Hello and welcome to March! The month of leprechauns and incoming of “spring”. (The only reason why I put the quotations for spring is it’s been snowing on-and-off for the last few days.) But I’m absolutely positively sure, you, the reader, didn’t come here for reading about our snow troubles and little Irish leprechauns. March is not only for the luck of the Irish, it’s Women’s History Month!
So to my ladies, no matter your true identity or preferred pronoun,
HAPPY WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH.
What struck me to write about Women’s History Month was a movie. If I ask you to guess, I’m 100% pretty sure, you won’t get it because the movie is sorta-kinda-old. The movie was actually Mona Lisa Smile. A quick introduction of the movie - Julia Roberts plays a college professor at an all women’s college and tries to break barriers from their traditions. She was determined to confront their views on women’s roles or the “roles they were born to fulfill”. And after watching this film, I thought about how far us, women, have come along.
In the movie, women in the 1950’s had one goal- to be married and have a family. And receiving a college degree seemed unlikely because women leave once they get married. Katherine Watson, played by Julia Roberts, urges for the women to see they can do both - get married and continuing their education. She wanted the women, more specifically from her class, to look beyond the role of a housewife and see they could do more. I highly recommend this movie!
Now fast-forwarding almost 70 years later, women have come a long way. This month is shining a spotlight on women and their achievements. Today, there are so many women influencers that did and are making a difference in society. Women have become members of the Supreme Court, CEOs of brand name companies, doctors, a presidential candidate for the United States, and so much more. Even, Hollywood is embracing women. Hollywood is showing more than just a stay at home mom role, wonder woman is finally coming out! Celebrities like Beyoncé and Viola Davis are one of the few examples of women making a difference in the industry. Throughout the month of March, social media accounts like Refinery29 and Obsessee are showing off girl power and embracing women’s change on society.
Here are just a few quotes that truly identify women’s strengths -
1. “Never Underestimate The Power of Dreams and The Influence of The Human Spirit. We Are All The Same in This Notion: The Potential for Greatness Lives Within Each of Us” - Wilma Rudolph, an Olympic gold medalist.
2. “A woman is like a tea bag - you can’t tell how strong she is until you put in hot water” - Eleanor Roosevelt, former first lady, and a woman activist
3. “We used to say in the White House that if a place is too dangerous, too small, or too poor, send the First Lady.” - Hilary Clinton, former Presidential candidate and first lady.
Women’s History month isn’t about viewing all the issues women are currently having because if that’s the case, we’d be celebrating this month for a long time. But this month is dedicated to women and their achievements. We have come a long way and there's nothing that's stopping us from achieving greatness.