International Women’s Day should be Every Day

Tuesday, March 8th was International Women’s Day and the official beginning of International Women’s Month. But women should get more attention and recognition for who they are and the things they’ve accomplished throughout history.

The women I’m talking about are not only our mothers who brought us into the world and raised us to become functioning members of society or our girlfriends and wives who put up with our silly male shenanigans. I’m specifically speaking of those women who have shaped (and are consistently shaping) the times in which we live.

These women are educators, scientists, publishers, artists, politicians (Kamala Harris and Lucinda Aldern to mention a couple), astronauts, and athletes. Megan Rupino comes to mind in her role in women’s soccer who fought successfully for equal pay for women in sports.

And, of course, since this is a bicycling blog, I have to mention those women who ride bikes recreationally and professionally. Unfortunately, they still don’t get as much attention as men but work and train just as hard to succeed. The woman who comes to mind, as a prime example, is Kristin Armstrong (no relation to the male bicyclist) who won Olympic gold three times as well as other accolades in addition to being a wife and mother.

But this post is also to acknowledge those women who fought for the right to vote as part of the Women’s Suffrage Movement in the 1920s, those women who are still fighting to have their voices heard. And this post is to especially acknowledge those women in Ukraine who are sacrificing themselves in battle or other means to protect their families.

International Women’s Day is special because it gives focus to a segment of society and our world that was (and still is) highly marginalized. We should all be grateful for the contributions women make every day and not just one day or month out of the year. But just like Black History Month, it’s important our attention is shifted to them for at least one part of every year.