Language Lunch Series: Women’s History Month

March is Women’s History Month! March 8^th every year is International Women’s Day. The theme for 2017 is “Be Bold for Change.”

2017 Women’s March Logo

Test Your Knowledge! How many of these words do you know?

• Feminism
• Femininity
• Gender Equality/ Gender Parity
• Women’s Liberation
• Suffrage
• Womanism
• Mystique
• Double Standard
• Activism
• 19th Amendment
• Equal Rights Amendment
• Patriarchy
• Muckraker
• Emblematic
• Woman’s Work
• Civil Disobedience
• Glass Ceiling
• Progressives
• Gender Roles

Who’s Who? Here are some major historical figures in the women’s rights movement.

Here are three major figures from the women’s rights movement. What do you think their short quotes mean? Is it still relevant today?

• Simone de Beauvoir: “Man is defined as a human being and a woman as a female – whenever she behaves as a human being she is said to imitate the male.”
• Betty Friedan: “When she stopped conforming to the conventional picture of femininity she finally began to enjoy being a woman.”
• Mary Wollstonecraft: “Strengthen the female mind by enlarging it, and there will be an end to blind obedience.”
• Mary McLeod Bethune: “If we accept and acquiesce in the face of discrimination, we accept the responsibility ourselves. We should, therefore, protest openly everything . . . that smacks of discrimination or slander.”

Explore! Who else do you associate with the Women’s Rights Movement? Here are some prominent American figures: Jane Addams, Susan B. Anthony Alice Stone Blackwell, Antoinette Brown Blackwell, William Lloyd Garrison, Ruth Bader Ginsburg,  Lucretia Mott, Alice Paul, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Gloria Steinem, Lucy Stone, Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells.

       For Discussion: How many of these women do you know? Who do you think is the                  most prominent female figure from your home country?

Women in the Arts: Here is an excerpt from a poem celebrating women by Maya Angelou entitled “Phenomenal Woman.”

 Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.

I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size

But when I start to tell them,

They think I’m telling lies.

I say,

It’s in the reach of my arms,

The span of my hips,

The stride of my step,

The curl of my lips.

I’m a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That’s me.

…

Now you understand

Just why my head’s not bowed.

I don’t shout or jump about

Or have to talk real loud.

When you see me passing,

It ought to make you proud.

I say,

It’s in the click of my heels,

The bend of my hair,

the palm of my hand,

The need for my care.

’Cause I’m a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That’s me.

Further Discussion:

Do you know any songs, artwork, or literature that connects to this theme?

Women’s Rights affect Job Opportunities. What are some traditionally male or female occupations? What has changed? Find out more about your own major or one that you are interested in and try to get a sense of gender distribution. Alternatively, provide a personal example of someone you know who has entered a profession that has experienced a major shift related to gender

Women’s Rights affect Language Use, making us more aware of long held biases in the language. How does gender function in the English language today?

What professions or job titles still carry associations with a particular gender? Here are a few to get you started:  firefighter vs. fireman, mankind vs. humanity, he vs. people in proverbs. What have you been taught? What have you noticed in speaking?

Ladies and Gentlemen: Ways to Avoid being gender specific in addressing a mixed group: guys, folks, gang. When to use lady, girl, woman, man, gentleman, boy.

For more information about gender-neutral language in English, check out this post!