What does it mean to be a woman? That is the question that leaves people with more questions the more they try to answer it. A simplified answer to this impossible question is the Barbie movie. It exemplifies the emotional rollercoaster of womanhood, the trials and tribulations. Like what Barbie faces in the movie, there have been many challenges for women in history.
Simone Biles is an American Olympic level gymnast. She has won seven gold medals in the Olympics, six of which are world all-around titles, the only gymnast in history to make this achievement. She has been doing professional Gymnastics for ten years.
After the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, she announced that she would take a two-year break from gymnastics for her mental health. This led many people to doubt her, believing she was never going to come back. But after the promised two years she dusted off her leotard, stretched, and got back on the mat. She proved to everyone who held her up to a standard which she did not force herself to fit, that she was still as good as when she left.
Her showing that even the strongest people need to heal left an impact on young girls across the world.
“Simone Biles, she always made me believe in myself. She fell off a beam when she was younger, she said she was going to give up, that she couldn’t do it.” says Junior Rylee Bick “But she’s still out there, a gold medalist. She may have quit the Olympics, but she still came back, and she showed everyone that she could still do it.”
Throughout the past few centuries, the movement to enable women’s rights has grown exponentially. It came in two waves, first the women’s suffrage movement that started in the late 1800s, with the idea that women should have the right to vote.
The second wave began in the 1960s, where the women’s rights movement kicked off in the United States. The goal for this continuum of the movement was to gain equal rights, between women and men.
“We have these rights that women before us didn’t have, we have all these opportunities now, we cannot abuse them,” said Bick.
Then it finally happened, women appreciation started officially being celebrated in March 1987, in the US. A presidential proclamation is made every year to acknowledge and honor the hardworking achievements of women, both past and present, and to share the developments in making America a safe place for women.
“We have got to treat women with more respect. We cannot underestimate them at all and need to value women.” said Junior Jacob Shigaki.
Liberty’s clubs are spreading inclusion and awareness within the school, with each month there is more acknowledgement towards minority groups, giving voices back to those in history who were not heard.
“The school and the Black Student Union did a lot of good work in circulating Black History Month, and I’m sure the school will do the same with Women’s History Month,” said Junior Natalie Duncan.
Liberty has been taking its own steps, leaning toward making the school a place where everyone feels welcomed. These History months have been getting more recognition, and it has even influenced some teachers to consider their curriculums for these history months.
“As an English teacher I should do a better job, like for let’s read some women poets this month, and for all the history months really, we [teachers] should do something,” said Julie Larsen.
