What is Day Without A Woman and why is it on March 8?
[Ads /]
A Day Without A Woman is a nationwide, grassroots effort to show the economic impact women can have on society. Organizers -- the same group behind the Women's March on Washington -- are asking women not to work. It was inspired by the Day Without Immigrants demonstration on Feb. 16, according to organizers.
Wednesday was chosen because it is International Women's Day, a holiday observed by the United Nations meant for celebrating the achievements of women and building support for women's rights.
How are people participating?
There are three ways that organizers have asked people to participate:
1. Refrain from paid and unpaid labor
2. Only spend money with small businesses owned by women and minorities
3. Wear red in solidarity
[Ads /]
People are also posting on social media to show their support, with some turning their profile pictures red.
Who is participating?
It is unclear how many women will participate, but thousands have already voiced their support for the holiday on social media.
School districts in North Carolina and Virginia are closed Wednesday because officials anticipated that many of their teachers would be participating.
Celebrities have also voiced their support, including Katy Perry and Ryan Murphy.
[Ads /]
What does the Statue of Liberty have to do with it?
On Tuesday night, the Statue of Liberty's lights partially went out for about an hour. Organizers of the demonstration called it a show of solidarity, but the National Park Service said the outage was "most likely due to work related to an ongoing project to activate a new emergency backup generator."