Life
According to experts (me), we should celebrate women 365 days a year. But March is reserved especially for us and the history we've lived, so honoring women with these powerful quotes for Women's History Month isn't a bad idea, either. Share them with your friends! Share them with your loved ones! Share them with Facebook! Spread the love far and wide!
By the way, if you, like me, have a hard time with the idea that women's history only deserves 31 days of attention out of 365, what's even more incredible is we didn't even always get that. Prior to 1987, it was limited to a week — the week that included International Women's Day. But so many regions started joining in, and every year, the exact week changed. Congress finally got sick of the commotion and said, "Oh, heck, give them the whole month." (Not a direct quote.) Now, every March, we honor women throughout history who have helped us move forward in reproductive rights, gender equality, equal pay for equal work, and the many other issues vital to our existence as worthy and valuable human beings. Sometimes they're Hollywood actors. Sometimes they're poets. Sometimes it's me, lurking the Women's March Twitter page, retweeting stuff that lights a fire in me.
Women's rights are never not important, but now is certainly a unique time to be a lady (or a gay person, or a trans person, or a religious or ethnic minority, or...). Today's political and cultural climate are providing more challenges than we thought we'd face. Now's not the time to quit, though. Just remember some of these wise words.
Also, check out the “Feminism” stream in the Bustle App throughout the month of March for more inspiring ways to celebrate Women's History Month.
1
"Working to make those inequalities go away is being a feminist, but more importantly, it makes me a humanist."
2
“Our bodies are instruments, not ornaments. We should celebrate our different shapes and sizes, our caesarean scars and all the other beautiful imperfections that make us who we are."
3
"Any woman now actually is a feminist. They don't realize it, because they're living in a world feminism has, to a certain extent, created for them."
4
"Stay in for yourself and stay in for the women who are going to follow you. Stay in it for my 8-year old daughter."
5
"First and foremost, I'm a feminist. And basically that stems from a strong belief that all people and creatures deserve equal opportunity, rights and respect."
6
"When women and girls are empowered to participate fully in society, everyone benefits."
7
"I watch everybody fight over whether it’s appropriate to be a feminist or not. And I sit here thinking, well, I’m a woman. I would like to be judged on the quality of my work, I would like to be compensated fairly for my work. I would like to have just as much access to healthcare as any man. Yeah, that’s pretty much it."
8
"So the work continues. And for all the young women in this room, all the young men, we can never be complacent. Because we have seen in recent times how quickly things can be taken away if we aren’t vigilant, if we don’t know our history, if we don’t continue the work."
9
"We are often called sensitive, emotional and non-confrontational. Hey ladies, guess what? These all go into the 'pro' column!"
10
"Do you have any idea what year it is? Did you fall down, hit your head, and think you woke up in the 1950s or the 1890s? ... Because I simply cannot believe that in the year 2015, the United States Senate would be spending its time trying to defund women's health care centers."
11
"I'm done compromising; even more so, I'm done with being compromised."
12
“We are in a hierarchy, which is based on patriarchy and patriarchy doesn’t work anymore.”
13
"Women and girls can do anything. And all of us, everywhere, should have the chance to prove that."
14
"If you are a man who believes your daughter should have the same opportunities and rights as your son, then you're a feminist."
15
"It is a fact that when you change a girl's life, you effect her vision of herself and her immediate world and the world that she will have an impact on."
16
"The absolute right that we have is the right to our own body. You have the absolute right to your own body."
17
"It's important for young women to have a constant reminder that there are amazing female role models, and that they can do anything. Anything at all."
