March Is Women's History Month
MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- March is National Women's History Month, an annual celebration to honor the women who came before us and fought for equality among all races and genders. It was established in 1987.
"Of all the evils for which man has made himself responsible, none is so degrading, so shocking or so brutal as his abuse of the better half of humanity; the female sex." -Mahatma Gandhi
While America is full of influential women today, hundreds of women came before them, paving the way. Women's History Month serves as a way to not only remember them but keep carrying their torch onward.
In 1777, all states passed a law that took away women's rights to vote. In 1855, a black woman who was a slave was declared property with no right to defend herself against her master's act of rape.
There was a time when a single woman in the U.S. couldn't get a line of credit, a mortgage or a car loan without help from a man. Flight attendants could be fired for gaining weight or getting married. Women were expected to stay home, raise the children and make sure dinner was on the table when her husband got home from work.
Not that long ago, domestic violence was always a private matter; rape happened because of what women wore or how women behaved; birth control wasn't openly discussed and unwed mothers were shamed and sent away to have their baby.
In 1947, the U.S. Supreme Court stated that women are equally qualified with men to serve on juries.
Now, women can do so much more than being able to own their own property and serve on a jury. Women can vote, and women have voices, all thanks to those who fought for equality.
America now has its first female vice-president, every board of directors in the S&P 500 has a woman on the board; and, following the 2020 election, women now make up a quarter of all members of the 117th Congress.
Women's History Month is designed to celebrate the contributions women have made to the U.S. and recognize the specific achievements women have made over the course of American history.
