International Women's Day

Take action (and have some fun) on International Women's Day in Berlin

7. März 2017
Photo by Charlotte Cooper (Flickr cecooper) under Creative Commons license

Mar. 7, 2017 – International Women's Day has been a thing for over one hundred years, but there's still plenty we have to fight for – that's probably why many Germans call the holiday “Frauenkampftag” rather than just “Internationaler Frauentag”. Pretty much worldwide, emotional labor is delegated primarily to women and is still undervalued, if not totally overlooked. 

Men constantly find new ways to control women's bodies and treat them like shit, and of course we don't have to point the finger at Muslim countries for examples. In Germany, new restrictions on sex workers will take effect this summer, many of which will endanger their safety and limit their opportunities (especially low-income and migrant workers). In the US, Republicans are repealing protections for trans* people wanting to use the bathroom that matches their gender, treating them as predators when in fact trans women are the ones most likely to be victims of violent crimes – which simultaneously creates a nice distraction against the charges of treason in their dealings with Russia. Meanwhile, their buddy Putin just signed a bill decriminalizing domestic violence into law. (One of its sponsors was the mastermind behind the “gay propaganda” law enacted in 2013.) 

With these new Dark Ages creeping in, Berliners have plenty of options to take a stand on Wednesday. There will be two demos: one for women only, starting at 16:30 at the corner of Warschauer Straße and Revaler Straße; the other for women and allies at 17:00 at Hermannplatz. Both marches will proceed through the streets and convene at Oranienstraße, with a closing rally by the International Women's Space. And of course, there are several opportunities to help prevent activist burnout with a bit of fun. International Women's Day also means parties, performances, talks and concerts, plus the opening night of the fourth annual Berlin Feminist Film Week. Here are a few events happening on March 8:

Jenseits von Nelken und Pralinen
18:00 at Cassiopeia
An all-female lineup of rappers, beatboxers and breakdancers from the US, UK and Germany, including Bellatrix, Drowning Dog & Malatesta, That Fucking Sara and more.

Jeder Tag ist Frauen*Tag
20:00 at Südblock
Singer Enana and rapper Snowe White live on stage, and the Südblock All-Star DJs mix Western and Eastern sounds from the last few decades, plus finger food and a raffle by Other Nature alternative sex shop.

Music Pool Berlin Community Evening
19:30 at aquarium
A panel on support structures and strategies for women in the music industry, with Mo Loschelder, Jessica Ekomane, Aschka, Katja Lucker, Jana Sotzko and Ziúr – plus Creamcake's DJ Larry playing tunes before and after.

International Feminist Day
20:00 at Sophiensæle
Forty performances, each one minute in length, including Simone Aughterlony, Jeremy Wade, Black Cracker and many more, plus DJs sets by Peaches, Dove Cake and Lady Guacha. 

Berlin Feminist Film Week Opening
21:00 at Babylon Kino
Screening of In Between (drama about three Palestinian women living in Tel Aviv) and the premiere of two episodes of Mixed Messages (a local comedy series about dating in the queer scene). The festival continues through March 14 at Agora Rollberg, Griessmühle and Acud Club, with more screenings, discussions, workshops, exhibitions and performances and a closing party. Check the website for full program:
berlinfeministfilmweek.com

Joey Hansom

Das Siegessäule Logo
Das Branchenbuch mit Haltung
Queer. Divers. Überzeugend.