March 8 marks International Women’s Day. This year’s celebration in particular is unique; Women’s March on Washington organized a nationwide protest that is commonly referred to “A Day Without A Woman.” Its purpose is to “show what the American economy would look like without female labor or consumers, and to push for gender equality in the workplace” (The Atlantic). On Wednesday, many women from fifty different countries participated in this  global strike by not showing up to work, or wearing red to work if they decided to go.

Many women were torn, however, between participating in the strike or remaining at work. Many schools took the day off because a lot of teachers and staffers requested to take the day off, affecting children and their education. Also, a lot of women cannot afford to miss one day at work because of financial situations. So if women did attend work, they wore red in solidarity.

This event was inspired by “A Day Without Immigrants” that occurred early this year. Similar to that movement, “A Day Without A Woman” stems from the opposition to the election that resulted in Donald Trump becoming president. Immigrants were negatively affected by Trump via the immigrant ban and his blatant racism towards people of color, and many fear that Trump’s policies and his misogynistic viewpoint regarding women’s rights will also be threatened in the near future.

Although Trump tweeted that women were “vital to the fabric of our society” to celebrate International Women’s Day, his White House is a day without a woman everyday. His tweets are contradicting because he gathers his group of old, white men to discuss female rights, things like Planned Parenthood and reproductive rights, when he could just elect more women into the White House to decide and pass reforms for themselves.

During a rally in New York, thirteen women were arrested and put in jail. They were “ sitting in the street near the Trump Hotel at Columbus Circle, disrupting traffic.” However, they did not let this incident stop them; while they were in cells, “they sang ‘We Shall Overcome’ and ‘This Little Light of Mine’ and gospel songs up and down the corridors of the NYPD’s 7th precinct in downtown Manhattan” (Time).

Eliana Shim (9) is a feminist and supporter of women’s rights. “I think ‘A Day Without A Woman’ is a great movement for people to rally together for a good, common cause,” she says. “Women are strong and powerful, and I think that this strike and protest wouldn’t be necessary if we were already being treated as equals.”

Overall, this movement shed some light on how Earth would function without women, and it wasn’t pretty. So to America and the rest of the world, respect women and see them as equals before it is too late.