Celebrating All Women.
March is Women’s History Month, an annual celebration of contributions countless women have made throughout history in the United States. Women’s History Month originated from a weeklong celebration organized by school districts in Sonoma, California in the late 1970’s. International Women’s Day is also observed in March, occurring earlier in the month on March 8th.
Sexism and Discrimination.
It is imperative to recognize the ways in which systemic sexism impacts women’s daily experiences. As of February 2022, nearly two million fewer women were in the US workforce than in early 2020, with notably higher rates of unemployment among women of color and women with disabilities (National Women’s Law Center, 2022). Fourty two percent of women have faced gender discrimination at work (Pew Research Center, 2020). One in four US women have experienced severe physical violence, sexual violence, and/or stalking by a partner (CDC, 2021). Eighty one percent of women have experienced sexual harassment (Stop Street Harassment, 2017). Women of color experience extra layers of oppression and discrimination on the basis of their sex and their race, highlighting the ways sexism interacts with other historically-marginalized identities. The reality behind these statistics helps us acknowledge the challenges that women face living in a patriarchal society where gender-based violence and systemic sexism is still rampant. Let these statistics serve as a somber reminder while simultaneously fueling the fire for positive change.
Strength and Empowerment.
Women have made profound contributions to American society throughout history and continue to make history everyday. Famous women that readers may know of include Harriet Tubman (a “conductor” of the Underground Railroad), Amelia Earhart (the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean), Rosa Parks (a prominent female face of the civil rights movement), and Sally Ward (the first American woman to go to outer space). Women such as Gloria Steinem have given a louder voice to the feminist movement, advocating for visibility and women’s rights with the use of the media. Being a feminist does not mean that one is “anti-men”; being feminist means that one holds the belief that women should be equal to men in political, economic, personal, and social spheres. On a more personal note, we are sure that our readers have been touched by at least one inspiring, empowering woman in the course of their lives. She may be a singer, an actress, a writer, or an artist; she may be a scientist. She may be a teacher or professor, a mentor, a businesswoman or boss, a friend, or a family member. We encourage readers to appreciate and celebrate mothers, aunts, grandmothers, great grandmothers, sisters, and all women, not just in March, but everyday!
Resources.
- Hidden Figures – a film highlighting the true story of three Black women mathematicians who battled both sexism and racism while calculating and analyzing the flight paths of NASA spacecraft in the early 1960s.
- ‘Still I Rise’ by Maya Angelou – Maya Angelou exudes passion and feminine strength as she reads her famous poem, ‘Still I Rise.’
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021). Preventing intimate partner violence |violence prevention|injury Center|CDC. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved March 10, 2022, from https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/intimatepartnerviolence/fastfact.html
National Women’s Law Center. (2022). The Jobs Report shows a strong month, but Black Women’s labor force participation drops and unemployment rate rises. Retrieved March 10, 2022, from https://nwlc.org/resource/the-jobs-report-shows-a-strong-month-but-black-womens-labor-force-participation-drops-and-unemployment-rate-rises/
Pew Research Center. (2020). 42% of us working women have faced gender discrimination on the job. Pew Research Center. Retrieved March 10, 2022, from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/12/14/gender-discrimination-comes-in-many-forms-for-todays-working-women/
Stop Street Harassment. (2017). Statistics – the prevalence of street harassment. Retrieved March 10, 2022, from https://stopstreetharassment.org/resources/statistics/statistics-academic-studies/