Lila Clapp, Freshman
Close your eyes and imagine a world without inequality. Do you think we will ever reach a world like that? Many people have a vision for the world we could live in, free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination. Holidays to spread awareness of these topics have been established, such as International Women’s Day. The eighth of March is dedicated to the celebration of women across the globe.
Each year, there is a new theme to honor the feminine community. This year, the highlighted theme is #BreaktheBias. Bias is the act of favoring one thing, person or group over someone or something else. It is typically done through harmful and demeaning gestures either executed directly or indirectly.
Bias makes it difficult for anyone to carry on with their lives, and it can especially discourage women in the world.
Up until recently, men were known to consistently make more money compared to women. The Clarence Thomas Case shed light on sexual harassment in the workplace. Before that, harassment was considered “just a part of working.”
We have come a long way as a society, for that is no longer as common as it used to be. Even though bias has been chased out of the majority of communities, it still hides out with in some environments. Having the knowledge that bias exists isn’t enough. Cross your arms and strike the IWD 2022 pose and share your image or video on a social media platform. This activity will encourage people to construct a world that will include everyone.
This holiday came to be known because of the influence of Clara Zetkin, a member of the International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen. Zetkin posed this idea in 1910, and 100 women from 17 different countries at that meeting stood beside her for the controversial decades yet to come. March 8th was the globally accepted date in 1975, and women such as Clara Zetkin continue to be celebrated for their work in promoting equality. Feminine figures of bravery and understanding include Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Malala Yousafzai and Empress Dowager Cixi.
Ruth Bader Ginsberg was a powerful attorney from 1993 to 2020. She was the champion of gender equality and famously fought six cases before the Supreme Court as a lawyer, winning five. Ginsberg finished top of her class at Harvard Law School, but struggled to find employment due to her gender. It wasn’t until Bill Clinton nominated her on to the Supreme Court in 1993 when she began to gain fame. Ginsberg was committed to the concept of equal justice and fought hard through cancer and other illnesses. She died at the age of 87 in 2020.
Malala Yousafzai is a 24-year-old Pakistani activist who was shot in the head after she protested for women’s education. Malala adored learning, but her opportunity to learn more was shut down when the Taliban invaded her village. The extremists banned television, playing music, and most of all, women’s education. The Taliban threatened to brutally punish anyone who didn’t follow the rules that they enforced. Malala fought against the Taliban, sending articles of her suffering to the BBC and having her story broadcast to everyone around the world. One morning, she was on her way home from school when a masked gunman boarded her bus and asked for her. When Malala answered to her name, the gunman shot her in the left side of her head. Malala woke up ten days later in a hospital in Birmingham, England. After months of recovery, Malala stood up once again and kept protesting against the Taliban. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 and became the youngest Nobel laureate.
Empress Cixi was born as the daughter of a low-ranking official in 1835 during the Qing Dynasty. Cixi received a good education and was known to have the ability to read and write. In 1851, she became one of the Xianfeng Emperor’s concubines. To be a concubine means that a woman lives with the emperor, but has a lower status than his wives. When the emperor died, Cixi’s only son was set up to be the next emperor, but he was killed in a coup with former concubines who had suffered underneath the emperor. Cixi was left in control of the empire, and she was considered China’s last and most famous empress. Cixi shaped policies, rebellions and the court of Imperial China that would impact the dynasty for the next 50 years.
For this International Women’s Day, follow the lead of these exceptional women and seek to break the bias in your own communities.
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