“How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!” Maya Angelou, renowned African-American poet, civil rights leader, and unabashed feminist, once remarked. Indeed, we must give our recognition to all the strong and amazing women who have, for a long time, been living in shadows without the acknowledgement they so deserve.
In 1981, Public Law 97-28 was passed by Congress Congress in an effort to commemorate and raise awareness for the vital role of women in American history. The legislation authorized and requested the President to proclaim the week beginning March 7, 1982, as Women’s History Week. Six years later, in 1987, after a petition by the National Women’s History Project, Public Law 100-9 was passed, designating the March of that year as Women’s History Month. Ever since, March has officially been Women’s History Month.
When I came across the notion of Women’s History Month, I thought it was rather ridiculous. Why is there only one month in the whole entire year designated to celebrating women? Shouldn’t women be celebrated each and every day? But the more I reflected on it, and the more people I talked to about it, the better I understood the real significance and purpose of having such a month set apart specially for women.
Although all the wonderful and unique talents and achievements of the women around us should be appreciated all the time, it is important to recognize that, realistically, even in many parts of the U.S., women are still unable to enjoy all of the fundamental rights and privileges their male counterparts often take for granted. By designating a special time to highlight and commemorate the accomplishments of female figures in history, as well as all the women in our day-to-day lives, we are showing that we have not forgotten about the struggles and sacrifices that women like Rosa Parks and Marie Curie (among countless others) endured, and that we are aware of the injustices that women worldwide face every day.
A recurring opinion I’ve heard about Women’s History Month is based on the unfairness of there only being a month to celebrate women, and none for men. However, when the fundamental structure of society is one saturated with power imbalances and male dominance is seen as the norm, we need to realize the necessity of female empowerment as a way to achieve gender equality. When suffragettes like Susan B. Anthony and Sojourner Truth risked their lives for the simple right to vote, we needed to recognize that we still had a long, long way to go until gender discrimination would end. And when Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head because she was a girl who wanted an education in a society where only men had voices, we needed to understand the harsh reality that many women face everyday because the female sex is seen as a handicap instead of an asset.
To be completely honest, I can’t really say that Women’s History Month has especially affected or empowered me much at all. In fact, I wasn’t aware that such a month existed until this year when I came across an article on Buzzfeed. The simple existence of Women’s History Month is an extremely important stepping stone toward the eradication of gender inequality in society, but if not enough people are made aware of this celebration and the true meaning and purpose behind it, it will never be able to make a real and significant impact in our lives.
In an ideal society, we wouldn’t need such a month because such power imbalances would not exist. But we do not live in an ideal society, and we do need to establish the importance of such a month and integrate it into our lives — so that in the future, it won’t be necessary to have a Women’s History Month. We’ll have a yearlong celebration instead.
