Harping on women’s past achievements deflects focus from the issues of today

March was Women’s History Month, and while it is an important time to celebrate the achievements and progress of women, it is equally essential to discuss the challenges they face around the world. Online attention needs to focus on spreading awareness about women’s challenges rather than only discussing their past triumphs.

Women in both Afghanistan and Iran are being severely oppressed by their government. They are being banned from schools and killed for violating dress codes, making their lives unbearable. While these women are doing their best to protest for their rights, success has been minimal. This is because they lack support from the general public, who could be influential in pressuring oppressive governments to make changes. 

The lack of support comes from the way social media highlights Women’s History Month, as it does with other special interest months such as Black History Month and Pride Month. We make countless posts focusing on how far society has come and famous historical figures that have made crucial changes, but we fail to highlight the struggles of people today and how we can help them.

“I think representation matters, and these special interest months are a great way to think about how we represent people,” history teacher and adviser of the Women’s Empowerment Club Caroline Blanchard said. “We do always have to be careful of tokenism and doing these things in a meaningful way. But when they are done right, I think they can make real change.”

These special interest months have the power to be very influential. However, there is a widespread belief that these months signify that the problem has been solved. This is incorrect and offensive to all those still fighting, such as the women in Iran currently putting their lives on the line to try to improve their own situation. Social media doesn’t address that people’s rights are being persecuted because it is easier to pretend that adversity doesn’t exist.

This attitude must change in order to help those still fighting. If people changed their outlook during these months, they could make real change. By educating more people about the fight for women’s rights, these women could get some of the help they need.

In the past, Women’s History Month has been a time to celebrate the achievements of women and how far they have come. This single-minded idea diminishes the struggle women and members of other oppressed groups are still facing today. Pivoting towards highlighting the struggles of modern day people rather than acting as though controversial issues have been solved is essential to the betterment of society.

Photo credit: “Iran Protests” by Taymaz Valley is licensed under (CC BY 2.0)