Why We Have This Month and Why Still Need It

It is almost the end of March, so I am still on time to write about it, about Women’s History Month. What does this mean? As I hinted in a previous post, some months are dedicated to acknowledging, remembering, commemorating and observing important events in the history of the people to which such months are dedicated. March is the month dedicated to women’s history as well as having the International Women’s Day on the 8th of this month. This makes people think that now is all well, if there were problems, they were in the past and we can now celebrate each month something good. Unfortunately this is not the case. These are not the cases. And I will explain why.

Why a Women’s History Month

From Wikipedia we read that:

Women’s History Month is an annual declared month that highlights the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society. It is celebrated during March in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, corresponding with International Women’s Day on March 8, and during October in Canada, corresponding with the celebration of Persons Day on October 18.

Wikipedia – Women’s History Month page

What would you understand from these words? That there is the acknowledgement of what women have done from more or less recent history: that we recognise the hard-working women that have never stopped fighting for their rights, from better working conditions to the right to vote, to sexual rights, etc. That is the idea. That women have fought and they have won, that now we can look at the past and see what the fair sex has done and be grateful that it’s been done. There is nothing else to do, right? Mh.

But there is no “man’s history month” and men too have done quite a lot. So why is there a women’s month?

Similarly to Black History Month, LGBTQ+ History Month, etc., it means that there are actually unresolved things going on, that we still need to work on bettering the situation of these people in every aspect of their lives. So it has been decided to dedicate one month a year to say “Thank you for your contributions” or “Sorry, you still don’t have some basic rights because you are different”. And this brings us to…

Why Still Need a Month Dedicated to Women

Because there are still women that are beaten and raped daily;

Because women are denied basic rights;

Because little girls are forced into marrying much older men;

Because women are still not granted protection by the authorities;

Because there still is a pay gap;

Because it is the 21st Century and women are slut-shamed.

And I not talking (only) about those countries that are considered developing countries, but also those that are allegedly developed ones.

The most recent events in England have shed some (dark) light on problems affecting the relationship between women and authorities (you can read more here and here);

In U.S.A. there still are States where marrying girls under 16 years old is legal;

In Poland, women have been stripped of the right to abortion even in extreme circumstances (you can read more here on the background of the situation and here);

Ireland is famous for having her women travelling to England in order to abort, even after the recent Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 (more info here);

In Italy, rape and sexual assault victims are still blamed for how they dressed at the time of the attack.

Concluding

Why am I talking about these matters on a vegan blog? As I previously explained, I am a firm believer in veganism as a holistic social philosophy. Like many others, I went vegan for the animals and the environment, but soon I realised that one can’t do much in aid of these issues without integrating the issues concerning people, which are strictly connected to affairs of social justice: we can’t achieve total animal liberation and have a clean, healthy Earth without the eradication of racism, fair working conditions for everybody, equal rights for women and men, recognising the rights of the LGBTQ+ community, etc.

Be kind, be more empathic, stand up against abuse: this is the way to a better world for everybody and our beloved Earth.

Sending messages of hope to all of you!