Women’s History Month - Why This Matters
I remember the early days of the Women’s Liberation movement in the 1970s. The movement was derided, laughed at. It was minimized as silly, insignificant and ridiculous. What were these silly women, these dizzy dames, wasting their time on when really they should be baking cookies, out shopping, or getting their hair done so they can make their husbands and children happy.
My ninth grade gym teacher was leaving the school to become a sportscaster. At the time, there were no women sportscasters. The very notion was seen as preposterous. There are no professional women’s sports teams. What do women know about sports? Are they going to be allowed in the locker rooms? This was an actual controversy, believe it or not.
In 1992 during Bill Clinton’s run for president, Hillary Clinton was lambasted over her remark, “I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas, but what I decided to do was to fulfill my profession.” This was, to some, insulting to women, to others it threatened the norms of the patriarchy, and to some us it was a rallying cry. Poor Hillary did her best to appear as a suburban mom in pink fluffy sweaters, standing by her man, but it just wasn’t her, and again, for some of us, lots of us, that was thrilling. You go girl! She took it on the chin in 1992 but she persisted. She broke all sorts of barriers and if she baked cookies, it wasn’t for photo ops. She was too busy running for Senator, then president, being of Secretary of State and running for president again, this time against a man who bragged about assaulting women. She prevailed with her own truth, her own story, and women around the world are freer, more powerful for her truth to the power of the patriarchy.
History Chip is all about giving each of us a place to speak our own truth. Hillary Clinton’s comment in 1992, in retrospect might seem insignificant, but it was huge. Each of our ‘insignificant’ stories testify to our truth. When we share our stories we stand for our own experience, our own truth, help to give others community, and we stand for historical truth.
March 11, 2024, was National Pay Equity Day, and was marked by a proclamation by President Joe Biden,
On National Equal Pay Day, we highlight the injustice of gender wage gaps by marking how far into this year women have to work, on average, to earn what men made last year.
Meaning that women typically need to work 14 months and 11 days to achieve the same income as men would earn in 12 months. Across the board, for every $1 a man earns, a woman earns $.84.
Over a lifetime, these inequities can amount to millions of dollars lost for women who do not receive the wages they deserve. Equal pay is about far more than a paycheck. It is about living up to the fundamental values that define who we are as a Nation — equality, dignity, and fairness. Today and every day, we continue working toward the promise of equal pay, recognizing that when women thrive, we all thrive.
In his State Of The Union speech, President Biden repeatedly reminded us that, “History is watching.”
And history isn’t complete without the stories of women. We need to share what it is like to be women in the 20th and the 21st centuries. Remind our daughters how far we have come and remind our sons how hard we have worked, why we deserve their respect and how far they have travelled on our shoulders.
Women have fed us, clothed us, cleaned our bottoms, loved us, baked our cookies, read to us. They have cheered for us, fought for us and in many cases, they have done this as single moms, bringing home 84 cents on the dollar, just to keep food on the table and a roof over our heads. These stories tell the truth of life in this world. These stories are the truth of over half of the population of the world. This truth is not trivial. It is not the truth of dizzy dames or silly women. This economic truth is hard truth and yet this only scratches the surface of the story of women. It only opens the door to the larger ugly truth of brutality against women. Rape as a weapon of war. Rape as a weapon of power. Domestic abuse, the sexualizing of women and young girls, trafficking of girls, and banning girls from attending school. These are stories that go so far beyond just the goals of pay equity and respect.
Also Read: The Top 10 Influential Women
We welcome all of your stories on History Chip. We know there is a full gamut of stories, from those that can make us weep, to those that make us cheer. Women’s lives are as varied as there are people on this planet, and we welcome them all. Share your stories of how you spend your time. What it is like to be a woman where you live. What is wonderful about being a woman or what makes it difficult. Remember, just being you, telling your story, you stand up for truth. And with truth comes change. We have come a long way, but we still have a long way to go. We persist. Our history matters. Our stories matter.
~Jean McGavin
Founder, History Chip