Here’s To Strong Women
Here’s To Strong Women
Celebrating International Women’s Day on March 8th, It’s Time to Empower, Uplift and Make Incredible Things Happen
Women’s History Month 2024 will take place from Friday, March 1st through Sunday, March 31, 2024. International Women's Day (IWD) is an annual global holiday celebrated on March 8 focusing on the women's rights movement.
World-renowned feminist, journalist and activist, Gloria Steinem reportedly once explained, “The story of women's struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organization but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights."
Gloria may not have been in Ellicottville recently (she lives internationally, and she will, after all, be 90 this month - not quite the gadabout she once was) but she would be pleased to see how many women own businesses in Ellicottville and the surrounding towns. A review of the Chamber of Commerce roster indicates women may well be in the majority of those entrepreneurs who own businesses here. That is no easy accomplishment considering the hoops one must go through, the investment of time and money and heart, and the brave hopes that their idea pays off for everyone involved.
Naturally, these women stand on the shoulders of earlier pioneers who worked unflinchingly to blaze a trail towards equality in the United States. In fact, one of the first American women outspoken enough to say something about equality for women was Abigail Adams who, in a letter dated March 31, 1776 (that’s 248 years ago!) to her husband, John Adams, asked him to “remember the ladies” when plans were being made for the American colonies as they fought for American independence from Great Britain.
THE FIGHT FOR EQUALITY
On History.com dated 2/20/24, we read that women’s history is full of trailblazers in the fight for equality in the United States “… from suffragists like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton fighting for women's right to vote, to the rise of feminism and Hillary Clinton becoming the first female nominee for president by a major political party, American women have long fought for equal footing throughout the nation’s history.”
Let’s look back at that history. In the 1800s, by law, women like my own grandmother and your great-grandmothers, had no say about voting, owning property, or control of their own income. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a mom of seven children, wrestled with these issues and then found her calling at a tea party at which a woman and activist she met and admired from years earlier, Lucretia Mott, spoke.
As the story unfolds, it was from this tea party that the first Woman’s Rights Convention to discuss the civil and political rights of women was held at Seneca Falls, NY on July 19-20, 1858. (The National Park and Visitor’s Center is worth a visit - 137 miles, 2.5 hours) Three hundred attended; Frederick Douglas, social reformer and abolitionist, was one of the 32 men, and the only African American in attendance.
Mott created The Declaration of Sentiments: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men - and women - are created equal.” Many, but not all, signed it. The Declaration outlined the civil and political rights denied to women - education, property ownership, child custody and the right to vote. The Seneca Falls convention was the first time that American women, as a united group, demanded change. Of course, the women were mocked across the country. One writer wrote that equal rights for women would be “a monstrous injury for all mankind.” Despite the opposition (and some women bowing out in embarrassment or fear) another larger convention was held a month later in Rochester, NY with the Declaration of Sentiment gaining another 107 signatures, many of them men. Basically, this was the official birth of the women’s rights movement in America. (There were others before that didn’t gain headway.) This evolved into another full crusade - the demand for women’s suffrage.
Eventually, the 1920 passage of the 19th amendment was made into law… 72 years later! It should be noted that women did have the right to vote as requested by Abigail Adams. Before 1776 women had a vote in several of the colonies but by 1807 every state constitution denied women even limited suffrage. The lesson here is, as we look at the losses women have endured over the recent years regarding women’s rights, this is not the first time. But it is up to us to work tirelessly to ensure that we are the last generation to have to fight for, and reclaim rights we had previously won for ourselves, our daughters, and generations to come.
AN INTERNATIONAL WAVE
So, how did International Women’s Day begin? It’s a bit murky and controversial, but let’s look at National Woman’s Day on February 29, 1909. Suffragettes and Socialists both turned up for an event focused on women even if their goals conflicted. By March 1911, the idea of “Woman’s Day” caught on in Europe. The First International Woman’s Day gathering was held with over one million attendees worldwide.
With the beginning of World War I which began after the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28, 1914, most attempts at social reform for women ground to a halt. Yet women continued to march and demonstrate on International Woman’s Day. There was a massive demonstration led by a Russian feminist in Russia on March 8, 1917, which allegedly led to abdication of Czar Nicholas II and to the Russian Revolution. Amazingly, it turns out that Russia, after this demonstration and events, became the first government of a major power to grant women the right to vote. In fact, Vladimir Lenin declared Woman’s Day an official Soviet holiday in 1917, later followed by Spain and China. It should be noted that sometime after 1945 it became Women’s Day (not Woman’s Day) and until the mid-70’s, International Women’s Day was primarily celebrated in socialist countries.
Finally, the United Nations General Assembly woke up and recognized 1975 as International Women’s Year and began celebrating March 8th as International Women’s Day citing the following reasons: “To recognize the fact that securing peace and social progress and the full enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms require the active participation, equality and development of women; and to acknowledge the contribution of women to the strengthening of international peace and security.” By 2014, 100 countries celebrated Women’s Day and it was made an official holiday in over 25.
NOTABLE WOMEN IN HISTORY
In America, things started moving first in California in 1978, in the school district of Sonoma, where presentations were made at schools, a great number of students took part in a “Real Woman” essay contest, and to make it more fun, a parade was held in downtown Santa Rosa. It caught on and in 1980 President Jimmy Carter issued the first presidential proclamation declaring the week of March 8th as National Women’s History Week. The following year, U.S. Congress passed a resolution establishing a national celebration. Six years later, Congress expanded it to the whole month of March.
So, here is where we are: The National Women's History Alliance designates a yearly theme for Women's History Month. The 2024 theme celebrates “Women Who Advocate for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.” This theme recognizes women who understand the need to eliminate bias and discrimination from individuals' lives and institutions. It’s a tough row to hoe. It takes determination, stamina, want-to, endurance and pure grit. Women have that. We birth babies, after all. Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962), political figure, diplomat, activist, and First Lady famously said, “Women are like teabags. We don’t know our true strength until we are in hot water.”
Can you name a few strong women? I’ll start off with a few to think about and perhaps emulate: Joan of Arc - she was 18 when she led the French Army to victory over the English at Orleans. Amelia Earhart - her gutsy, 1932 15-hour solo flight from Newfoundland to Ireland set the stage for other female pilots like Anny Divya who recently became the youngest-ever woman to pilot a Boeing 777. Have you ever heard of Althea Neale Gibson? In 1950, she was the first American to play tennis at Wimbledon, and then later she broke a second color barrier in golf by becoming the first black woman to play in the PGA Tour. Come back to California in the 1950’s and meet Dolores Huerta who tirelessly organized for labor rights, coining the phrase “Si, se puede!” (“Yes, we can!”) Her activism led to the co-founding of the National Farmworkers Association, now called the United Farm Workers. Yes, a woman did that!
Sandra Day O’Connor graduated near the top of her class at Stanford University. She was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1981 by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and served until 2006, a quarter of a century later. She was the first woman to serve as a justice on the Supreme Court. Thinking of The Supremes, if your thoughts go to the “notorious RBG” (Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg), just think - she might not have been a crucial part of our history were it not for the groundwork laid by Sandra Day O’Connor. Our history would be so much poorer had these intrepid pioneers not left footprints to follow, charts to navigate with, and inspiration to keep on keeping on, regardless of the pitfalls and setbacks.
MOVING THE NEEDLE FORWARD
For International Women’s Day on March 8th, and throughout the entire month of March, look toward your own role models (locally we have many women who see a problem and rally the troops, i.e. skatepark, upcoming inclusive playground) or these mentioned above and find your way to move the needle forward as we continue our struggle for women’s rights and ultimately, human rights. As we have learned over the past years, victory is not permanent. Think of this: access to abortion is no longer a constitutional right, access to abortion medication, even in states where it is legally protected, is threatened. IVF is being challenged. Teenaged girls are facing unprecedented numbers of trauma and violence with about 1 in 3 adolescent girls in the U.S. having seriously considered suicide - up nearly 60% from a decade ago. One out of every four girls went as far as making a suicide plan.
Voting for many of our citizens is being challenged or even denied. DENIED! An estimated 4.6 million Americans (2% of the voting age population - 1 out of every 50 adults - 1.1 million in Florida alone) are barred from voting due to a felony conviction regardless of time served and satisfaction of the conviction. Then there is redistricting, restrictions on using drop boxes and absentee ballots, entire districts moved or eliminated. The bloody, desperately hard-fought-for Voting Rights Act of 1965, is under legal assault. The Voting Rights Act has been seen as one of the most significant achievements of the Civil Rights Movement, tossing aside decades of Jim Crow laws and focused on protecting against racial gerrymandering. A battle hard won is being set back. Child credit, which helps combat child poverty is being eliminated. The list of battles won and now being lost is endless.
We can choose to stand by and “go with the flow” or we can fight back. The time is now. Collectively, anyone can participate through whatever activity is most relevant and impactful for their own context. Everyone everywhere can build on IWD's century-plus history to help forge positive change for women and girls and for all humanity. Are you in?