Being a month of celebration, March holds many exciting holidays this year such as St. Patrick’s Day and Easter. The entire month is also a celebration and remembrance of women’s history and the legacy that the women before us have left behind. Many important figures have helped women achieve as much as they have, both historical and modern.
With International Women’s Day having already passed on March 8, and the entire month of March slowly coming to a close, remembering the important figures that helped the continuously changing future for women is necessary. Throughout history, many women have put in the hard work for women’s rights, and one figure who excelled in this would be Eleanor Roosevelt. Eleanor was first lady to the 32nd President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and her work excelled her position as the first lady.
Roosevelt was a well known activist for multiple occasions, most notably being her work for women’s rights. She was very outspoken in her beliefs and helped in creating conversations on the issues of rights pertaining to women, African-Americans, and workers. Considering the difficulties her husband had going into office with his physical ailment, Roosevelt helped her husband in his presidential duties. She is an exceptional model in attempting to bring women to the forefront and into the political realm.
A more modern, yet equally influential, women’s rights supporter is educational activist Malala Yousafzai. Yousafzai is a world known activist, finding popularity with the younger generations, through her work in Pakistan. In Pakistan, life is particularly hard for young girls, and yet Yousafzai managed to persevere through the many hardships that were dealt to her. Yousafzai was forced to face the Taliban, who were preventing girls from receiving education, and after speaking out on the issues that she and many like her faced, she was shot and put in a coma for 10 days. She continues to speak out on issues with educational opportunity, and is now the youngest Nobel Prize winner, and has established the Malala Fund to better help young girls receive the education they deserve.
There are many other exceptional women who have done work for women’s rights, and discussing this amazing group of women would take days, but that is what the month of March is for, celebrating the history of women and what they continue to do today.
Women’s suffrage is one of the most talked about events for feminine people. Due to women not receiving the ability to vote after the country of the United States created a constitution, many women have assembled to attempt to capture this right since the late 1700s. However, it would not be until 1920, that the 19th amendment would be passed, allowing women the right to vote, meaning women now have only had that right for 104 years.
Written media was also used to advocate for the rights of women, and the need for women to live as people of the society same as men. The “Feminine Mystique” by Betty Friedan encapsulates this by writing about the treatment and role of the housewife on women, and is credited for beginning the second wave of feminism. It established the dissatisfaction often felt residing in these roles where autonomy was not an actual factor for these women.
Remembering the history of women is necessary in helping to better help the future of generations of women. Everyone should be celebrated, and women play a large role in helping society progress.
For more information, please visit www.womenshistorymonth.gov/, nationalwomenshistoryalliance.org/womens-history-month-history/, and www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2024/02/29/a-proclamation-on-womens-history-month-2024/.
