Festa della Donna: Women's Day in Florence!

Today is Women's Day, which marks the end of Carnival, also Mardi Gras, and also Fat Tuesday. In Italy, its tradition for Women to get mimosa flowers (so at school they gave them to us :) ) and also, its tradition for women to go out without the men! Even though i have three midterms this week haha, tonight there is a women's march and supposedly all the women go out to bars and get free drinks! woo!

Here is a little more information:

International Women’s Day (8 March) is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. In some places like China, Russia, Vietnam and Bulgaria, International Women’s Day is a national holiday. 2011 marks the centennial celebration: in 1911, a woman named Clara Zetkin (Leader of the ‘Women’s Office’ for the Social Democratic Party in Germany) launched the first womens’ day at which the main issues were the vote and work for women. Each year there is a global theme supported by the United Nations, although each country may also suggest its own theme. The 2011 global theme is “equal access to education, training, science and technology”.

In Italy, womens’ rights organizations were politically organized in 1944 and the first “Festa della Donna” was celebrated in the “free Italy” in 1945. The following year the mimosa tree became the symbol of this holiday. The mimosa is a tree that has marvellous yellow flowers in late February and Early March. An excellent allergen (!), pieces of it are given to women in Italy on this day.