March marks the start of the celebration of Women’s History Month, which initially was Women’s History Week. It began in 1981in Santa Rosa, California to honor the achievements of women and to spread awareness of different issues, including the gender wage gap, domestic violence, and gender inequality.
In honor of the start of Women’s History Month, I will be highlighting a few women I admire because of their resilience, intelligence, and their success in their respective fields. However, I still believe women’s accomplishments should always be celebrated, not just for 1 month.
(These are in no particular order because all of these women’s achievements are great in their own way.)
1. Katherine Johnson
Every year since middle school, I remember having to do projects on Women’s History Month. Whether it be presentations on inspiring historical figures or essays on modern ones, almost every year I would choose NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson. I discovered her after watching the movie Hidden Figures in 6th grade. Her story is one that inspires me.
Katherine worked at NASA from 1953 to 1986, and during her time there, she did the calculations for the United States’ first landing on the moon. She was successful in this despite the segregation and discrimination she faced as a Black woman.
I mentioned previously that almost every year since middle school, I would do research on Katherine for my projects. The only time I didn’t do Katherine was because my teacher knew about how much she inspired me and urged me to pick someone else so I could learn something for the assignment. Even after all these years, all of the knowledge that I have about her has inspired me.
2. taylor SWIFT
To those who know me, this may not come as a surprise. Taylor Swift is someone who inspires me greatly in terms of her resilience and passion for her craft. She is arguably the most famous singer, if not person, of our generation. But with all the fame and success she has comes an equal amount of hatred, most of the time baseless, especially since she is a successful woman.
At the young age of 35, she has broken thousands of records that many of the greats held strong. She is the only person to have won Album of the Year four times at the Grammys (whether you believe she deserves it or not, she has the awards), her most recent tour, The Eras Tour, is the highest grossing tour ever at $1 billion U.S. dollars, among many other accolades she has.
She is also one who consistently advocates for women in the music industry and the double standards in society. As her own song “New Romantics” states, “I could build a castle / Out of all the bricks they threw at me.” Taylor has proven herself to be a strong individual who is willing to fight any barriers in her path, and I aspire to be as resilient as her.
3. Congresswoman Alexandria ocasio-Cortez
Being a Latina woman in the United States, it is hard to find representation in spaces such as politics. One example of this is in the U.S. House of Representatives; out of 435, seats only 127 are women. Only 18 of them identify as Latina women, one of them being Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She is the youngest woman and Latina to ever serve in Congress.
I admire Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez because of her ethics, beliefs, and fight for those who are voiceless. She is constantly advocating for Hispanic voices, whether it be immigrants affected by deportations, DACA recipients, or Latino U.S. citizens constantly being targeted and underrepresented. She gives me a hint of hope for the future. And if I were to become a politician, I would want to be like her.
4. President Claudia Sheinbaum
Presidenta Claudia Sheinbaum is the current president of Mexico. She is the first and only woman to have been president of the country. The reason I admire her is because, since she was sworn in on October 1st, 2024, she has striven for the well-being of women in Mexico, a country that is high in gendered violence towards women.
She is also keeping her head strong against our current president’s attacks on Mexico and Mexican immigrants. She has created welfare programs for Mexican immigrants who were deported from the U.S. and have had to restart their lives from zero and for elderly women who do not have the means to work and provide for themselves but are too young to qualify for assistance for elders.
President Sheinbaum is advocating for young women to do anything they wish to do. She does this by changing her wording when mentioning positions, such as “presidentA,” “ingenierA,” and “cientificA.” Although this is a small change in her vocabulary, it is a meaningful one, since in Spanish, the words for generalizing groups of all genders are the same ones used to refer to male-only groups (“Doctores” can be used to describe groups of doctors of all genders and also only male doctors, while “Doctoras” is only used for woman doctors). Through these alterations, young girls are more likely to see themselves having those careers, giving them hope and motivating them to pursue an education.
5. Former Vice President Kamala Harris
If I were to lose something as important as the U.S. presidency, I would want to do it with at least half as much grace as she did it with. Vice President Harris became the first and only Black woman and the only woman to be the Vice President of the United States of America. That itself is a great accomplishment.
During her presidential campaign, I became fond of her and her passion for helping this country. Her campaign also gave me hope for the future that could’ve been. Even if it was unsuccessful to an extent, I appreciate her resilience and her drive to continue fighting.
Aside from politics, I consider her to be a great role model because she advocates for women. She is strong and remains graceful even after being hated and having to break through so many barriers.
Final Words
Women’s History Month is a time when our success stories are highlighted, and it is something I am always excited about.
These 5 women are only a few who inspire me out of the millions of amazing women on this planet. They are all resilient, intelligent, and strong women who have achieved things some people can only dream of. I hope that their success stories can inspire many young girls, just as they’ve inspired me to get educated and fight for our rights as women.
And remember, you can always celebrate women’s achievements; it doesn’t have to be just during March.