If everything seemed different when you woke up on Friday morning, that’s probably because it was the first day of Women’s History Month.
We can blame this on a school district in Sonoma, California, who decided, back in 1978, that the existing celebration — International Women’s Day — was a bit vague, and perhaps too brief. Maybe women deserved an entire week? Thus the birth of Women’s History Week, which gradually expanded to become Women’s History Month.
It turned out to be so much fun that it spread to the UK and Australia. (But not Canada, for some reason.)
The expansion now seems to be under control. I’ve not come across any indications that the celebration will grow to become Women’s History Year.
In 1980, President Jimmy Carter proclaimed Women’s History Week as a national celebration. (Perhaps he thought a Month would be excessive?) His proclamation read, in part:
“From the first settlers who came to our shores, from the first American Indian families who befriended them, men and women have worked together to build this nation. Too often the women were unsung and sometimes their contributions went unnoticed. But the achievements, leadership, courage, strength and love of the women who built America was as vital as that of the men whose names we know so well…
“…Understanding the true history of our country will help us to comprehend the need for full equality under the law for all our people. This goal can be achieved by ratifying the 27th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which states that ‘Equality of Rights under the Law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.'”
President Carter was here referring to the Equal Rights Amendment, which would, if adopted, explicitly prohibit sex discrimination. It was written by Alice Paul and Crystal Eastman and introduced in Congress in December 1923 as a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution. So, like, 101 years ago. Never been adopted.
In 2011, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia gave an interview to California Lawyer magazine, and stated:
“Certainly, the Constitution does not require discrimination on the basis of sex. The only issue is whether it prohibits it. It doesn’t. Nobody ever thought that that is what it meant. Nobody ever voted for that. If the current society wants to outlaw discrimination by sex, hey, we have things called legislatures and they enact things called laws.”
Apparently, Justice Scalia had a lot more faith in legislatures than I do, as I watch Congress continually fight about whether the federal government should even be funded. (Making an exception for their own Congressional salaries, of course.)
But… what about the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, adopted in 1868?
Maybe Justice Scalia never heard of that amendment?
“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
Seems pretty clear to me that “All persons” are entitled to equal protection, immunities, and privileges. Last I looked, “All persons” included women. But Justice Scalia didn’t think the Constitution prohibited discrimination against women.
That’s one of our big problems, here in America. Supreme Court Justices who don’t know how to read. I blame the education system. (The one in Sonoma, California, in particular.)
Then we have this other big problem:
Women’s History Month.
If women really want to be equal, they’ve got to let go of this “one month of the year” nonsense. They need to get over their inferiority complex, and shoot for “Women’s History Year.”
That’s what us men do. We celebrate ourselves, all year long. Because we can.
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all.