Women make up approximately 51 percent of the world’s population. Mathematically, this makes them a majority. Yet women everywhere feel as though they are still at the mercy of the whims of men.
Gayle Fischer, a professor of women’s history at Salem State University, said a lack of incorporation of women’s stories into day-to-day discourse means periods of special recognition, like Women’s History Month, are still necessary.
“Usually on my first day of class, I ask my students to write down 10 women’s names who they know from history,” Fischer said. “Rosa Parks is a name that appears most frequently and when there was a lot of news about who should be on the $20 bill, some of them could name Harriet Tubman. If they’re from Massachusetts, they might list Abigail Adams, but otherwise they really can’t give me any names.
“That’s one of the reasons why I still think we need women’s history,” Fischer continued. “It’s clear that women’s history isn’t being incorporated into regular history classes. Women’s History Month feels to me like an add-on just to say you did it, and so I guess until women’s history becomes part of the bigger story, we still need it.”
The first celebration of Women’s Day was held on March 8, 1909, to commemorate the day in 1857 when female factory workers in New York City staged protests over poor working conditions. The holiday was expanded to Women’s History Week in 1981, and to a full month six years later.
According to the United States Census Bureau, in 2019, women working full-time in the country made 81.6 percent of what men did. While this is up from 78.6 percent in 2010, it is still a significant difference in earnings.
A poll conducted by The Item last week asked readers on Facebook and Twitter if they felt that there is equality between men and women. Of the 111 votes received (30 on Twitter, 81 on Facebook), 68.65 percent said no.
Lyndsie Mobilia-Brenan, a Boston resident, said that she had to give up her career to have a family. While she misses working, she said, daycare costs for her son would have eaten up her entire salary, and she had no flexibility in hours at her previous job in case there was an emergency or she had to drive her son somewhere.
“Most women I know who are in power at their companies sacrificed having a family, or don’t have a good relationship with their kids because they chose to work extra long hours and take all of those extra business trips in order to prove their dedication to their company,” Mobilia-Brenan said. “It’s also a revolving circle, because since women tend to make less, it’s always the mom that has to sacrifice her career for the family because the man makes more money. Once the woman is ready to go back to work, or dedicate more hours to her job, then you’re already years behind your male peers.”
Issues of gender inequality have only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, Fischer said, meaning conversations about equality are more important than ever.
“Who’s leaving the workforce? Women, because somebody’s got to be home with the kids,” she said. “There are a lot of forces at work that make it much harder for women to navigate the public sphere. (They have) fewer role models, and while there are some things that are definitely better, women’s unpaid work is still not valued.”
North Shore native Niki Nguyen said that she receives criticism and comments about being a Vietnamese-American woman almost every day. She said that growing up, her mother, like other women in her culture, acted submissive towards men, but that as an adult she has striven to break out of this mold.
Nguyen said that she knows a lot of great, powerful women who feel hindered by the opposite sex because a lot of men subconsciously degrade women in regards to their experience and ability to be equal.
“It all stems from background, history and tradition,” Nguyen said. “If you have ever felt different in an environment or have felt unfair or inequitable, you need to choose to break out of that cycle. That’s how women can work to be treated equally to a man.”
