It’s March, Pioneers, and we’re halfway through the semester! March also marks Women’s History Month, a time to celebrate and honor the stories of women who came before us, those who live today and our future generations of women. We as university students can take this time to listen to all women and the stories they share with the world.
The first Women’s History Month was celebrated in March of 1981, according to The Library of Congress. Per Forbes, women could not have credit cards in their own name until 1974, through the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. There have been several historical milestones for women in the last fifty years, let alone in the last century. That being said, we can still be grateful for our past without being indebted to it. We can still demand more for our future.
Meaning, if we are constantly praising the past, we will get stuck into the mud. We, as a collective, need to be grateful for what has come before us. However, we also have to keep fighting for our place in the present. We need to work towards changes we can make in the world that will better the lives of women and femme people around us.
Women are systematically, without question, subject to more discrimination, harassment, misogyny, sexism and violence than men ever will be. Intersectionality is key in the women’s rights movement, as the voices of people of color (POC), people with disabilities and transgender women have been silenced. When I say all women need to be protected, I mean all women. Conversations concerned with making the world a better place for women and femme people requires the inclusion of women from all walks of life. Despite seeming obvious, society seems to consider this inclusive position radical. There needs to be an inclusion of all women regarding conversations of how to make the world a better place.
As a transmasculine person, I am grateful for my past self who carried me as a feminine person throughout this world. While presenting as a feminine person, I was subject to drastic increase s of harassment and violence from men who were seen as “nice men,” or “successful men.”
I was given a blue rape whistle by the age of thirteen, and pepper spray and two Birdie alarms were included in my college admission presents. Having to hold multiple means to protect oneself just to feel safe walking around should never have to be a normality in any society.
I also know the truth, that the men who are hateful, racist or sexist towards women will not seek out this article. They will not celebrate the women around them. They will not often reflect on what it means to be a cisgender man – to the gay cisgender men reading, this includes you, too – and their impact on how safe women feel.
Living as a woman is nothing less than terrifying everyday. That being said, the women in my life are the bravest, strongest and wisest people I know. I am utterly grateful for the work they do everyday to chip away at the idea that women are somehow less than men. Every woman should know they are appreciated and loved this Women’s History Month, but also everyday of their entire lives.
