Yes, I still hear this question uttered every March by someone… “Why do we need a women’s history month? We don’t have a men’s history month!”
Sigh…
When I hear this coming from a male mouth, I just sigh and roll my eyes. However, I’m seeing a growing trend in young women asking this same question. And, I’m finding it disturbing.
It started about five years into my teaching career as a university professor. I taught classes on gender and sexuality. So, of course questions would come up about the perceived roles of men and women in society. But, what was catching my attention was that these female students seemed to think that the special consideration given to women for women’s history month is somehow demeaning to women.
As a professor I found this perspective to be fascinating. As a woman who grew-up during the second wave of feminism I found it to be terrifying.
WHY DOES THE U.S. HAVE A WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH?
In 1987, the United States Congress declared March to be Women’s History Month. The supporters claimed that it is important to recognize what they stated to be “the consistently overlooked and undervalued role of women in American Society.”
Ironically, Ronald Reagan, the president who campaigned on an anti-ERA (Equal Rights Amendment) platform, was president at the time. Yet, in spite of the continued anti-women’s rights rhetoric of Reagan and his followers (even women), Congress was able to garner support for Women’s History Month.
RELATED: What is the Equal Rights Amendment and Why Are We Talking About it Now?
THE ONGOING PROBLEM
Since my time in the university setting (I left in 2010) I have watched our society embrace the actual demeaning of women as acceptable. And, quite frankly, it is just NOT ACCEPTABLE.
As we made our way into the ‘90s we saw Monica Lewinsky sexually taken advantage of by another sitting president, Bill Clinton. In yet another ironic twist in American political history she was thrown into the public cage-fight over the incident by another woman!
And then many of us watched in horror as Anita Hill was called a liar and a traitor by conservative activists as she testified about the sexual harassment she experienced when working for the then Supreme Court nominee, Clarence Thomas.
This was also the era of the backlash against “political correctness.” If one supported equal rights and politically correct speech on the basis of race, religion, national origin, SEX or sexuality they were accused of forcing their political correctness on others – as if being polite, instead of demeaning, to others is a bad thing.
The turn of the century brought us the onslaught of reality TV shows, like the Real Housewives series, and The Bachelor, that glorify women being catty and downright mean to each other. At least the show Desperate Housewives was fiction…
And, of course, back into the political realm, the public denigration of the U.S.’s first Black First Lady, Michelle Obama. She was called “an ape in heels” a “poor gorilla” , and my favorite, “fat” – spoken by Rush Limbaugh, who is not exactly a candidate for the cover of a men’s fitness magazine.
RELATED: You’re Fat: The Ultimate Insult
WHY WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH IS STILL NEEDED
It is now 2020
The leader of The Free World, U.S. President Donald Trump, is known for being a flagrant adulterer and womanizer who openly stated that it is okay to grab women by their genitals. He also unapologetically refers to women he sees as opponents as “nasty”, “fat pigs”, “dogs”, “disgusting animals” and “ugly.”
The U.S. now not only has a man accused of sexual harassment, but also one accused of sexual assault, sitting on the Supreme Court.
While the wage gap is narrowing, women are still only earning eighty cents for every dollar earned by men in the U.S. When you factor race into that statistic the amount drops dramatically. According to U.S. Census data:
- Black women take home 61 cents for every dollar a white man earns.
- Native American women 58 cents for every dollar a white man earns.
- Latina women 53 cents for every dollar a white man earns.
And as much as Sheryl Sandberg would like women to “lean in” and take their place in the corporate C-Suite, the Double Day still exists in the lives of most American working women.
RELATED: Women are Working More Than Ever, But They Still Take on Most Household Responsibilities.
Back to pop-culture: The Real Housewives series now has 9 U.S.- based versions and 5 international versions. The Bachelor is now in its 24th Season (and yes, I know there is a Bachelorette, which in my opinion is just denigrating men – which is not the same as lifting-up women).
And even though “curvy” as a body type is now gaining popularity, eating disorders are just as prominent as ever with American women and girls AND men and boys!
WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH IS STILL NEEDED, BUT WE’VE MADE GAINS!
As an incurable optimist, I must not overlook the tremendous gains American women have made since the 1987 inception of Women’s History Month.
While we still have not seen a woman in the Executive Office (President/ V.P.), we now have more women than ever in U.S. political seats. Here’s a by-the-numbers overview from The Center for Women in Politics at Rutgers University:
- U.S. House of Representatives: 101 of 435
- U.S. Senate: 26 of 101
- State Elected Executive Offices (Governors, Lt. Governors, etc.): 90 of 311
- State Legislative Seats: 2,144 of 7,383
- Mayors of 100 Largest Cities: 27 of 100
While we are still not seeing parity, women are making gains in political office.
We also have trends in media and social media that are bringing women’s issues into the spotlight and popularity:
The #MeToo movement is making it impossible for people to continue to ignore or push aside the fact that sexual harassment and sexual assault are real issues that cannot be ignored.
Following from that the voices of celebrity women like Lady Gaga, Keisha and Taylor Swift, who are telling their own stories of sexual assault and/ or sexual discrimination and harassment AND fighting back at their predators, are empowering women to stand up for themselves and do the same.
Even popular television shows are coming back into the realm of empowering women a la Mary Tyler Moore.
- The entire “ish” family of shows, Blackish, Mixedish and Grownish portray empowered black women in a positive and uplifting light even as they tackle the complex issues of racism and sexism.
- American Housewife (not to be confused with the Housewives reality series I spoke of above) depicts the hilarious housewife Katie Otto as a strong and yet self-reflective mom who transitions from unapologetically staying home with her kids to finding her purpose in a career.
- And lets not forget some of the woman-power blockbusters in podcast land: Encyclopedia Womannica, She’s So Cool, and of course the podcast from the mother of all things women’s empowerment ~ Oprah’s Super Soul Conversations.
YES ~ We’ve come a long way baby! Sorry, I had to go there 😉
BUT ~ We still have a long way left to go to see true equality on the basis of sex!
Women’s History Month is still very much needed! So, let’s celebrate women not only this month, but EVERY MONTH!
To Your Empowerment,
Jen
Editor-In-Chief
We want to hear from you! What do you think?
Do we still need Women’s History Month in the U.S.?
What are your favorite T.V. shows, movies and podcasts that celebrate and empower women?
JEN ROBINSON
Jen Robinson is the creative force behind the wellness brand Peaceful Living Wellness which is dedicated to providing a wide-variety of high-quality wellness information. Jen is also the creator of the Peaceful Living Wellness life coaching division, and offers workshops, individual and group coaching as well as retreats where she guides women in using Mindfulness and Mindset to build their inner strength on a foundation of inner peace. Jen also is the co-creator of the business coaching brand CEO Mindset that guides entrepreneurs in building their businesses without burning out.
The latest addition to her repertoire is that she recently signed-on as the Wellness Director for the business development company Wealthy Women Entrepreneurs . She is very excited to be leading this group of dynamic women entrepreneurs into success in their businesses and lives!
The most important part of Jen’s life are her two very active teenagers, AJ & Layna!
Jen’s Mindfulness and Mindset techniques inform her business, her parenting and her life!
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