Women’s History Every Month
As we round out Women’s History Month and the avalanche of ads that celebrate women shift back to telling women how to look and live start up again, I can’t help but think that every month should be Women’s History Month.
Especially now. Given that women have felt the brunt of this pandemic, leaving the work force in significantly higher numbers than men – if we don’t pay attention to the women from history who fought hard to change the course of women in history we are bound to repeat history over and over again.
Why wait until March to celebrate Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, Lily Ledbetter and Gloria Steinem, and Shirley Chisolm and Angela Davis. Their stories need to be told and retold each month.
And if every month is too much, consider if we are 50 percent of the population let’s take over 50 percent of the months to celebrate our past contributions so we can make a difference for the future.
I’ll never forget being asked by my co-playwright Caleen Sinette Jennings as we were crafting a one woman show about a woman who loses her best friend, “Who are your women heroes from history?”
It stopped me in my tracks. For some reason I could not think of one. Not just one – any one. But I forced myself to consider which women had fascinated me in my own past and which would serve the play. We ended up focusing on three incredibly different women from history: Anna Freud, Mary Todd Lincoln, and Hannah Senesh. As part of the process I started reading about their lives and piecing together why I personally had been fascinated by their stories.
Anna Freud - daughter of a seminal psychoanalyst who famously was analyzed by her own father (Daddy issues much?) and who went on to become a renowned child psychologist herself.
Mary Todd Lincoln – branded as a lunatic – but really a mother and wife who was consumed with grief. Pilloried for spending too much money on gloves – causing a whole scandal about her pension (Shop too much?).
And Hannah Senesh, the Hungarian born poet who died at 23 after she parachuted back behind enemy lines to save the Jews of Budapest (Reckless too much?) .
Each of these complicated women who the world considered “too much” sparked a question in me – how can I move from the fear of being “too much” to the courage of being all that I can be in the world? Learning about their stories made me ask questions about my own life:
How do I analyze my own past to create a new future for those I serve?
How can I move beyond the inevitable grief and sadness that life brings to create joy and possibilities in the world?
How can I find the courage to do something extraordinary that will leave my mark on the world?
Perhaps I was stumped so many years ago because I had too many women to choose from. Too many women who have made sacrifices to change the world. Too many women who had to fight to be heard. Too many women whose brilliance burned bright but whose presence was dimmed by their time and circumstances.
This year in 2021 as we grapple with the effects of the pandemic on women, let’s revisit the women in history who paved the path for a better future. One way to do that is to support the National Women’s Hall of Fame. It’s just a short drive from my home and I’ve always been so amazed not only by the women who are honored there but by the work of the women who fought to build it.
Just in time for Women’s History Month the Hall has opened to the public in their new home and announced their 2021 Induction class and celebration.
Every month, be an Outlaw Leader and learn about the stories of women from the past that will illuminate our path to the future.