International Women's Day at The CDS

By Bixyl Shuftan

Sunday March 8 was International Women's Day. It is "a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women's equality." The Wikipedia article stated it's commemoration "ranges from being a public holiday in some countries to being largely ignored elsewhere. In some places, it is a day of protest; in others, it is a day that celebrates womanhood."

In Second Life, there would be a celebration of the day at the Confederation of Democratic Simulators.

 There would be several events that day. At 10AM SL time was a performance by the Debauche dancers

The dancers had quite a show.

I dropped in when DJ Babe was playing some music on stage, "a bit over half way through my set so still time to TP in all your friends and enemies."

Besides LRA (Leader of Representative Assembly) Lyubov (20180414 Resident), there were other notable CDS personalities, such as Rosie Gray. Rosie was among those whom had set up the event.

"Welcome everyone, to the Confederation of Democratic Simulators!  If you haven't already, take a turn on the Sharing Wall to the side of the theatre building, and check out the Making Waves display on the history of feminism and the advancement of women, just behind us here on the dance floor."

Another was Lilith Ivory, whom cracked a few jokes, "Obviously my computer is male and wants me to stay home in the kitchen." "Is it mansplaining that to you?" another mused. Lilith answered with a laugh, "It makes me crash whenever I make a wrong move or zoom around."

Lyubov would comment, "Lilith has found a few outfits already today!" Lilith responded, "I was diving DEEP inside of my inventory. Had to as you stole my dress, Lyubov (laughter)." The amused LRA responded, "Hey! I stole it first!" Someone else commented she was going to lock her lingerie drawer.

Behind the crowd was the "Making Waves" exhibit, made by Scylla Rhiadra, "This exhibit chronicles the historical contributions of Feminism to the continuing struggle ... acknowledging the past while looking ahead to the future of the women's movement."

The exhibit traced the beginnings of Feminism to the publication in 1792 of "A Vindication of the Rights of Women" in England. Although women would gain the right to vote in New Zealand in 1892, it wasn't until after the First World War that many Western nations would pass Women's Suffrage. But this was only the first part, or "wave" as the exhibit called it, of the road to equality as other problems remained.

The exhibit would also attempt to answer why those calling for more support for women's rights sometimes find themselves in conflict with one another.

One example was those who saw the idea of freer sexual expression as a threat to women versus those whom felt the right to enjoy sex was important to them.

But one thing all can agree on is violence against women is wrong.

At 2PM SL time, it was Aleykat's turn to get on stage, where she would sing for the crowd.

There were a few other topics discussed, such as the last names issue.

Quite a bit of fun was had.

Others also took some pictures, Sudane Erato, and Lyubov and Rosie Gray (two of these would be used in the article).

Addition: One exhibit that I missed was "The Broken Balance" (picture by Lyubov) an "installation by Sudane Erato.  The door is a tp to a nearby parcel where she had two installations, the Chapel of Women and the Sanctuary of Women."

Bixyl Shuftan