~a column by Colleen O’Brien
March is Music in Our Schools Month. It is also National Craft Month, National Frozen Food Month, National Irish American Heritage Month, National Nutrition Month, National Peanut Month, Red Cross Month and Social Workers Month. Most important (to me) is that it’s National Women’s History Month.
I’m not sure what this means — or accomplishes (is it more important than Frozen Food?) but it’s nice to know that I’ve got — wow — an entire month devoted to me and my/our/femme history.
When I belatedly (March 24, far into a month assigned to condescend to me benignly) realized this recognition of my gender, I looked up Women’s History Month, and Mrs. Google almost immediately directed me to quotes by males wishing they had a month.
“I hope May is White Male month,” wrote Marque 2. “It seems, for all the atrocities we are purported to commit, even sub-consciously, that we are really being stomped on by everyone. We could use a bit of positive recognition.” Marque 2, March 13, 2015
When I first came across his comment, I read it “I hope May is Right Whale Month.” There are right whales out there in the oceans, and I wondered briefly, before I realized I had misread, if there were months for all the whales — sperm, gray, blue, humpback, pygmy, beluga. . . .
So, White Male month, says Mr. Marque, poor fellow bewailing being stomped on rather than receiving positive recognition for purported sub-conscious atrocities. Has the man never read history? (Or for that matter, taken a writing class?) Does Marque not realize that it’s been right whale month at least since the beginning of recorded history?
I would rather have a worthwhile “Women’s Month” than a “Women’s History Month,” for these reasons: 1. Women’s history is a long story of rape and subjugation; or of women too precious to do anything for fear of their sweating through their voile. 2. Women’s history is a gazillion examples of either men or Anon. taking the credit. 3. Women’s history didn’t even begin being recorded to any extent until the 1960s, so a lot of bona fide female accomplishments have not been and never will be unearthed.
A Women’s Month worth applause might sound like this: 1. a complete halt across the world to violence against women. 2. actual equal rights for equal work; 3. a cease fire on sexual innuendo jokes (don’t you think we can have as much fun as we need with political jokes?); 4. a true consideration of women as equal and valued members of society (As Hillary said, “Human rights are women’s rights, and women’s rights are human rights.”); 5. worldwide acknowledgement for women’s work across the globe on such issues as human rights, women’s equality, education of girls and social progress in general; 6. heroines being lauded like heroes are instead of just being saved by heroes; 7. as many female authors as males reviewed in the New York Times Book Review each Sunday
There is a big difference between heroes and heroines. Heroes are the guys who slay the dragon, often to protect what has been called the heroine. She doesn’t do much, except in mythical tales, beyond being tearfully clinging when saved by the guy (guess who wrote these stories). In a real history of women, the heroines would be honored every time they gave birth. Guys aren’t designed for this job; if they were, there’d be an abortion clinic on every street corner and in every yurt, barroom and boardroom around the globe. Because women not only birth the babies but take care of them, clean the cave and decorate it (who really did the artwork in the caves of Lascaus?), plant the seeds, find the fruits and nuts, grind the grain, bake the bread (I know, I know, guys do the heavy work; they have received a great deal of recognition for killing the mastodon and we are all happy for this.), form the pots, weave the baskets . . . .
The idea of a real Women’s Month reads like a myth itself: no fear of walking on a dark street at night or riding a bus alone or attending a frat party or being a submariner or making up one’s own mind about one’s own childbearing or wearing a veil or marrying the person of one’s choice or not marrying at all . . . oh, dozens of things that have nothing to do with anything except the personal right to live with dignity and equality.
Really, I don’t want a women’s month. I want the last paragraph, all the time.
