Tag: women

Is Women’s History a Secret?

The First People. Susan Point, Musqueam, Canadian

International Women’s Day (IWD), March 8th, has a comprehensive theme – “Rights. Justice. Action. For All Women and Girls.” Despite the day’s U.S. origin, IWD is not uplifted enough in our culture, perhaps due to ongoing discrimination. Trace events to March 8, 1857, when hundreds of New York City’s women – mostly immigrants from garment and textile employment — protested sweatshop conditions. Many were school-aged girls who worked 12-hour days in cramped space with pennies for pay. Strict rules limited the use of a restroom or eating a meal. Their union, International Ladies Garment Workers Union, was male-only and named for the work setting; no women could participate at the bargaining table. Male immigrants also were overworked; they managed to receive concessions and a 10-hour workday through their trade unions.

Fifty years later in 1908, women protested in the streets of New York. Their ongoing issues were child labor practices, harsh work settings, and voting rights. They were met by police carrying hoses with ice water to cool down peaceful protesters. After ongoing attempts of women seeking justice in the work world, in 1980 President Carter proclaimed a national week in March to celebrate women’s sacrifices and contributions. In 1987 Congress expanded the honoring of women’s resilient leadership to the entire month of March. But where is equity hiding?

The National Women’s History Alliance set their 2026 theme as “Leading the Change: Women Shaping a Sustainable Future.” While pay progress occurred in the 1980’s/1990’s, glaring gaps continue in how women’s earnings stack up to men’s earnings. Women’s median earnings today are 80.9% of men’s median earnings for full-time, year-round workers (ages 15+). In 2023 this ratio was 84.6%. Why is this gender gap going in reverse?

Sustainability goes beyond one’s paycheck. Women often lead the forefront in systemic sustainability. They work and/or volunteer in community organizations that are inclusive in creating equitable chances for children’s futures. Many women invest volunteer time in building stronger communities. Women often lead environmental initiatives and work tirelessly on justice issues. These actions primarily are a labor of love with no pay.  

Data from the Pew Research Center finds that 48% of women feel the need to focus on home responsibilities (compared to 35% of men). Caregiving is a huge factor in the gender maze. Taking time away from careers to devote precious hours to caregiving often translates to fewer raises, fewer bonuses, and an overall slow-down in earnings over time.

Many women work in caregiving careers. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 80% of elementary and middle school teachers are women. While teachers are among the country’s more educated employees, their earnings are far less on average than others with similar education. Earnings have declined for teachers since 2010.

Women’s rights keep getting sidelined. It must be a secret about who cares for caretakers.

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz

478. Have you ever experienced discrimination in your employment pay?

479. How might you engage time and resources to build a more equitable society?

Women’s Herstory Month 

“Women are like teabags. We don’t know our true strength until we are in hot water.” Whether First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt actually said this is unknown, but women’s true strengths often go unrecognized, even by women themselves. Let’s reflect on a mostly unknown woman’s story and her accomplishments.

Austrian-American Gerda Hedwig Lerner taught American history and initiated the first college course on women’s history in 1963 while an undergraduate in New York’s New School for Social Research. Subsequently, she created the first known master’s degree program in women’s history at Sarah Lawrence College and first doctoral woman’s history program at University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her mission was simple: she wanted to offer studies in “people who did not have a voice in telling their own stories.”

Lerner’s early history included anti-Nazi resistance in Austria as a Jewish woman. She volunteered for “Red Aid” to help those who were arrested. Along with her mother, Lerner was jailed for 6 scary weeks, spending her 18th birthday imprisoned. She lived in a cell with two Christian women who were detained for political reasons. Her cell mates shared food with her as Jews received restricted meals. Lerner was able to immigrate to America with the aid of a sponsor – the family of her resistance fiancé. There are many poignant immigrant stories of individuals who escape dire circumstances to later enrich our collective history.

With her second husband, Lerner co-authored the screenplay of Black Like Me based on white journalist John Howard Griffin’s epic 6 weeks of traveling in the South disguised as a black man. Her doctoral dissertation told the story of resistance sisters from a slaveholding family who left their Southern home to become abolitionists in the North.

Learner became a founding member of the National Organization for Women (NOW) and began publishing books on women’s history with such titles as Black Women in White America (1972), and The Female Experience: An American Documentary (1976). She organized the first Women’s History Week in 1979, modeling it after a weeklong celebration of women’s contributions to culture and community by the Sonoma, California school district.

President Carter followed up with the first presidential proclamation to assign the week of March 8 as National Women’s History Week in 1980. Congress passed a resolution declaring a national celebration the following year. With the support of the National Women’s History Project, in 1987 Congress extended this recognition of women to our current month-long event every March. The United Kingdom and Australia followed to celebrate every March. Canada chose October for their women’s history recognition to correspond with their Persons Day on October 18th.

The 2025 theme of Women’s History Month, “Moving Forward Together,” celebrates equality and women’s collective strength. Equality includes children and men. Equality includes immigrant families. My equality ancestors were immigrants. How about your equality ancestors?

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz

375.  How many women do you know who accomplish great things but are mostly unknown?

376. What women’s stories can you tell in Women’s Herstory Month?