Womens Day: The rise of women is not the fall of men — a week of events and the argument for intersectionality
CLLR Áine McCabe has outlined a programme of gatherings, marches and civic meetings for womens day, and in her account she frames those events as both celebration and scrutiny: a council event for women officers and representatives, a constituency celebration with The Tullymore Beacon’s Women’s Group, a public rally assembling at Writers’ Square and marching to City Hall, a welcome for former President Mary Robinson at City Hall, and a meeting at the Roddy McCorley Women’s Garden with other Republican women.
What is the moment at the council table telling us?
The sequence of events CLLR Áine McCabe describes turns a calendar date into a practical agenda. She writes that International Women’s Day is a moment to recognise achievements and to renew commitment to raising awareness about gender-based discrimination, violence and abuse. Her headline is deliberate, she writes: “the rise of women is not the fall of men. ” That framing pushes past a zero-sum narrative, insisting that efforts to advance women’s rights are intended to improve outcomes for whole communities rather than to displace men.
Womens Day: Why intersectionality matters
Beyond ceremonies and rallies, a deeper conceptual frame appears repeatedly in contemporary accounts: intersectionality. Kimberlé Crenshaw, identified as a law professor, scholar and activist, coined the term in 1986 and has highlighted that the concept addresses the overlooked struggles of individuals who are “constituents within groups that claim them as members, but often fail to represent them. ” The historical example often cited involves Emma DeGraffenreid and other Black women who sued a major employer in the 1970s after hiring rules left Black men and white women with access to different jobs, a case that showed the limits of treating race and gender as separate categories.
Intersectionality frames why the United Nations found that 64 million more women faced food poverty in 2024. It also helps explain broader societal effects: research published in the Social Psychological and Personality Science journal found that, across 62 countries, nations where sexism is more prominent showed lower productivity, more collective violence and lower healthy lifespan. Those are institutional patterns with human consequences; they shape why womens day conversations move from symbolism to policy and services.
Who is speaking and what are they proposing?
Voices in the week range from elected representatives to advocates. CLLR Áine McCabe emphasises shared responsibility and the need to challenge dismissive responses that ask “what about the men?” rather than confronting systemic violence and discrimination. Her programme includes civic gatherings and a public rally, and she notes the presence of former President Mary Robinson at a City Hall welcome.
Commentary elsewhere argues that men and boys are essential partners in achieving gender equality: not by stepping aside but by transforming traditional masculinities, sharing responsibilities in domestic and public spheres, and acting to prevent gender-based violence. Practical steps named in public discussions include public events that centre women’s experiences, civic meetings that bring officers and representatives together, and public rallies that make space for collective witness and political pressure.
Intersectionality is presented as an operational answer: understanding how gender, race, class and other factors interact points to targeted policies and to the limits of one-size-fits-all responses. That conceptual turn is matched by on-the-ground organising — the calendar of events described by CLLR Áine McCabe is one example of coordinated civic action meant to translate ideas into visibility and accountability.
Back at the rally: what remains unresolved?
The week of gatherings ends where it began: with people converging on public spaces and civic rooms to make claims visible. The phrase “the rise of women is not the fall of men” closes the loop between headline and practice, but it also leaves an open question about how public institutions and private behaviours will change afterward. Will civic events seed measurable policy changes? Will intersectional analysis reshape service delivery and legal protections? The events listed for womens day make clear who is calling for change and how they are organising; the broader proof will be found in what follows the march, the meeting and the speeches.
In that sense, the scene CLLR Áine McCabe sets — council tables, a march from Writers’ Square to City Hall, a welcome for a former president, and a meeting in the Roddy McCorley Women’s Garden — becomes both a celebration and a test. It is a public experiment in turning the ideas of intersectionality and partnership into sustained civic practice.
