International Women's Day 2017: On 'A Day Without A Woman', section of US media goes on strike

On 8 March, the International Women’s Day, the women’s march protestors have called for another disruption — not through violence, but by being absent. Women and those who care for them will join together for equity, justice and the human rights of women and all gender-oppressed people, through a one-day demonstration of economic solidarity. According to the Women’s March website, anyone, anywhere, can join by making 8 March, ‘A Day Without a Woman’ by taking a day off from paid or unpaid labour, avoiding shopping (with exceptions for small, women and minority-owned businesses), wearing red in solidarity. Many popular publications in the US will also be joining in solidarity. Bustle and its sister website, aimed at providing news feature content for women, will remain dark for 24 hours. In a letter to the readers, the editors wrote: On March 8, 2017, in honour of A Day Without A Woman, Bustle and Romper will go dark. Meaning, for 24 hours, we will not be creating any new content on either of our sites or on any of our sites’ social channels. Because, quite simply, without women, there is no Bustle. There is no Romper. Without our editorial team, which is 97 percent female, we would be unable to produce a site that aims to provide support and a megaphone for women to express how they’re feeling about the world. And there’s no time like the present to prove just how important those women’s voices are to the world — to media, to business, and beyond. They will not be publishing any content on social media either for a period of 24 hours. Bustle’s editor in chief Kate Ward wrote: “Without our editorial team, which is 97 percent female, we would be unable to produce a site that aims to provide support and a megaphone for women to express how they’re feeling about the world.” Jezebel, another website that produces topical news articles, opinions and analyses will be run by the male employees of the website. Emma Carmichael, Jezebel’s editor-in chief wrote in a post: “The site will still be fully operational, but you won’t see any bylines by the women on staff. Instead, Jezebel will be run entirely by the men we work with here at Gizmodo Media Group, while our women writers and editors will be joining the strike and participating in protests.” She also said that the intention was not to “give men a platform or to allow them to f*** with our (their) website” but to force men to think about the jobs they are being asked to do and how they differ from their usual everyday work. MTV has flipped its logo to read W, and MTV’s employees running the social media accounts will go on strike.

A woman runs this account & she’s striking today. All posts have been scheduled. Find out more at https://t.co/ptJV1j1hF6 #DayWithoutAWoman pic.twitter.com/0ebDR46MLb

— MTV (@MTV) March 8, 2017

MTV has also put up a special playlist for women on strike. Popular blogging tool Tumblr’s employees have also pledged to go on strike. In a blog post, they wrote: “For us, employees of Tumblr in 2017, a strike isn’t as risky. Tech is a male-dominated field, so a single day without women at Tumblr may simply mean a few empty chairs in meetings…We call for the male-dominated tech industry to hold themselves accountable for advocating for these policies. We urge all involved to use the power they have to pressure the current administration to advance equal rights for all women.”

New York Magazine’s The Cut will also not be publishing in solidarity, they will be running old stories. The Cut’s editorial director said: “The Cut is going to strike as a sign of solidarity with women everywhere as we face the potential rollback of fundamental rights.”

Teen Vogue, recently in the news for taking important political stands, is also on strike. T he editors wrote in a post: “Today at Teen Vogue you won’t see the usual coverage that we generally provide on a daily basis. This is because the staff is almost entirely composed of women, and we have decided to participate in A Day Without a Woman to emphasise the impact women have on the economy, workforce, and all of society, through paid and unpaid, seen and unseen labour.”