Ilene Anders
Reporter
March, a time that marks the coming of spring, also marks the beginning of Women’s History Month. The month is dedicated to celebrating women; years ago, women weren’t able to vote, work, or do much besides become a stay at home mother, but now they can do all of that and more.
Still, some believe that the month of March portrays women negatively. “Women’s History Month does the opposite of what it’s supposed to do,” junior Ned Berman said. “It gives the illusion that women need a special month to build them up to be equal to men. It’s not that women aren’t equal to men, but by singling them out in this month it’s either saying that they’re better than men, or that without this month they’re worse off than men.”
History teacher Stephanie Macomber understands why some view the month negatively, but indicated that Women’s History Month was a good thing because it allows women to see the progress they have made. “I would wonder why there isn’t a Men’s History Month, but because women have come from a place of oppression, [Women’s History Month] allows women the courtesy to celebrate their progress,” she said.
New Canaan has seen how the progress of women has come a long way in areas like sports. Principal Tony Pavia said that Title IX, a federal law made in 1972, is what made female athletics official and equal to male athletics. “It didn’t say if boys had football girls had to have football, but it said that the resources for girls sports had to be the same, even at a college level,” he said.
Scheduling Coordinator and wrestling coach Paul Gallo said that today we have some of the best girls teams in the state. One team especially is the girls hockey team, who has been winning States since 2006. However, some of the girls on the team have expressed concern that even today, they still don’t get enough credit. Team member junior Jane* said that last year they received a banner in the gym even though their team has been winning states since 2006. “Last year, the boys won FCIACs the same day we won States, and they got the front page of the Stamford advocate sports section, and only we got a little article inside,” Jane said.
But worries about the treatment of women aren’t only spreading around the hockey rink. “Sometimes I notice male students feel superior to female students both intellectually and socially,” Ms. Macomber said. “I think it’s my job as an educator to empower students equally.”
Students have even looked at women’s rights in their studies, and notice discrimination against women even today. Senior Jasime Allen has noticed that even though womens rights has come a long way, in the Middle East, women are treated poorly and have barely any rights. “I do believe that there is discrimination today among women,” Jasmine said. “Although women’s rights have come a long way, there is still a long way to go and I don’t think many people realize that or realize how important that is.”
However, Ms. Macomber indicated that even so, the treatment of women has improved significantly through history. She said that in the 20th century women gained the right to vote, but that there are still discrepancy in salary and access to certain level jobs even though she has not been personally affected by these inequalities.
There are students at NCHS today that have stood out as influential women. Student Body President senior Julia Harvey doesn’t look at her position on the Student Coalition as a “position of power,” but instead a “position of opportunity” where she can lead people “to do great things” like organize traditional school spirit activities as well as fundraisers for underprivileged children.
Julia added that she has never felt discriminated against at NCHS. “I think we have a great school system here where I have never encountered gender inequalities,” she said. “There has also been a long tradition of woman student body presidents in our student government, so it is not very new to our school whereas in U.S. Politics, women are still fighting the barrier.”
