Women’s History Month is coming up fast, starting on March 1, and I couldn’t be happier or prouder. Women are strong and powerful individuals and have made their mark on the world with their contributions, from historical figures to political activists to women that have made inventions that we use in our everyday life. It’s important that we take time, especially during Women’s History Month, to acknowledge how far we’ve come.
Whether you attend women’s events or marches, read books with strong female protagonists or books about women’s history, or just listen to your women empowerment playlist, Women’s History Month should feel liberating and help you feel like you can tackle anything you want, big or small. And each year, the month gets a new theme to help us reflect on a different part of women’s history. So, what is the theme for Women’s History Month 2023?
Women’s History Month used to be one week in March.
Women’s History Month originated as Women’s History Week in Santa Rosa, California the week of March 8, 1978 because it corresponded with International Women’s Day. However, the celebration quickly found itself expanding to different states that allowed women to celebrate themselves. After many years of Women’s History Week, the National Women’s History Alliance, which was formerly the National Women’s History Project, lobbied for it to be a yearly celebration in all of the states. Finally in February 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued the first Presidential Proclamation to make the week of March 8, 1980 National Women’s History Week.
In the years that followed, Women’s History Week continued being celebrated. It wasn’t until March 1987 that Congress passed Public Law 100-9, which declared March as Women’s History Month. From 1988 to 1994, there were other resolutions passed by Congress that ensured that March would be declared as Women’s History Month. Since 1995, our presidents have acknowledged Women’s History Month as a national month. Though it may seem like Women’s History Month has been around forever, we’ve only been celebrating it for a couple decades.
The Women’s History Month 2023 theme is “Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories.”
With every Women’s History Month comes a theme that the National Women’s History Alliance announces to the public. For 2023, it is “Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories.” According to the website, “The NWHA will encourage recognition of women, past and present, who have been active in all forms of media and storytelling including print, radio, TV, stage, screen, blogs, podcasts and more. The timely theme honors women in every community who have devoted their lives and talents to producing art, pursuing truth, and reflecting the human society decade after decade.”
In addition to pioneering Women’s History Month and coming up with a theme every year, the NWHA will also be releasing online celebrations, a special magazine, and products that recognize and honor brave, accomplished and influential women that have told their stories throughout the years and will continue to do so.
You can celebrate Women’s History Month 2023 in so many ways.
Even if you celebrate women and women’s rights all year long (as you should), there’s still plenty of ways to celebrate Women’s History Month. If you want to meet more women who advocate and care about women’s rights as much as you do, you can go to a women’s march in your area, like March Back CT, which is happening in Connecticut on March 22, or a women’s conference, like the International Women’s Conference at Hofstra University in New York on March 11, and hear other women speak about their experiences. If that’s not an option for you, though, you can attend a virtual conference or view Ted Talks like Bella Brankovic’s and learn more about women’s history that way.
If you’re someone who takes their Letterboxd account very seriously and watches movies, you can honor the theme by watching movies with female directors or a strong female cast, like On the Basis of Sex, Carol, Mulan, and Booksmart. Similarly, you can watch TV shows with empowering female characters like The Bold Type, Supergirl, and The Legend of Korra. If you spend your days reading books, you can either read non-fiction books about significant women in history or women’s history, or you can read fiction books with feminist main characters. Some of my favorite books that match this theme are Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu, The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe, Muted by Tami Charles and Gallagher Girls by Ally Carter.
If you’d rather take in Women’s History Month through music, you can make a playlist of songs that make you feel like you can accomplish anything and everything by your favorite female singers. If you do want to learn more about women’s history and women in general, you can also listen to a podcast that’s women-focused, such as Gals on the Go, The History Chicks, and Stuff Mom Never Told You.
Women’s History Month serves as a reminder for everything that we’ve accomplished as women and for women’s rights throughout the years. Don’t forget, though, that you should feel empowered this Women’s History Month as well. After all, every woman has the potential to be amazing and to make a change, no matter how big or small. As R.S. Grey said, “She believed she could, so she did,” so go out there and do everything that you believe you can do.