Who do you think of when you hear “Women’s History Month”?
“My mom is a psychology professor,” Sarah Dutton-Breen, an English teacher and the Feminist & Gender Equality Club advisor at Tualatin High School (TuHS) said. “She would do this lesson where it was this hypothetical scenario: a father and son are driving and they get in an accident, and they had to go to the hospital. The doctor says, ‘I can’t perform the operation. He’s my son.’ Nobody could figure out that the [son’s] mom was the doctor. I remember the lesson as a little kid because I used to sit in the back of her class and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh. How terrible!’”
What Dutton-Breen is describing is a psychological puzzle that reflects the dilemma of underlying gender bias in work positions where men are expected to work. She describes sexist values as “the air that we breathe,” and shares her appreciation for women who not only shed light but also “[take] others out of the fish bowl.”
Women’s History Month is every March and is a time to bring awareness to women’s forgotten and ignored historical contributions and experiences with abuse and violence. It is also a time to focus on gender equality and reproductive rights.
The month was originally a week starting in 1978, and it was coined by a school district in Western California that based the event around International Women’s Day (March 8). This also generated the aim of Women’s History Month: to focus on classrooms and education. The week spread throughout U.S. school districts until it was recognized as a national week in 1980, then established as a month in 1987. Onward, the celebratory month spread internationally to countries like Ukraine, Canada, Australia and more.
“I think we should always talk about women and history and women’s rights in general,” TuHS junior and club officer of the Feminist & Gender Equality Club Grace Sethi said. “It’s good that we have a set month where people are thinking about it, and it’s easier to put up events and educate others.”
Each year, Women’s History Month has an annual theme chosen by the National Women’s History Alliance. This year celebrates and honors “Women Who Advocate for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.” Students at TuHS are encouraged to celebrate by participating in our Feminist and Gender Equality Club events, activities and meetings with a goal to give students the chance to educate themselves by asking questions.
