Since the rise of feminism, women have started enjoying a wider range of equal opportunities. When women get rid of the shackles of traditional concepts and decide to embrace themselves, they shout out their rights and future in firm and brave voices. This is why we are here to celebrate Women’s History Month every year.Â
How They Become HERselves throughout History
It has been the 34th Womxn’s History Month over the history, and this one-month celebration seems to be an opportunity to recognize and commemorate womxn’s contribution to history, culture and society. It has been held in the United States every March since 1987 and later became a celebration of womxn all over the world. Womxn’s History Month was first celebrated in Santa Rosa, California. The local Commission on the Status of Women planned and implemented the “Womxn History Week” celebrations and parades in 1978.
Due to COVID-19, many celebrations regarding womxn that were originally planned for 2020 have been restricted, thus the National Womxn’s Alliance has expanded the 2021 annual theme to “Valiant Womxn of the Vote: Refusing to Be Silenced.”
It was not until 1975 that the United Nations officially began to support the organization of Women’s Day, and this day was soon celebrated and recognized worldwide. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued the first presidential statement, proclaiming Mach 8 as National Womxn’s History Week as well as the date for the International Festival. In 1987, Womxn’s History Project petitioned Congress to extend the activities to the entirety of March. Thus, the beginning of Womxn’s History Month comes.Â
Avant-Garde Feminist
Nigerian female writer and feminist activist Chinmamanda Ngozi Adichie was honored to give a TED speech themed “We Should All Be Feminists.” In the speech, she claims that:
“Womxn are disciplined by unequal gender concepts at all stages of life. If in our culture, womxn are never allowed to enjoy all equal rights, then we should use it to create a new culture. Feminists are those who believe in the existence of politics, economy and society with equal gender treatment.”
In fact, I believe that it is the feminist movement that gave birth to feminism, but feminism is not about making women act like men. Feminism pursues the idea that everyone should be respected. In the era of excessive stigma of womxn, we want to convey the idea of equal rights, which is to grant every single person the freedom that is not to be bound by gender. Meanwhile, the imbalance between the sexes should not be an oppression from the society and others’ stereotypes.
In honor of Womxn’s History month, we should sincerely offer our blessings regardless of your gender, position, sexual orientation, etc. Living in such a free and open-minded age, we all should be proud of every single living individual who strives to live for themselves.
