This past Wednesday was a big one for women having the rights to do whatever they want: Hillary Clinton won Mississippi’s Democratic Presidential Primary, Kim Kardashian tweeted a carefree, nude selfie, and it was International Women’s Day, which is during March, Women’s History Month.
When I brought up these events to a male friend, he knew about only one of four (and somewhat surprisingly, it was Clinton’s win rather than Kardashian’s selfie). While several women I spoke to and many a lady I follow on social media acknowledged International Women’s Day, my male friend was entirely unaware. Women’s History Month has also seemed to go largely unmentioned in my social and social media spheres— I honestly may not have heard of the month if I hadn’t been fishing for potentially-relevant article topics.
International Women’s Day and Women’s History month have both been United Nations- and United States-recognized holiday institutions for decades. So, why do they receive amounts of public acknowledgement on par with that of “National Oreo Cookie Day,” which takes place on March 6, and according to a 2014 time.com article, was made up by some food-blogger five years ago?
I think these two women-centric holidays have received so little press because they have functioned for so long only to acknowledge women as contributors to history and society (which should really be acknowledged all year long). However, in the increasingly feminist social and political dialogue of 2016, those celebrating International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month have finally begun to acknowledge issues that women still face, in addition to those women have overcome. The holidays function as reminders that women’s rights remain important, and inspiration to continue pursuing equality for all women.
According to The University of Chicago’s “International Women’s Day Timeline,” an early precursor to the holiday, “Woman’s Day” first took place in 1909. The event continued developing in the United States and Europe, where it was celebrated in mostly socialist countries. Finally, in 1975, the United Nations began celebrating International Women’s Day on March 8, proclaiming that it should be celebrated in all member countries in accordance with their “other historical and national traditions.”
The United States’ Women’s History Month developed in the same month as International Women’s Day, and started out as “Women’s History Week,” which was proclaimed by President Ronald Reagan in 1982, according to the Library of Congress’ Women’s History Month Document Collection. Between, 1988 and 1994, Congress passed a series of resolutions that turned the week into a month-long March celebration the President is required to proclaim on.
It is clear from the Library of Congress’ back-log of Presidential Proclamations that Women’s History Month has evolved very slowly from a holiday celebrating women’s historical contributions. In the first Presidential Proclamation regarding the month, Ronald Reagan lauded women for their contributions as wives and mothers.
“Most importantly, as women take part in the world of work, they also continue to embrace and nurture the family as they have always done,” Reagan wrote, “ All Americans can be truly grateful for the role of women as the heart of the family and for their every accomplishment today and throughout our history.”
His speech acknowledged that women had received very little historical attention previously, but still failed to mention any noteworthy women by name. 20 years later, during George W. Bush’s presidency, his proclamations included the names of historically significant women like Amelia Earhart, Helen Keller and Clara Barton. However, by mentioning only pre-21st century women, Bush failed to acknowledge modern efforts in pursuit of gender equality.
“Our Nation’s women could not be where they are—nor could our country be where it is—without the strength and courage, wisdom and persistence of those who preceded them,” Bush proclaimed in March of 2001. He praised women for how far we had come, but failed to mention how far society must still go to ensure that women are treated fairly and equally.
This year, Women’s History Month is rightfully an event that incites action against inequalities faced by women every other month of the year. President Barack Obama’s 2016 Women’s History proclamation focused on closing the gender pay-gap, which has recently been a hot topic of conversation in the national media. While the proclamation did seem rather self-congratulatory to the Obama administration, Obama at least recognized that we are not yet in a post-feminist state, and that work must still be done to secure greater rights for women and those of all genders.
This sentiment was mirrored by the 2016 theme of International Women’s Day, which the U.N. declared as “Planet 50-50 for 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality,” according to their website. Goofily catchy slogans aside, the U.N. observed the holiday by accelerating plans to ensure global equality in education, and secure an end to all violence and discrimination against women and girls by 2030.
It is important to observe both International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, but only because it is important to acknowledge and support the on-going global grasp for gender equality. Because so many women in history have done what they had to in order to secure rights, greater numbers of modern women can do more of what they want—be it running for President, voting for President, or taking advantage of the system and getting rich off risqué selfies.
Regardless, there are still rights for women that have yet to be secured, whether it be equal pay in the United States or an end to the exploitation of women everywhere. So instead of wishing you a merely Happy Women’s History month, I’d like to wish everyone a happy and involved one.
