{"id":5145,"date":"2017-05-08T07:58:54","date_gmt":"2017-05-08T07:58:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/?p=5145"},"modified":"2017-05-08T07:58:54","modified_gmt":"2017-05-08T07:58:54","slug":"whats-in-a-date","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/?p=5145","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s in a date?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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calendar\/Bryan Kennedy\/flickr<\/p><\/div>\n

Now I do realise that the title of this blog could be taken to refer to a number of quite discrete themes. I could be about to hold forth on the beneficial properties of eating the fruit of the date palm.\u00a0 Apparently, dates are rich in dietary fibre, they replenish energy and revitalise the body instantly, they are full of anti-oxidant flavonoids such as B-carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin, and of course an excellent source of iron, potassium, calcium, manganese, copper and magnesium.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s not what this blog is about. \u2018Aha\u2019, I hear you say, \u2018she\u2019s writing about relationships, and is perhaps about to hold forth on the trials and tribulations of arranging a rendezvous with a potential partner, who may have been found through one of the myriad of apps available, or even as a result of meeting someone at a party or club\u2019. \u00a0At least that\u2019s what we did in my day.<\/p>\n

Nope, that\u2019s not it either. I\u2019m actually thinking of how just one day in the calendar can mean many things \u2013 or nothing \u2013 to different people.\u00a0 December 25th is a big event where I come from, but just another day in China.\u00a0 In Morocco, November 18th is Independence Day, so a national holiday there, but a date I usually\u00a0pass over without paying much attention.<\/p>\n

This week sees May 9th.\u00a0 Now that date resonates with me for personal, historical and feminist reasons. Firstly, it was my brother\u2019s birthday, so I have many happy childhood memories associated with this time of the year. \u00a0Secondly, across Russia and former\u00a0Soviet bloc\u00a0countries, this day marks Victory in World War II. \u00a0Some time after midnight on May 8th the Third Reich officially conceded defeat to the Soviet Union in Berlin, signing the German Instrument of Surrender. \u00a0This was formally announced to the Soviet people on the morning of May 9th, and it has been a national holiday in Russia and other countries in Eastern Europe ever since.<\/p>\n

On the other side of the Atlantic, May 9th marked two occasions in the 20th century when the US\u00a0 played\u00a0host to developments that have had a profound effect on women. \u00a0The first event was in 1914, when President Woodrow Wilson responded to the campaign waged by social activist Anna Jarvis to nominate an official day for mothers in the US. On May 9th 1914 Wilson proclaimed the first Mother\u2019s Day: a day when mothers and motherhood were celebrated, and the positive contributions mothers make to society in raising children were acknowledged. \u00a0Jarvis had worked tirelessly for this to be established, at a time when women\u2019s rights were not\u00a0 high on the [male] government\u2019s agenda.<\/p>\n

Later in the century, on May\u00a09th 1960,\u00a0 the US became the first country to legalise the use of the contraceptive pill, which had finally been passed by the Food and Drug Administration.\u00a0 The idea of a drug to suppress ovulation was first promoted by Margaret Sanger, a pioneer in the field of birth control, who had opened the first birth control clinic in the US in 1916. The initial research and development funding was provided by heiress Katherine McCormick.<\/p>\n

\u2018The pill\u2019 heralded a new era for women in terms of their reproductive freedom, and paved the way for the sexual revolution of the 1960s.<\/p>\n

One small footnote in history, which brings us back to the personal: in 1961, a year after its introduction in the US, \u2018the pill\u2019 became available on the NHS in the UK. My mother pioneered the setting up of birth control clinics in Ealing, West London, where we lived.\u00a0 Her name does not appear in any history books, but she too played an invaluable part in supporting women\u2019s \u2018right to choose\u2019.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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