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National Women’s History Month 2016
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women's suffrage
The National Museum of Women in the Arts
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women's suffrage
women's suffrage A U.S. women's suffrage organization demonstrates outside its headquarters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1917.

National Women’s History Month 2016

Reflections on the 29th observance of National Women’s History Month
Written by
Kathleen Kuiper
Kathleen Kuiper was Senior Editor, Arts & Culture, Encyclopédia Britannica until 2016. She also edited Merriam-Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature.
Kathleen Kuiper
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Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors

For too long, women—apart from the likes of Hatshepsut and Cleopatra—have been granted only a marginal place at the table. “Common” women—scientists, doctors, teachers, artists, activists, the list goes on—have played at least as important a part in human history as men.

Since the U.S. Congress made National Women’s History Month an official observance in 1987, the United States has offered the month of March as a time to catch up with the half of humanity that is not always appointed half of the glory. The year 2016 may offer some new opportunities. Perhaps 2016 will be the year in which a woman is elected president of the United States. Perhaps, too, Vatican City will extend the right to vote to women. Perhaps Malala Yousafzai will prevail, and girls everywhere will be encouraged to get an education. Perhaps in 2016 the horrific practice of “honor” killings will become a thing of the past.

Official days and months to recognize this or that group can seem gratuitous and ultimately meaningless unless we as a society choose to take them seriously. We must make an effort to advance beyond women’s studies to human studies in which the inclusion of women’s contributions is a given.

The National Museum of Women in the Arts
The National Museum of Women in the ArtsLearn about the significance of art, and women artists in particular, from the documentary A Woman's Touch: National Museum of Women in the Arts.
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This March make a point of researching the life and work of a woman you’ve heard of but know little about. (Maybe try Sofonisba Anguissola, Barbara McClintock, or Stephanie Kwolek.) Or see what you can do to advance the cause of equal rights for women.

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Kathleen Kuiper