It’s a man’s world, but for at least the month of March, we are celebrating the other half of the population: women!
Women’s History Month is a modest and short history. In the 1980s, activists began to pay more attention to the lack of women’s presence in textbooks and classrooms.
Lawmakers in the late 1980 heard this outcry of injustice and established a Women’s History Week. In 1987, a one-page joint resolution designated March as Women’s History Month.
This was groundbreaking because most of the textbooks omitted women’s contribution to history altogether. Sadly, this tradition has not being abandoned fully — even today.
In a world where women have not only created history, but are the reason for the continuation of history itself, it was obvious that this blatant disregard for women was absurd and detrimental to the health of young girls. It has perpetuated a general, social misconception that women did not contribute to history.
Women throughout the ages have been instrumental in all sectors of life.
You have Maire Curie to thank for X-rays, and Dorothy Hodgkin for our better understanding of health.
Eleanor Roosevelt fought for equal rights for all people, and she also fought for desegregation for schools.
Pauli Murray wrote two major essays that were used to help overturn segregation. Murray also was the major force behind the Episcopal Church allowing women to be priests.
Anna Connelly invented the fire escape.
Mary Anderson invented the windshield wiper.
Without J.K Rowling there would have been no “Harry Potter” series that captivated millions and helped Emma Watson become active in the United Nations.
Anne Frank showed everyone how Nazi Germany impacted Europe’s Jewish population.
Mother Theresa saved and helped thousands of people.
Women have always been a large part of history, but women have also been largely ignored in history. This has been partly undone thanks to Women’s History Month.
Not only are their historic women figures who have helped keep the planet spinning, but there are local heroines as well.
Ruth Taylor Reed is the founder of Women Matter Northeast Tennessee. She works tirelessly to support victims of sexual assault. Stacy Larsen is the director of The River, a day shelter for homeless women. Phyllis Thompson, the director of the ETSU Women’s Studies program, educates students on women’s roles in history and deconstructs how women are viewed in society. She is also actively involved in educating the community at large.
Women here and abroad — throughout time and space — have always impacted the world.
