Amiti Sharma

Celebrating National Women's History Month

Celebrating National Women’s History Month

Amiti Sharma

Since its emergence in 1911, March has been recognized as National Women’s History Month, establishing the social and historical contributions made by many female figures, dating back to the early 1900s. This month directly coincides with International Women’s Day, and was founded and first celebrated throughout the United States. It became recognized more so after a school in Sonoma, California held their Women’s History Week in March in 1978. Consecutively, a fifteen-day conference in Sarah Lawrence College in New York, co-sponsoring the Women’s Action Alliance and the Smithsonian Institution helped the event gain national attention within the United States in several schools, institutions, and communities.

On March 8th, 1980, President Jimmy Carter officially stated the week as National Women’s History Week during a declaration, addressing the origins of American Indian women and their evolution and contributions to women in society and the overall development of the United States. Later in 1987, the Pub. L. 100-9 was brought to the attention of Congress by the National Women’s History Project, which allowed for the entirety of the month of March to be nationally recognized as Women’s History Month. The month of March has also gained international awareness and therefore been promoted and practiced as Women’s History Month in various countries, including but not limited to, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Many celebrities have expressed their views and appreciation for the month, including actress Lena Dunham who posted images representing strong women in her tweet, “March is Women’s History Month…These words & images are beautiful, too familiar.”

Many television networks and production companies have shown their dedication to promoting the special month with TV shows and videos representing strong, brave, and independent women characters. In particular, Netflix has spoken out about the main women in television that deserve attention for their portrayals of women of authority and independence, such as Priyanka Chopra from Quantico, Robin Wright from House of Cards, and Kate de Castillo from Ingobernable. National Women’s History Month is truly an important holiday that gives appreciation to the many deserving women that have contributed to the accomplishments of the United States through their perseverance and resilience in fighting social, cultural, domestic, and gender issues.