International Women's Day 2017: protests, activism and a strike

It's the winner of the 1958 Nobel Prize for Literature, Boris Pasternak.

The women behind him are Olga Ivinskaya (at left) and her daughter Irina Yemelianova. Here's another photo of them:

 

I think we have slight misunderstanding here. I speak of historical unions, that existed in the past - mainly ones, that existed in era of 'Industrial Revolution'. Unions that stood against twelve, fourteen hours long shifts, low wages, lack of healthcare and safety gear. About people who stood against child labour in heavy industry.

And yes, there was a big pool of these people, because that was what country was creating - with it's existing society and education system.

And that was not just case in Russian Empire, same struggles been faced, for example, by citizens of United States of America. Judging by this article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Child_Labor_Committee
...more than a million of underaged workers have been in american industry up to early 20th.

When I speak of socialist movement, I mean people who are facing and solving real problems - such as children, who, instead of getting school education, work on the factories in dangerous conditions.
Or help to form fair standarts of working conditions, safe for human health, like there:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Labor_Standards_Act

 

You caught me well there. Will be sincere - I am not sure I have read him. Again, mainly because had not got to him yet, and because I am not very fond of poetry.
Maybe it's actually a good time to get my hands on his 'Dr. Zhivago' novell.

 

Real women are still at work or moving on with their lives. Snowflakes are marching and crying over nothing. Maybe they can spend their time cleaning up the streets from all the trash they leave behind at these "environmentally peaceful" marches and rallies they stage.

 

It's ok if they want to use up a vacation day at work. But if they want an extra day off, forget it. Fire their asses.

 

I don't care for Pasternak's poetry, but Doctor Zhivago is a beautifully written novel - it truly is a work of literary art (I think it took him something like 7 or 8 years to write).

One thing a lot of people don't know about the book is that it bears little resemblance to David Lean's Academy Award winning film adaptation of Zhivago. The film is limited to the main character's love affairs but Pasternak's novel is about much, much more and it is FAR better than the film. In fact, my favorite scenes in the novel, which includes the scene where Pasternak expresses the theme of the book ("Man is born to live, not to prepare to live") are nowhere to be found in the film. Of course, I had to read the Harari & Hayward translation of the novel (which is quite excellent) so I am not able to judge his wordcraft in Russian, but it's still quite exceptional in English. In fact, it's the most beautifully written book I have ever read - a true credit to your country's fine literary tradition.

 

...by the way, a curious cultural fact: russians have such day, on 23rd of February. Like 8th of March, celebrated as official holyday and a day off, and though officially it's name 'Defender of the Fatherland Day' and it is officially a professional celebration of the military - with date being related to day of creation of Red Army - through a century it evolved into a general celebration day of men, mirroring 8th of March celebration. Again, usually it's celebrated with small gifts and good wishes.

 

It's funny, last night my wife joked that this affair begins with A Day Without a Woman and ends with A Woman Without a Job.

 

Well, something tells me I might returt pleasantries if knew what country are you from - considering the world being full of wonderful books, both well known and obscure. Nice to know that people abroad intrested in books of our authors too. ^^

 

It's crazy. They claim Trump reached out to all the white supremacists because 0.0017% of the country supports him. This is why they lose, this is why they've been losing since 2012, and this is why they'll continue to lose.

 

Not us. Just the minority of anti-Trump haters that don't understand that it's not impossible to lose.

 

You'll find them all right up in the middle of the women's march, holding anti-Trump signs.

 

Trump has got the white racists all excited.

E.g. http://engforum.pravda.ru/index.php?/forum/3-main-forum/

Nothing wrong with acknowledging this, nor the fact that Donald has done nothing to distance himself from them.

 

Plenty of times in fact. Trump even called himself "the least racist person on the planet." What can he do? He may very well be a corrupt sleezebag, but he can't control the actions of OTHER people, just like Obama couldn't. I didn't blame Obama for my grievances with the DEM Party, I blamed the DEM Party.

 

Not sure what the big to-do here is with this, but then again I pretty much only associate with conservative women who laugh at this type of nonsense.

But why are these liberal women complaining? Have they forgotten they win the ultimate prize - they live longer than men. In the end they get to keep whatever the government doesn't take.

 

Those words of his ring hollow when other words and actions of his contradict them.

 

How is he supposed to distance himself? And who cares if he got the entire handful of white racists excited? It's no different than when Obama got all the black racists excited and pulled them even closer by siding with people like Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown.

 

I live in a remote corner of rural Virginia, USA, and I had the good fortune of marrying a woman who studied literature when she was in college, so we've accumulated quite a personal library over the years. America has produced some of its own great writers, of course, and my favorite is the man who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949 - William Faulkner. He wrote a lot of short stories ("The Bear" is my favorite) and novels, of which I consider Absolom, Absolom! his masterpiece. However, I think the greatest thing he ever wrote was his Nobel Prize Banquet Speech, which I think is something every aspiring writer (and artist) should read:

William Faulkner Banquet Speech
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1949/faulkner-speech.html

The most famous passage is at the end of the speech:

...I decline to accept the end of man. It is easy enough to say that man is immortal simply because he will endure: that when the last dingdong of doom has clanged and faded from the last worthless rock hanging tideless in the last red and dying evening, that even then there will still be one more sound: that of his puny inexhaustible voice, still talking.

I refuse to accept this. I believe that man will not merely endure: he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance. The poet's, the writer's, duty is to write about these things. It is his privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past. The poet's voice need not merely be the record of man, it can be one of the props, the pillars to help him endure and prevail.

As artists, Faulkner and Pasternak have a lot in common, which is probably why they are two of my favorite writers.

 

If there's a problem, I think it lies in the reasons that these people like him so much. They like his promises and (attempted) policies. But yes, these people are a small minority that hopefully will not grow.

 

November 19th.

 

ROFL and never heard of by the vast majority I bet. Is that also when we have Men's History Month and we celebrate the vital contributions and roles men have played in history and our daily lives?

Or this

International Men's Day Isn't Worthy of Celebration

Today is International Men's Day, so let's join hands today and celebrate all that men have done for the world. Wow, I couldn't even type that with a straight face.......
Today, on this fine International Men's Day, I remember that more women die from domestic abuse than in civil wars. I remember that men are the main perpetrators of sexual violence.......

Today I remember the survivors of domestic violence, of stalking, sexual violence, and harassment and the women who have died as a result. I remember the women in my life who have persevered, who are strong despite every attempt patriarchy has made to break them. They inspire me, they heal me, they guide me.

Today on this International Men's Day, I remember being 10 years old and getting creepy looks from older men. I remember being 16 and finding out someone who lived close to me was being abused by her husband; I remember not knowing what to do or how to help her, I remember that she is still in that marriage.
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/hana-shafi/international-mens-day_b_6186484.html

And on and on and on.......

 

International Woman's Day?

Didn't a MAN win "Woman Of The Year" last year???

 

Yep, I'm married to one who's laughing at it.

Some of the women over at The Federalist have written their own take on things that are rather interesting. I wonder if Madeline Albright has a special place in Hell for them, too?

These 12 Non-Strikers' Selfies Show What We Love About Being Women in America
http://thefederalist.com/2017/03/08/8-non-strikers-selfies-show-love-women-america/

The Women's Strike Is A Self-Indulgent Day For Privileged Females
http://thefederalist.com/2017/03/08/womens-strike-self-indulgent-day-privileged-females/

Today's Feminists Are Unappealing Because They No Longer Fight For Women's Choices
http://thefederalist.com/2017/03/08/todays-feminists-unappealing-no-longer-fight-womens-choices/

The World Is Without Millions Of Women We Should Remember Today
http://thefederalist.com/2017/03/08/world-without-millions-women-deserve-remembered-today/

11 Problems With Teachers Shutting Down Schools For The Women's Strike
http://thefederalist.com/2017/03/07/11-problems-teachers-shutting-schools-womens-strike/

The answer lies in your question...

 

Isn't it a funny coincidence how so many of the left's principled protests involve not going to work? Maybe it's simply a convenience thing, since so many of them don't work, anyway?

 

A friend who owns a cleaning service here had to cancel appointments, several of the people who did work for him weren't there, so he is hiring replacements and already fired those workers unless they provide a proper reason. I hope others do the same. And getting canned for not showing up and disrupting his income is a legitimate reason for firing and also they shouldn't count on him for a reference either. And he is a good employer in the main and none even asked for the day off if he did get two weeks warning they could have had vacation time and he might have worked things out.