Photo/DAN PELTON WE'RE WOMEN, HEAR US ROAR! Helen Reddy may not have been on hand at the Town Hall atrium to sing her famous feminist anthem, but it didn't stop the crowd from cheering International Women's Day. It was the early 1900s. The Western world was experiencing an industrial boom and political ideologies sprang up; determined that the voice of the working man be heard ... as well as that of the working woman.

In 1910, at the second International Conference of Working Women, the concept of a special woman's day was born. Nearly 100 years later, International Women's Day continues as both a celebration of accomplishment and a reminder of the challenges women still face.

While Sunday was officially International Women's Day, related events were held locally over the weekend.

On Saturday, a "Songstress Celebration" was held at Broadway Music in Orangeville. The featured act was The Pomelos, five female musicians who presented various genres ranging from early folk and gospel to blues and jazz.

"There's nothing like the camaraderie of sisters," said Broadway Music's Heather Katz, adding that Saturday was the fifth straight year such a concert took place. The audience, she said in an interview, included both genders. On International Women's Day, "men celebrate women as much as women celebrate women."

In the world of arts and culture, Ms. Katz indicated that Canadian women are thriving in the music industry — Celine Dion, Avril Lavigne and Sarah McLaughlin to name a few.

On the other hand, she said, women painters are finding it difficult to attain international prominence, even when they receive substantial acclaim in the locales where they work. (Emily Carr is the practically the only female Canadian artist to attain what could be viewed as "star" status.)

While women are gradually presenting themselves in a number of areas once considered a male domain, the consensus is that they still have a way to go.

Take politics, for example. Dufferin-Caledon MPP Sylvia Jones pointed out, in an interview, that only about 20 per cent of legislative seats at the federal, provincial and local level are occupied by women. "I would certainly like to see more of us," she said. women "are 50 per cent of the population."

Ms. Jones feels women are impeded from seeking political office because, for one thing, they aren't approached to run as often as men are. As well, women in political and professional life are required, she says, to perform a difficult balancing act between the personal, family and professional.

"One thing I've learned since being in this (MPP) position is that you have to have a strong support system from your family and those other people surrounding you."

Another event partially held in conjunction with International Women's Day was Reel Cinema for a Real Cause, a movie festival organized by Orangeville's Family Transition Place (FTP) to raise funds for the emergency shelter and counselling service.

FTP executive director Nadine Collins says progress has been made in the area of dealing with domestic abuse and violence, insofar as more victims are willing to come forth and report it.

"I'm, by nature, an optimist," Ms. Collins said in an interview. "Last year, however, we had 133 women staying in our shelter. Over 500 received counselling and we had 3,000 calls to our crisis line."

Ms. Jones, who is also Progressive Conservative community and social services critic at Queens Park, is encouraged that the issue of domestic violence is "no longer being swept under the carpet.

"It's not just women talking about it, any more. It's being discussed by families and by business, who now understands there's a cost from people who cannot make it to work" because of abusive home situations.

Still, in the words of Ms. Collins: "We still have a long way to go."