Holiday Season in Tajikistan

A display for International Women's Day in the Khujand city center.

I know, I promised food writing!  I'll deliver on that soon, but, in the meantime, a brief post about International Women's Day (IWD), which was last Wednesday, March 8.  IWD is a big deal in Tajikistan!  It's a national holiday, so both Anna and I had the day off.  We took our first hike of the spring up into the mountains near our apartment.  The weather has been really nice as of late, with plenty of sun and highs in the 60s and 70s.  Unlike much of the US, March is decidedly not a winter month here in Khujand.  Fine by me!

The author and his wife hiking in the mountains of Khujand, Tajikistan.
Anna and I hiking near Khujand on IWD.

I admittedly know little about IWD, but I've learned a bit more this week.  I had thought IWD began during second-wave feminism and was created by the UN--wrong and wrong.  I had no idea about its socialist and American origins and connections to the infamous and tragic Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire of 1911 as well as the universal women's suffrage movement.  Here, go do your own Wikipedia-ing!

Women protesting on IWD in St. Petersburg, Russia.
IWD in St. Petersburg in 1917, aka, the start of the Russian Revolution.  The signs read "Glory to Women Freedom Fighter" and "The Women's Manifesto." 
Photo Credit: State Museum of Political History of Russia, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons 

While it had American roots, it was in Europe that the holiday movement truly blossomed.  In 1917, women textile workers in St. Petersburg walked out on the holiday, joining and seriously bolstering nascent anti-government protests, actions now regarded as the beginning of the Russian Revolution.  After the Revolution, the Soviet government made IWD a national holiday.  Other communist governments across the world adopted the holiday, which is how the holiday became known as primarily a socialist holiday.  Here's a map of where IWD is commemorated.  Circling back to my own initial misconceptions, western feminists in the 1960s began to champion IWD, which, eventually, led the UN to adopt the holiday in 1975.  This expanded the scope of IWD beyond communist countries and socialist ideals.  Today, it remains a national holiday in Tajikistan and all other former Soviet republics.  

It's very hard for me not to be cynical and see great irony in Tajikistan celebrating IWD so emphatically.  In me eyes, women are not very free here.  Women are expected to get married young and quickly have multiple children.  Marriages are not strictly arranged but largely orchestrated by families.  Domestic abuse is a major problem.  Meanwhile, divorce is legal but can difficult to obtain.  Polygamy is illegal but exists, in part, because women remain so dependent on men to earn money.  Speaking of money, it's generally acceptable for women to work and have a career, but it shouldn't overshadow their husband's.  I see many other aspects Tajik cultural aspects as limits on women's freedom, from dress norms to social interactions, religious customs to education disparities.  I should add that while everything I've described here are norms, they are not universal practices across the entire population.  You certainly can find some diversity of beliefs, practices, and experiences, especially in a city like Khujand.  But yes, it's hard not to shake my head at the IWD celebrations. 

At any rate, we're on a bit of a holiday kick as of late here in Tajikistan.  February 23 was Armed Forces Day, a legacy of Red Army Day from Soviet times.  It's also unofficially celebrated as, get this, "Men's Day."  Yes, I think it is intended as some sort of cultural counterweight to IWD.  Go figure!  

Later this month, March 21, is Navruz, a spring equinox holiday with Zoroastrian roots widely celebrated across much of Asia.  I'll write more on Navruz later, but, for now, let me go back to my women's rights bit for one more detail.  Scores of female students at the local universities are being pulled from their classes every morning to practice marching and dancing routines that will be part of some sort of grand Navruz exhibition.  It's been happening everyday, Monday to Saturday, since the start of the month.  We can see (and hear) it happen right from our apartment. 

The other major holiday coming soon is Ramadan.  Ramadan begins this year the evening of March 22.  The proximity this year to Navruz is just coincidence; the Islamic calendar is lunar, not solar.  So, yes, it sure feels like some sort of "holiday season" here in Tajikistan.  Spring always feels like a reward for enduring winter.  I feel this even more here and this year as I contrast the boring malaise of winter to early spring and this stretch of holidays and good weather.  I'm grateful to be here to experience these major holidays and everything that comes with them.

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