International Women's Day, celebrated annually March 8, focuses on empowering women around the globe. It has has evolved into a massive day of social media activism, with campaigns popping up throughout the social web.
In many parts of the world, women are more likely to never receive an education, live in poverty and suffer gender-based discrimination.
"Happy International Women's Day" and #IWD have trended on Twitter, as social media users discuss ways to fight for gender equality.
We've rounded up some of the dynamic campaigns happening online, with the hopes of empowering women all over the world. Read about these five campaigns and tell us what you think of their efforts. Let us know in the comments if we missed any cool social efforts.
"Bollocks to Poverty" 1950s Facebook Makeover
Bollocks to Poverty, the youth arm of ActionAid, has created a Facebook app that shows what your Facebook Timeline would look like if you were living in the 1950s, to shed light on that era's rampant inequality between the sexes. When using the app, my Timeline says I work as a housewife, studied home economics and cooking (and no math or science), rarely leave my hometown, and married at a young age.
I've posted status updates such as "Trapped a travelling salesman in the house and managed to get him to talk to me for five whole minutes! What a treat. Anyway, those dishes won't do themselves," and "Pregnant again, oops. Really wish they'd invent something to stop that happening. Might start taking more cold showers."
Rock the Lips
Rock the Lips, a campaign created by agency AKQA, is trying to make red lips the universal symbol of women's empowerment. The campaign hopes 1 million women will wear red lipstick and share photos of themselves on Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram using the hashtag #RockTheLips.
Rock the Lips even tried to get integration in the Google Doodle, by replacing the two O's in Google with red lips. Google may not have adopted the campaign's red lips, but it did create an International Women's Day Doodle, as well.
Oxfam America's eCards and Awards
Oxfam America has created ecards with messages about ridding the world of gender inequality. Oxfam hopes women around the world will send cards to other women they admire for making a difference in the world.
Oxfam has also created International Women's Day awards, into which you insert a name and date, and then share to a blog or social network.
International Rescue Committee's Wake Up
The International Rescue Committee is using social media to spread stories of women in crisis through its recently launched Wake Up campaign. The IRC shares the stories of women such as Fatuma, whose daughter was assaulted in Somalia; Angele, who is living as an asylee from Cameroon in the U.S.; and Francine, who is overcoming the damage of working as a sex slave in the Congo.
After you read this women's powerful stories, you can use the IRC's tool kit of social media resources, including sample blog posts, banners, Facebook and Google+ posts.
WeAreEQUALS Facebook App
A coalition of 30 charities and arts organizations have launched the Equaliser Facebook app, which represents an agreement between two friends to equality, presumably between the sexes.
The Equaliser app asks you to upload a photo, along with the photo of the person who commits to be your equal. The app merges your two head shots into a split frame photo, which you can share, along with an explanation of your pledge to equality.
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, jcarillet
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