Living in the US, many people are blind to the injustices that face women across the globe. One of the most effective ways to illustrate these problems to the world is through protesting. Through protesting, women are allowed to express their frustrations and perspectives in a safe and effective manner. Women’s rights is an issue that I have been passionate about for as long as I can remember, but has increased significantly within the last few years. Personally, I have attended two women’s marches in Omaha and started a club in my highschool centered around the right to education for girls in third world countries. I believe that women marches have the power to inform people about the injustices against women while allowing people to express themselves creatively.
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Women’s Rights Are Not Universal
Since we live in the United States where women have most of the same rights as men, there are many people who are indifferent to women’s rights as a whole. For instance, in places like Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, women do not have the same basic human rights as their male counterparts. Women in these countries are not able to leave the house without a male escort and are not granted the right to education, outside of religion. I believe that utilizing our right to protest as women in America raises awareness for the women who are not able to.
2. Women’s Marches Curate Creativity
In addition to raising awareness, women’s marches allow women to express their frustrations through creative means. In my club in highschool, we hosted a meeting where we made signs for the upcoming women’s march. In doing this, I was able to talk to other girls about how they were feeling and their vision behind their message. While at the march, it was empowering to see everyone’s premonitions and messages about their grievances.
3. Women’s Marches Create a Sense of Community
One of my personal favorite aspects about attending women’s marches is the sense of community that it makes. Being surrounded by like-minded people makes people feel more comfortable within themselves to voice their opinions and be themselves. For many people attending, they have not been comfortable enough to be themselves without any limitations and it is very nice to see. We are living in a time period where people are afraid to be themselves or to voice their opinions due to hostile opposing views- on both sides of the political spectrum. As I’ve grown and interacted with different people, I have realized that having an equal amount of respect and acceptance is key to maintaining a stable society.