 | | Lucy Jones |
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"We celebrate despite the obstacles we face." |
— Patrisse Cullors, a founder of the Black Lives Matter movement, on Women's History Month |
Women's History Month has long drawn mixed reactions, with celebration and criticism given in somewhat equal measure. But a pandemic and economic disaster have made Women's History 2021 especially fraught. |
Of course there have been moments of achievement. The United States swore in its first female vice president. The Biden administration established a Gender Policy Council and is set to have the most diverse cabinet in American history. Estonia swore in its first female prime minister in January, and Greece, Moldova, Togo and Gabon all elected their first female leaders last year. |
Citigroup, one of the biggest U.S. banks, appointed a female chief executive, Jane Fraser. At 31, Whitney Wolfe Herd became the youngest female CEO to take a company public. And as of this month, the World Trade Organization is now led by Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the first woman and first African to hold the job. |
In view of the good and the bad, here's how five women are looking at Women's History Month 2021. The comments have been lightly edited and condensed. |
Deb Haaland, secretary of the Interior |
Deb Haaland, a 35th generation New Mexican and member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe, is the third female secretary of the interior — a position established in 1894. She is the first Native American to lead the department, which, among other things, oversees relations with the 574 federally recognized tribal nations within the United States. |
In her opening statement at her confirmation hearing, she spoke in Keres, the native language of her family. In English, she went on to thank her family, friends and generations of ancestors, and acknowledged that she was present on the ancestral homelands of the Nacotchtank, Anacostan and Piscataway people. |
"As many of you know, my story is unique," Ms. Haaland said in her address to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. "This historic nature of my confirmation is not lost on me, but I will say it's not about me," she said. |
Asked about Women's History Month, she told In Her Words: |
"Women are fierce — we break barriers, run companies, make scientific discoveries, raise families, and lift each other up. But the fact is, discriminatory policies blocked women from fully participating in our country for generations. It led to disparities in wages, representation and opportunities that we are still tackling. Though we have more Native women serving in Congress, a woman of color in the vice president's office, and women making moves across the country, we still have to recognize that the disadvantages that we face are created by a system designed to keep us out, and that, coupled with systemic racism, makes Women's History Month all the more important." |
Angela Ceseña, executive director of Latina SafeHouse |
Asked how she is doing, Angela Ceseña will tell you she is "cautiously optimistic" and "really tired." |
Latina SafeHouse, where Ms. Ceseña works, provides bilingual services to Latinx survivors of domestic violence and their families. But this past year was the first time in the organization's 22-year history that the group had to start a wait list for survivors in need of services. |
In a normal year, Ms. Ceseña isn't able to take much time off from work. This past year, she didn't even consider it. |
During recent months, she said, some of the most severe types of cases have also had the largest increase: the need for emergency rapid rehousing, and shelter for women and children who are experiencing, or are at risk of experiencing, homelessness. In some ways, Ms. Ceseña says she feels she is "set up — and expected — to fail." At the same time, she describes a gravity and an obligation to her work that keep her going, keep her showing up each day. |
Asked about Women's History Month, she told In Her Words: |
"This year's Women's History Month gives me hope during such challenging times. I've thought a lot about Women's History Month, intersectional feminism, the incredible work that courageous women have done and the work that still lies ahead. There needs to be more representation and inclusion in celebrations of Women's History Month. I would like to see more actionable items from community leaders, corporations and legislators that promote equity and equal rights." |
Dr. Nneka Dennie, co-founder of the Black Women's Studies Association |
"Black Radical Women" is the course Nneka Dennie, a professor and co-founder of the Black Women's Studies Association, always wanted to teach, and 2021 was going to be the year she introduced it at Washington and Lee University. |
Then came August 2020, and Dr. Dennie watched as the country reacted differently to the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. She noted how the hashtag #SayHerName seemed to be eclipsed by #SayHisName and #SayTheirNames. |
"Black women and girls are often marginalized in discourse about racism and police brutality, so to see Black women pushed to the peripheries once again in this potential moment of racial reckoning was disheartening," she said. |
History is always with us, Dr. Dennie said, but in recent months, she has found its presence to be unusually discernible — and entirely inescapable. |
Asked about Women's History Month, she told In Her Words: |
"I see this perhaps less as a moment of celebration, and more as a moment of acknowledgment. We need to acknowledge the unique forms of violence that trans women face. We need to acknowledge how incarcerated women and women immigrants detained at the border are experiencing a reproductive crisis. We need to acknowledge that raising the minimum wage to $15 will more effectively support working mothers. Celebrations are fine, but celebrating doesn't mean we've crossed a finish line." |
Patrisse Cullors a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement |
"This past year, Black women saved our country from itself," said Patrisse Cullors — the woman behind the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag and one of the founders of the Black Lives Matter movement. She views herself as more of an organizer than an activist. |
While marking how much progress has been reached, she measures how far there is to go. When taking note of which groups have been lifted up, she makes a point to acknowledge which groups have not. When she speaks, she makes frequent use of the "yes, but" construction. "We have more Black women in positions of leadership and power than ever before," she said, "but our fight must continue." |
Asked about Women's History Month, Ms. Cullors told In Her Words: |
"We celebrate despite the obstacles we face. Our joy and celebration is an act of resistance. This month is a reminder to continuously celebrate each other, lift each other up and bring those frequently left behind along with us. Historically, celebrations of women were not celebrations of all women. Black women, Black queer women, Black trans women, Black poor women and Black disabled women. Let's do what generations prior either didn't know or didn't care to do and celebrate all Black women of past, present and future." |
Dr. Kelly Graham, a physician and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School |
When the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a global pandemic and people hurried home to wait out the crisis, Dr. Kelly Graham and her colleagues at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, went in the other direction. Quickly it became clear that the masks and gowns needed to protect them were all but depleted, while those who looked after children and family members found themselves without support as care centers shuttered and schools abruptly closed their doors. |
"As we waited for our hospitals, schools and day cares to come up with a solution, we did what women have always done in the workplace: We adapted to unjust structures," Dr. Graham said. |
"We donned garbage bags and week-old masks and went to work. We patched together unreliable child care arrangements," she said. From there, days became weeks, weeks became months and now, one year in, Dr. Graham continues to wrestle with why things had to be so difficult. |
Asked about Women's History Month, she told In Her Words: |
"Women make up the majority of the caring industry — an immense set of invisible professions that operate on thin margins and are one disaster away from collapse. As I acknowledge Women's History Month, it is with sober reflection on where we must go next. For too long, we have been living our grandmother's version of equality — where we quietly adapt to the structures in which we live and work." |
Erin Spencer is a freelance writer in Boston. Her work explores gender, culture and politics and can be found at erinspencerwrites.com. |
Here are four articles from The Times you may have missed. |
 | | The Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman, center, was joined by accusers of Dr. George Tyndall when she spoke in 2019 in favor of legislation extending the time allowed for filing lawsuits against the physician.Rich Pedroncelli/Associated Press |
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- "The end of a painful and ugly chapter." U.S.C. agrees to pay $1.1 billion to patients of gynecologist accused of abuse. [Read the story]
- "I wanted to read funny stories about the sort of children I knew, and I decided that someday when I grew up I would write them." Beverly Cleary funny stories about Henry Huggins and his dog Ribsy, the sisters Ramona and Beezus Quimby, and a motorcycling mouse named Ralph never talked down to readers. The author died on Thursday. She was 104. [Read the story]
- "It's time for this to stop." N.C.A.A. orders review of gender inequity of tournaments. [Read the story]
- "Of anxious, not proud, love." Through her rigorous depictions of working-class families, this mid-20th-century, the writer Tillie Olsen conveyed the costs of living for burdened mothers, wives and daughters. [Read the story]
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Vital Voices: Manal Al-Sharif |
 | | Manal Al-Sharif led a national campaign for women's right to drive in Saudi Arabia.Art by Gayle Kabaker | Courtesy of Assouline |
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"Be yourself without permission. The world will always want you to be someone else. Disappoint it." |
[In March, In Her Words is featuring portraits of female leaders from the book "Vital Voices" as we consider the question: What makes a leader?] |
In Her Words is edited by Francesca Donner. Our art director is Catherine Gilmore-Barnes, and our photo editor is Sandra Stevenson. |
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