I hate to admit it, but for a while, I didn’t see the value in Women’s History Month. Before I went to university, the month seemed like any other month — a few social media posts to remind me that there is a gender wage gap or that women fought for the right to vote a century ago, and that’s it.Â
My real issue with Women’s History Month was that it recognizes the women who fought, risked their livelihoods (and sometimes lives), and challenged the patriarchy for the women of today — but yet, we are still facing many of the same challenges those women faced. Year after year, it felt like after the month passed, nothing actually changed. Women remain oppressed and history is constantly repeating itself, I thought, so what’s the point?
When I open my phone and scroll through social media or read the news, I find new ways in which women are being attacked. From the overturning of Roe v. Wade, to the still-existing wage gap, to the removal of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs, women today are still fighting the battle that centuries worth of women have been fighting. I can’t help but wonder if the women who have strived to achieve equality in the home, society, workforce, and government would be disappointed to see where we are today.
However, as I’ve begun studying sociology and women’s and gender studies in college, that hopelessness I’ve felt — and, TBH, still feel sometimes — has begun to shift.
I read the literary work of Simone De Beauvoir, Audre Lorde, Carol Hay, and Kimberlee Crenshaw, who have changed the way society views women. I read novels and articles about the reality for women outside of Western culture and the impact of colonialism on women. And after every class I attended, paper I wrote, and materials I read, I realized that women actually have come a long way.
Yes, it feels like the feminist movement is still actively fighting the same battles that women have fought for decades, but it’s not in vain. We’re fighting so that the feminist movement doesn’t move backward; so that the efforts of the women we honor this month do not vanish.
Realizing this, Women’s History Month has begun to grow more important to me than I ever thought it would. I no longer see the month as a reminder of how history continues to repeat itself, but rather a month dedicated to reminding me that women are strong and courageous in more ways than one — and that we have to continue to be strong and courageous if we want to continue making progress.
Highlighting the historical women who have fought for me reminds me that women’s voices matter and our efforts made are not going unnoticed. Activists today are making an impact in their own way, as are everyday women. And with this, I’ve realized that Women History Month is more than a chance to give women in history the spotlight they deserve, but it is also a reminder for many women like myself that our voices and actions can make the difference that we are in desperate need of.