Women are an amazing part of the universe. We are a necessity; the beginning to every life and the first path taken to this strange world. We are able to alter societies by the sway of our hips and the sway of our words. We have taken positions of power equal to or greater than men and even with more skill.
This year, March 8 commemorated women around the world with the 101st International Women's Day (IWD). While the history of notable women and their achievements are celebrated throughout the month of March, International Women's Day predates the achievement of a month-long celebration that began in 1987 in America. International Women's Day started in America in 1909 and has expanded to several other countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia, Russia, Afghanistan, Cuba and many more.
According to the International Women's Day website, "The tradition sees men honouring their mothers, wives, girlfriends, colleagues, etc. with flowers and small gifts. In some countries IWD has the equivalent status of Mother's Day, where children give small presents to their mothers and grandmothers."
While International Women's Day may not be the most well-known holiday for most Americans, it certainly is the most well-known and cherished holiday for Longwood senior Liz Chassey.
"You know, I think it was kind of destiny. I was born on International Women's Day," said Chassey. "I've kind of always had women's issues and women's rights really close to my heart. It's always been an important issue with me. As my mom says, I have always been a women's [liberator] since I was a kid."
If asked if she would consider herself a feminist, Chassey would not hesitate to proudly state that she is. Even so, Chassey admitted "there's a very large stigma that goes along with the term 'feminist' nowadays, unfortunately. When you hear the word 'feminist' a lot of people think it means man-hater, kind of extremist, like unhappy, angry, all that kind of stuff, but a feminist can really be anybody." Chassey said she thinks many people are feminists, but do not realize it because they are not aware of what the word actually means.
"A feminist is all about equality, is all about working toward getting women on an equal level with men instead of putting men down so everyone can be on the same level to kind of work together to improve the world," said Chassey.
While International Women's Day may celebrate the achievements of women, the rest of the year tends to focus along the lines of stereotypes, fantasies and shackles. Flipping through TV channels, I see women doing handstands on kegs while chugging the contents, and women screaming and squealing over boy bands and vampires, and women grinding themselves on super muscular men with money falling from the sky. When a person looks at a woman, what do they see and what do they want to see?
For the women out there reading this, if you look in the mirror, do you see the ideal woman?
For Chassey, she feels the societal view of the ideal woman is seen as having no fat, no thoughts and no words. "I think that's a big reason why feminists in the world - [including] the term 'feminist' - can be looked down upon because that's a woman being outspoken and really standing up for her beliefs, which according to some people can make her a b***h."
Chassey said, "Only recently, I've realized how active I can be about it [pursuing women's rights and equality]. For instance, in February I went with a couple friends to protest in Richmond, [VA] at the capitol against several bills that were threatening to take away women's reproductive rights, and that was the first time I had done something so big, and it was awesome and empowering."
Chassey said, "Being a woman, to me, means being strong because if you think about it, women have a lot that they need to be strong for. There are a lot of obstacles put in front of a woman's life, and she needs to be strong to overcome them ... be strong, confident and ambitious."
