WOMEN’S DAY: In the United States, the first National Women’s Day was observed Feb. 28, 1909.

The first International Women’s Day was commemorated in a handful of countries on March 19, 1911. The day is meant to be a time for women to state their demands.

The tradition has continued for more than 100 years with Sunday being the day to celebrate International Women’s Day in 2015.

The above information is from www.internationalwomensday.com, for anyone who wants to learn more.

The website had this to say about women’s rights in the 21st century: “The new millennium has witnessed a significant change and attitudinal shift in both women’s and society’s thoughts about women’s equality and emancipation. Many from a younger generation feel that ‘all the battles have been won for women’ while many feminists from the 1970s know only too well the longevity and ingrained complexity of patriarchy.”

The celebration organizers described the modern world as one where decades of struggle have originated many changes, but where treatment of men and women cannot be said to be equal.

The site reads, “With more women in the boardroom, greater equality in legislative rights, and an increased critical mass of women’s visibility as impressive role models in every aspect of life, one could think that women have gained true equality.

“The unfortunate fact is that women are still not paid equally to that of their male counterparts, women still are not present in equal numbers in business or politics, and globally women’s education, health and the violence against them is worse than that of men.”

We’d like to ask that everyone today — men and women alike — take this day to stop for a moment and think about what life must look like from someone else’s perspective, particularly if you are having a disagreement with that person.

Perhaps that’s the first step to increasing the respect with which we treat each other.

Equality doesn’t mean making people the same but rather understanding there is strength in our differences.