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Staff Editorial
Women throughout history pave the way to future
With the final event of Women’s Herstory on Monday, the two-month-long remembrance of influential women throughout history concluded, but hopefully this study of women’s contributions over time will become more of a daily habit rather than a brief celebration.
March is Women’s History Month and each year the National Women’s History Project chooses a theme. This year the national theme is “Women Taking the Lead to Save our Planet.” MHCC’s Women’s Herstory committee chose to alter the theme to “Women Taking the Lead . . . .”
Eight of 10 events took place in February, one event took place in January and one event took place in March. The events were diverse and, even though some seemed barely linked to women taking the lead, were events for people of all ages, genders, and races, as well as different interests.
Throughout history women have been discriminated against despite their contributions to society all over the world. Not only do they deserve a month of remembrance, but they also deserve honor and celebration for the things they have accomplished.
Women like Rosa Parks paved the way for equal rights. Parks is known as “The Mother of the Civil Rights Movement” and walked into history on Dec. 1, 1955, when she refused to give up her seat for a white man on a Montgomery, Ala., bus.
This paved the way for women like Oprah Winfrey and Ellen Degeneres to become television icons and role models for young women everywhere.
Women started fighting for their rights as early as 622 A.D. when the Constitution of Medina was declared in Arabia. The Constitution of Medina outlines many of Muhammad’s early reforms under Islam, including an improved legal status for women in Islam.
In Sweden, female taxpaying members of the cities’ guilds were allowed to vote and stand for election as early as 1718.
However, the United States didn’t give women the right to vote until 1920, with the ratification of the 19th Amendment.
Even though it is important for women’s history to be celebrated, it shouldn’t be celebrated for only one month but rather throughout the entire year.
Women have always been, and will continue to be, fighters for freedom and equal rights. Even though women now have the right to vote, they are still discriminated against in our society.
In the United States, the Glass Ceiling Commission, a government-funded group, stated that “over half of all master’s degrees are not awarded to women, yet 95 percent of senior-level managers, of the top Fortune 1000 industrial and 500 service companies are men. Of them, 97 percent are white.”
We should all take this into consideration and treat women the same way as men are treated — which means equally.
For those who did not attend any of the Women’s Herstory events, there are women’s studies classes available at Mt. Hood Community College.
It’s a good thing that there is one month set aside each year to remember the great women in history. However, one month out of the year is not enough to remember all of the women that have influenced American and world history. We should be thankful for women like Rosa Parks, who paved the way not only for women, but also for African-Americans. We should be thankful for women like Alice Paul who paved the way for a woman’s right to vote.
Every day we should remember to celebrate the women that made a change in our lives and in our history.