Well Behaved Womxn Rarely Make History

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March 5, 2019

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WELL BEHAVED WOMXN RARELY MAKE HISTORY
March 1st marks the start of Women’s History Month, but that wasn’t always the case. Before the month of March was reserved, President Jimmy Carter proclaimed the first week in March ‘Women’s History Week,’ which was before that just one single day: February 28th. February 28th marked the day in 1908 when the youth of the Socialist party organized garment workers and staged a strike in Downtown New York City, marching for economic rights and representation. In the 1970s, feminist activists noted how little space women’s contributions to society were getting in history books, so they rallied to change curriculum in certain school districts and lobbied Congress and President Carter to acknowledge Women’s History Week in 1975. The Women’s National History Project advocated further, and Congress officially established Women’s History Month in 1987.

Though equal rights are far from where they should be (um, representation of women in history books is less than 3%!), we celebrate women past and present who strive for equality and stand up against injustice. For more timely news from this Women’s History Month, learn about the women’s rights activists who are about to stand trial in Saudi Arabia, celebrate incredible female gamers with Twitch as they raise money for STEM initiatives, and learn 6 productive things you can do to push progress forward.

C’MON CBS, DON’T YOU KNOW WHAT MONTH IT IS?!
Girls Who Code founder and CEO Reshma Saujani brilliantly shamed CBS’s 60 Minutes for failing to include women’s organizations in last Sunday’s feature, “Closing the Gender Gap in the Tech Industry.” In Reshma’s must-read post, she shares “By omitting the expertise and experience of woman-led organizations’ pioneering efforts to bring more girls into computing, 60 Minutes is contributing to a long and ugly history of media erasing women in tech.” #Fail

This is plain and simple bad journalism, as the work of amazing organizations like Girls Who Code is actually working to close the gender gap in computer science with over 90,000 girls served by programs proven to move the needle. Just yesterday, Lydia Hill Philanthropies launched IF/THEN, a campaign in partnership with the Girl Scouts and Project Runway to showcase STEM role models for girls and ensure girls can see themselves reflected in STEM work. Women are leading the way and erasing them from the equation is not helping close the gap on anything. Major high-five Reshma to for speaking out!

ICYMI*

Zendaya’s incredible Tommy Hilfiger show cast exclusively black models of all ages as a tribute to women who who came before her.

Swipe right to #representlove, interracial couple emojis are here!

Crediting her social media prowess, at 21-years-old, Kylie Jenner is now the world’s youngest self-made billionaire.

Yes, young people are really into astrology. Speaking of, have you listened to your cosmic playlist?

DoSomething Strategic (formerly TMI Strategy) is the data-driven consultancy arm of DoSomething.org. We help brands and organizations engage young people for positive social change.

Want to learn more about how we help clients activate young people?
Reply to this email to meet Meredith, our Managing Director.

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