Herstory celebrated
Illustration by Angela Lorana |
By Karlotta Richardson
The Collegian
IN AN EFFORT to expand the consciousness of the history of women, Fresno State has a variety of events and performances lined up to celebrate Women’s Herstory Month.
“A Single Woman,” a play based on the life, speeches, letters and interviews of Jeanette Rankin took place on March 4 began the month-long observation.
Rankin was the first woman to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1919, before women could even vote. In 1940, she was elected to Congress. She lobbied in Washington, D.C. for two decades in support of legislation for causes such as suffrage, midwife education and improved maternal and infant care.
Loretta Kensinger, Chair of the Fresno State women’s studies program, said the importance of having a month devoted to the history of women is that it recognizes the need to gain cultural knowledge of women.
Kensinger said because women had been written out of society for so long Women’s History Month carries that much more.
Kensinger said Rankin was a life-long pacifist and in learning about her, it tells us something about all women.
In California in 1978, the Education Task Force of the Sonoma County Commission of the Status of Women began a “Women’s History Week” celebration, and in 1987 the National Women’s History Project requested that Congress expand the week into a month. That same year, Congress declared March as National Women’s History Month.
This coincides with International Women’s Day, which is March 8 and is an occasion celebrated by women’s groups around the world.
“International Women’s Day is the story of ordinary women as makers of history; it is rooted in the centuries-old struggle of women to participate in society on an equal footing with men,” the United Nations Web site said. “This date is also commemorated at the United Nations and is designated in many countries as a national holiday.”
Kensinger hopes people who attended “A Single Woman” came away knowing stereotypes can be broken. She also hopes people become more curious about other women and inspired by them as well.
ACCORDING TO THE National Women’s History Project (NWHP), the history of women is not just for women to celebrate.
The Web site said women’s history is our nation’s history. It is the story of how women built communities and inspired and nurtured dreams and how they will continue to do so.
Kensinger feels that there are many ways for people to promote women’s history. She said taking women’s studies courses and teaching kids the history is just a couple of ways to do so.
The promotion of women’s history seems to have paid off.
The popularity of women’s history celebrations has sparked interest in uncovering women’s forgotten heritage according to the Web site.
“A better world awaits the generation that absorbs what women and men have to share about life from a joint perspective,” said Karen Staser, founder of the National Women’s History Museum.
Although Kensinger received a bachelor’s degree in history, she realized that she only got a partial view of women when she was in school.
And it seems that she wasn’t the only one to get an education without much mention of women’s contributions.
“As recently as the 1970s women’s history was virtually an unknown topic in the K-12 curriculum or in general public consciousness,” said the NWHP.
Kensinger said that because of learning about women’s history, women, and men as well, can begin so see that they don’t have to go through the same experiences of the past.
“The suffrage movement impacted the whole political world,” Kensinger said.
Kensinger describes the performance of “A Single Woman” as recognition of women in the past.
“It makes us think of where we are and where we’ve been,” Kensinger said.
Other upcoming events at Fresno State celebrating the history of women are the Women’s History Month discussion group on March 28 and the Women’s Alliance Celebrating Women Informational Event on March 29-30.
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