UTEP celebrates Women's History Month
Kat Holly
Issue date: 3/4/08 Section: News
|
International Women's Day was first observed on March 8, 1908 after 15,000 women marched in the streets of New York, determined to get the right to vote and to work shorter hours for better pay.
In the 1970s, the Education Task Force of Sonoma County's Commission on the Status of Women initiated Women's History Week to address the lack of women's history being taught in school.
The week was chosen to surround March 8 as a center point for the week. Because the celebrations were well received, a Congressional resolution made Women's History Week a national event.
According to the National Women's History Project Web site, the NWHP petitioned Congress to expand the week to a month in 1987.
Now, 100 years later, the movement to recognize women's importance in history and society is still going strong.
"It is important for me to reflect and recognize how far women have come and what they have done," Brenda Risch, director of the Women's Studies Program, said. "Women have been overlooked and it is important to set aside time to reflect on these issues because, otherwise, people would go on thinking everything is fine and that women have equality with men."
To help commemorate the achievements and contributions of women, the Women's Studies Program has planned several events for the El Paso and UTEP communities.
A workshop entitled, "The Owner's Manual: Your Vagina," will be offered at noon tomorrow in the Blumberg Auditorium in the UTEP Library.
Another celebration of Women's History Month will be a presentation of "The Vagina Monologues" at 7 p.m., March 8 and 2 p.m., March 9 at Magoffin Auditorium. Tickets cost $10 and all proceeds will benefit the Center Against Family Violence and Amigas de la Mujeres.
A workshop on masturbation entitled, "The Safest Sex in Town: Self-Pleasuring," will be held at noon on March 11 at the Blumberg Auditorium.
Be the first to comment on this story