Women’s History Month is an important time to celebrate all of the memorable contributions women have made to our society. These contributions are overlooked by a lot of people in our ongoing and relentless fight for gender equality. Having a month dedicated to all those who have changed the face of history is important for young girls to get inspired and empowered by the strong, influential women they read about in school.

The Wolf asked history teachers at TuHS why it is important to celebrate Women’s History Month.

“Something to remember about history and what we study in history is it is determined by what is recorded, and for a long time, the people that were writing history looked like me,” said Steve Johnson, an IB history and future focus teacher at TuHS. “That meant that the contributions of groups that were not part of the dominant group – that means different races, but also different genders – was often not represented, and was very much filtered through the lens of the patriarchy.”

While Johnson noted the importance of Women’s History Month, he also suggested our wider perspective shouldn’t be limited by the calendar.

“It shouldn’t just be one month. We should always be sort of reexamining and looking at the contributions of all members of society in order to be not just honest about the past, but also help us to shape the present leading to the future.”

Kati Armstrong, another IB history teacher at Tualatin, also had insight to share about this topic.

“Women are half of society and have been ignored in the sources for a really long time. A lot of work that women have done is largely invisible and support work, and the more we find out about how women contributed to society in the past, the more complete our understanding is,” Armstrong said.

With all of that said, it is very easy to see and understand the importance of acknowledging Women’s History Month, not only to get a better understanding of our past, but also to look towards the future and see what else the powerful women of the world can accomplish.

There are still a number of milestones that need to be met, including electing the first female president, closing the gender pay gap, ending gender-based violence and much more. It has been 45 years since women’s history became a national celebration in 1981 when “Women’s History Week” was established, which was later changed to the full month in 1987.

The stereotypes about being a woman are hard to get past, but the women that do it are the ones that we remember. Well-behaved women aren’t the ones making history, and they aren’t the ones young girls look up to. They are bold, they are compassionate, and they are strong. From scientists, to artists, to mothers, they are all important, and they will all be celebrated this month.