Why we celebrate Women’s History Month

This October, to affirm my commitment to feminism within my school, I started a Women’s Affinity Group. To be honest, when I was in the process of establishing the group, I didn’t even realize it was Women’s History Month. I consider myself a staunch feminist, always pushing the envelope of gender equality within the spaces I occupy. That I didn’t even know when Women’s History Month was in Canada until Ivana, the JEDI Prefect, asked for some help in creating a video about the month disappointed me.

 

I felt there was some symbolism in the way I had brushed over the month to the women are so often brushed over by the world. The Canadian Famous Five did not advocate for women’s rights for their entire lives to be forgotten. Viola Desmond was not arrested and unpardoned for her racial activism to be ignored. The women in our Shawnigan community have not worked so hard to be recognized and improve our community to not be acknowledged. I have faced misogyny and pushback in my endeavours as a strong and young woman, yet the people around me have always helped me overcome it, and gain the same respect afforded to men in those endeavours.

 

I look to the women around me who have inspired me to reach for more and to take up space within the School unapologetically. My mother, my friends, female teachers and staff members have all influenced my perception of what it means to be a woman in a positive way. I would not be so unabashed in my advocacy and belief of equal treatment between sexes if I hadn’t seen the way my mom is powerful in a male-dominated field, in the way my friends refuse to back down in the face of uneducated bigotry, even in seeing female authority figures exercise their right to lead. Women’s History Month is a time in which everyone can recognise and support the women in their lives. I know that I try to uplift the women in my community in every way possible, during and outside of October. 

 

The Women’s Affinity Group, which I am spearheading, is a major step towards total gender equality within the School. Women, especially young women and girls, need safe spaces where they can come together with other like-minded individuals. Shawnigan is providing this safe space through the initiatives of said women. The group empowers individuals to incite the changes they want to see within the School through an established framework. Already, we are organizing a commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on November 25. It’s incredibly important that days like that, however small, continue to be recognized in our society, as women are still facing a struggle for safety in their everyday lives.

 

Many people still believe women’s groups or feminist movements call for the supremacy of women over men when, in fact, these organisations aim to level the playing field, and put all genders on equal footing. Allyship from men is crucial to the furthering of that goal. Women’s History Month is often argued against by saying, “Where is the Men’s History Month?” Historically, men have been more recognized and appreciated than women across the world. Women’s History Month is an attempt to bridge the gap between awareness of men’s history and women’s history, as the discrepancies between the two are large. The month is not in any way meant to diminish men or their history, but instead shine a spotlight on the more underrepresented sex.

 

This Women’s History Month, I would like to call on all those reading this to think of ways they could uplift and empower the women in their lives. Whether this is through spreading awareness of women’s issues, or even listening to women when they speak about their experiences, how can you do your part in furthering gender equality within our communities, and the world?