Women’s History Month

Women’s History Month

March has been designated as Women’s History Month by the US Congress since 1987.

Women History Month KICK OFF EVENT

President Carol L. Folt will be joined by teachers, staff, students, alumni, and community members to kick off the month-long commemoration. Experts at USC highlight the ongoing fight for equal rights for women and their heritage of breaking down gender barriers to help build a more perfect — and equal — union. Women’s history shows us what progress looks like. The Center for Gender Equity in Medicine and Science at USC Keck School of Medicine. We have achieved remarkable progress despite numerous obstacles, as Women’s History Month reminds us.

But, says Karen Tongson, improvement isn’t linear. This is one thing she has discovered from her research: “things don’t always get better.” So, while reproductive health freedoms expanded in the 1970s, they are again under threat from state legislators and the US Supreme Court, which may overturn Roe v Wade.

It’s part of what we learn, she says, to keep the momentum going through these cycles of change and development. Because there will always be more work to do, we should appreciate our successes and ‘firsts’.

The women’s movement’s next frontier: valuing care work

Darby Saxbe, associate professor of psychology and director of USC’s Dornsife Center for the Changing Family: “Reflecting on Women’s History Month, it is evident that the women’s movement has succeeded in allowing women to leave the home and engage public life.” Women’s engagement in the workforce has shifted dramatically in the last 50 years, she remarked, citing statistics. Unintentional effects, she says, include disregarding others’ needs. It is a fact that our individualistic society has long underestimated unpaid care work done by women, she says.

The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact

Saxbe cites the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on women’s employment growth. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 1.8 million fewer women employed in October 2020 than in February. Labor participation rates for women in America had dropped to levels not seen in over 30 years. It closed daycares, schools, and nursing facilities. Everything reverted back to the home. In order to care for children and elderly relatives, women quit the workforce in greater numbers than men.

By rewarding caring professions and policies like parental leave, the women’s movement will achieve its next milestone, according to Saxbe. That means looking more closely at how men contribute to both work and family life, rather than solely on what women should do differently. “We could celebrate when women — and men — contribute to establishing a more nurturing society,” she remarked.

Who directs?

Women’s history includes great artistic accomplishments. In fact, women — especially women of color — are making slow progress in key entertainment industries, according to USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative researchers. An analysis of the directors of the 100 most popular American films from 2007 to 2021 was published by Stacy L. Smith, Katherine Pieper, and Al-Baab Khan. They discovered that whereas white women and men of color had more possibilities, women of color were not included in this trend.

Over a 15-year period, only 2% of all directors were women of color. A lack of participation in blockbuster films is not explained by the researchers’ findings.

For her senior year at a U.S. film school, an Inclusion Initiative scholarship of $25,000 will be awarded.

Reactions to a historic Supreme Court pick

Less than a third of the nation’s highest court justices are women. The nomination of a Black woman to the US Supreme Court was just made by President Joe Biden. After 233 years, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson would be the court’s sixth female judge and first Black female.

For almost two centuries, Black women have been excluded from the Supreme Court by law, custom, and practice. Former Supreme Court clerk, district court judge, and current circuit court judge are among the nominee’s “top-notch” credentials.

Former public defender, Tolson adds, “she also provides a qualification to the court that the current staff lacks.” Clearly competent, Judge Jackson will add a wealth of experience to the Supreme Court.

Women in the military and peace activists

WHM highlights how women are breaking through boundaries in traditionally male-dominated fields, such as the military. Women made up 2% of the military in 1973, when conscription ended. Women presently make up 16% of active-duty personnel.

According to Michael Messner, a sociology and gender studies professor at USC Dornsife College, younger women — many of whom are women of color and some of whom identify as LGBT — are rising as leaders.

As a result of sexual and gender harassment, sexual assault, racist and homophobic abuse, and some in combat zones, Messner’s research identified traumatized female military veterans. Unconventional Combat: Intersectional Action in the Veterans’ Peace Movement. Their efforts “bend history toward peace and social justice,” he said.

Whose history do we want?

Tongson, chair of the Department of Gender and Sexuality Studies at USC Dornsife, said Women’s History Month shows us the various sacrifices our foremothers have made. In hostile environments and cultures, they’ve managed to transform. With that example, we may be stronger in our efforts to change, reform our positions, and improve things.

 

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