Writing the struggle

Knowledge of women's history integral part of America's past

Many people have said these words "Why do we have a Women's History Month? There isn't a Men's History Month."

Historian Gerda Lerner may have the best answer. Lerner once said, "Women's history is the primary tool for women's emancipation."

"Women's history is American history."

As far as women have come, emancipated does not completely describe their condition. In the United States, women earn an average of 75 percent of the wages earned by men. Each day, four women die as a result of domestic violence. The contributions of women are not represented in literature textbooks or history books.

Have women come a long way since the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848? Yes. Do they still have a long way to go to achieve complete freedom? The answer is yes again.

As Lerner pointed out, it is important that people understand women's history in order for women to gain equal freedoms in society -- freedom in their home from domestic abuse, freedom from sexual harassment in the workplace and freedom to learn a complete account of history in their classes. This can only happen if people develop a respect for the abilities and value of women, and this comes in part from education.

Girls and boys grow up never having heard of Jeannette Rankin, the only member of Congress to vote against United States involvement in both world wars. They have never heard of Bessie Coleman, the first African-American aviator to earn an international pilot's license.

Some people still think women did not contribute to the history of the United States until the 1960s. But the people who think that way should not be blamed. It is not their fault, but the fault of a bias in the educational system.

Essentially, students are not getting a complete view of history.

So to fill these gaps, women's studies programs have developed at colleges, organizations for women have been formed and Women's History Month is celebrated once a year.

But most of the people involved in these activities will tell you that they hope for a day when women's history, as a separate study of history, won't have to exist.

They hope for a day when women, who make up half of the world, are not treated as deviant from the norm, as something extra that has to be learned about during a special month or in a special curriculum.

So really, "Why do we have a Women's History Month?" is a good question.

It seems that we should be at a time by now where women's history is not treated as something separate from the complete history of our nation. Women's history is American history.

And we should be at a time when inaccurate accounts of history, violence against women and unequal pay for equal work is not accepted.