbooks that limited their mobility. It is interesting that South Africa has both a Mother’s Day and a Women’s Day, despite the fact that gender roles are still clearly defined and reinforced. Women are responsible for overseeing all of the household chores and raising the children, regardless if they have another job. Most women rise before the sun and fall into bed long after it has set. They constantly work on the endless list of chores: gathering wood and lighting the stove, heating water, preparing breakfast and dinner, sweeping the yard, laundry, cleaning the house, looking after the children, and countless unseen tasks that need to be done in order to keep the family functioning smoothly. The girls, women, moms, and gogos of South Africa are selfless, hardworking pillars of society!