March is a month full of exciting events, such as St. Patrick’s Day and the start of spring! Everyone knows that. But, little do people know that March is also National Women’s History Month.

Women’s History Month started as a small celebration in Santa Rosa, California, in 1978. The week of March 8 was selected as “Women’s History Week” to correspond with International Women’s Day. Although the celebration was only supposed to be a one-time event, it caught national attention and eventually evolved into a 31-day celebration: Women’s History Month.

EHS junior Aazyah Bullard-Collins believes that Women’s History Month is a necessary celebration. “Women, as a whole, have been through so much historically, so I think a month celebrating us is well deserved,” Bullard-Collins begins. Bullard-Collins then goes on to describe some of the prejudice that she has faced as a woman. “I have been stereotyped as dumb, and I have been called too emotional–all because I am a woman,” Bullard-Collins explains, “and the funny thing is, that’s not even the half of it!”

Though EHS junior Caden Comer is a man, he feels very similar to Bullard-Collins. “Even though I am a guy, I can acknowledge that women have been oppressed for many years,” Comer states. “I feel like celebrating Women’s History Month is the least we could do.” Similar to Bullard-Collins, Comer believes that the immediate negative stereotyping of women has to stop. “Women are more than the stereotypes that society has placed on them. Even with ‘female-dominated’ careers, why does society shine such a negative light on them? Teachers, nurses, even stay-at-home mothers do so much for the world, and it is definitely not easy.”

Women all around the world deserve to be acknowledged for their contributions to society, families, and the world. Women’s History Month is only the beginning of the past-due acknowledgment and credit that women deserve, and is a vital part of increasing levels of acceptance and accountability in our society.

Several Notable Women In History

Amelia Earhart (1897-1939)

• Amelia Earhart was an American aviation pioneer and pilot. She was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.

Jane Austen (1775-1817)

• Jane Austen was an English novelist known for her six completed novels, which gained recognition as classic literature in the 20th century. 

Maya Angelou (1928-2014)

• Maya Angelou was an American poet and Civil Rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years

Frida Kahlo (1907-1954)

• Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter. She is known for her portraits and work inspired by artifacts of Mexico. 

Ada Lovelace (1815-1852)

• Ada Lovelace was an English mathematician and writer, chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage’s proposed mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine.

Wangari Maathai (1940-2011)

• Wangari Maathai was a Kenyan social, environmental, and political activist who founded the Green Belt Movement.

Marie Curie (1867-1934)

• Marie Curie was a Polish-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. 

Rosa Parks (1913-2005)

• Rosa Parks was an American activist in the Civil Rights Movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. 

Mother Teresa (1910-1997)

• Mother Teresa was an Albanian-Indian Catholic nun and the founder of the Missionaries of Charity.

Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996)

• Ella Fitzgerald was an American jazz singer. She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, intonation, and a “horn-like” improvisational ability, particularly in her scat singing.