The month of March in the Northern Hemisphere, like September in the Southern, is that hopeful period when winter loosens its grip, the edge on the wind softens, and a couple of spectacular sunny days push through, hinting at the spring to come.
Such was the case with women's history, which, though at first unseen, gradually made its way onto the international scene. Beginning in 1978 and on into the early 1990s, a seedling idea for official recognition of women's history grew from an annual one-day event to Women's History Week, to eventually encompassing all of March. Like the month itself, thought warmed to the import of this topic, allowing invisible, yet hard, walls of indifference to melt.
What's behind the desire to recognize womanhood and its role in society? It's a subject so constantly in the air that it can sometimes become like music in the mall—droning on in the background, its tune barely noticed. But maybe its constancy indicates an underlying insistence that there is more to be understood about women's significance. And that this understanding sheds light on who we all are, freeing us to realize untapped capacities.
