Monday Musings: Women's History Month

Women play an important role in our society, and in March we celebrate our contributions. While our rights and placement in society have advanced, we still do not have full equality. For one, the gender pay gap exists, and it's particularly wide for women of color. Our healthcare and reproductive freedoms continue to be threatened as women are treated as political pawns on deeply personal and sensitive medical matters. Additionally, women are still fighting for paid parental leave and affordable childcare.

This month we can use our voices and platforms to bring awareness to what we have accomplished through sheer will and determination, but also where we need to make progress. This month let's celebrate women for who we are.

"Women are the real architects of society."

- Harriet Beecher Stowe

"No country can ever truly flourish if it stifles the potential of its women and deprives itself of the contributions of half of its citizens."  - Michelle Obama

“Women, they have minds, and they have souls, as well as just hearts. And they’ve got ambition, and they’ve got talent, as well as just beauty. I’m so sick of people saying that love is all a woman is fit for.” - Louisa May Alcott

"We are mothers. We are caregivers. We are artists. We are activists. We are entrepreneurs, doctors, leaders of industry and technology. Our potential is unlimited. We rise." - Alicia Keys

“Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn’t be that women are the exception.” - Ruth Bader Ginsburg

“Some leaders are born women.” - Geraldine Ferraro

"A girl should be two things: who and what she wants.” - Coco Chanel

“I want to build a community where women of all races can communicate and share some of those secrets, so we can continue to support and take care of each other. I want to give women a space to feel their own strength and tell their stories. That is power.” - Beyoncé

"Hear me as a woman./Have me as your sister./On purpled battlefield breaking day,/So I might say our victory is just beginning,/See me as change,/Say I am movement,/That I am the year,/and I am the era/of the women.” - Amanda Gorman

Happy Women's History Month!