Overlooking Herstory for History
It never ceases to amaze me how much we neglect in our education system. However, for the purpose of this [removed for private client], let’s just focus on lack of female representation. The simple truth is that our education system does absolutely no justice to the depth and breadth of women’s contributions to history. Yes, everyone knows Rosa Parks (but not 15yo Claudette Colvin), Amelia Earhart (we love a mystery), and Cleopatra (history - but make it sexy). I, of course, do not deny any of these women’s historical impact, this is only to say there is such a select group of women our education system chooses to highlight. Not to mention the many women who get overshadowed by men, or men who falsely took credit for the work of a women. For example, Sybil Ludington who rode twice the distance of Paul Revere to warn nearby towns of the British attack at just 16 years old! And Jewish physicist Lise Meitner who successfully worked on the first model of nuclear fission. Her colleague Otto Hahn published her work and accepted the Nobel Prize, portraying Meitner as his assistant! I could fill the pages of [removed for private client] on the underrated women of history. It is my hope that we will begin to further appreciate Herstory.
Our education system also provides little to no education of the oppression of the woman in general. You think they’re allowed to say the word feminism in public school classrooms? No, let’s just skip over the fact that women of color including Native American, African American, Asian American women, and Latina women weren’t legally allowed to vote until 1965! Or that women couldn't get credit cards of their own until the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974! This is simple and recent American history we’re discussing here! This is not even taking into account the injustices of women around the world. For example, at least 117 nations (including the United States, by the way) allow child marriages. This includes girls as young as 10 years old, and girls “of puberty”. Or the fact that there are at least 15 countries in which domestic violence, including spousal rape, is completely legal. But yeah, who needs feminism. If there is no awareness of women’s injustices, there is no change. Only through education can we be empowered to fight for what is right. It is unfortunate that as women, we also must fight for our stories to be told at all, or else take it upon ourselves to educate one another.