Originally published at crisis magazine
On Saturday, March 8, 2025, my daughter appeared frustrated when she asked me, “What day is it today? You don’t even know. It’s Women’s Day!” Of course, I knew exactly what “day” it was, but I responded, “I don’t celebrate a day instituted by murderous communists.” My answer, though abrupt, was intended to spark a discussion—one that, regrettably, never went beyond these few words. This missed conversation, however, inspired me to write this short essay on the origins of International Women’s Day, a holiday that is embraced widely and uncritically but nevertheless carries the bloody legacy of one of the most destructive ideologies in human history.
International Women’s Day was officially established on March 8, 1922, by Vladimir Lenin, the architect of the Bolshevik Revolution and the first leader of the Soviet Union. (It was later officially recognized by the United Nations on the same day in 1977). Lenin, a staunch revolutionary and ardent materialist atheist, led the October Revolution of 1917, which marked the beginning of communist rule in Russia. The revolution, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, overthrew the Provisional Government and established a totalitarian Marxist state.
The Russian Revolution began on March 8, 1917, when female workers
