Apple's iTunes highlights movies, books & TV shows for International Women's Day [ux2]

By Roger Fingas

Apple helped mark International Women's Day on Wednesday by promoting related themes and content on its iTunes movie, book, and TV stores. [Updated with Apple Music content]

The movie storefront is highlighting actresses and directors, as well as films with strong female characters, such as "Jackie," "Loving," and "Moana." Normal frontpage sections have also been temporarily replaced with various "Like a Girl" categories, such as "Fight 'Like a Girl'" and "Write 'Like a Girl'."

For TV shows Apple is concentrating on the famous women behind some shows like "Scandal," "Steven Universe," and "Westworld," as well as themes like "Bold Women," "Bold Girls," and women in comedy.

The promotion is less overt on the iBooks Store, simply offering a "More Hidden Figures" section with books about women in science, engineering, politics and other fields, such as "The Glass Universe" by Dava Sobel, and "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot.

Apple periodically draws attention to various causes on its online services, often through the iOS App Store, where for instance it recently offered a charity sale for World AIDS Day. The iTunes Store will sometimes host Red Cross donations for disasters.

There are no music or apps promotions for International Women's Day -- why is unclear.

Update: Some special playlists have been added to Apple Music.

Update 2: Apple CEO Tim Cook later tweeted out a message of support, saying, "Women's rights are human rights. Today we celebrate, we speak up and we listen." The tweet was accompanied by a picture of Cook surrounded by what appears to be a group of -- mostly -- female Apple employees.