We Can Do It! Yay!

March is Women's History Month. It is a time for us to celebrate the vast accomplishments of women and recognize the significant challenges women have overcome to break records, become pioneers and hold positions of leadership in industries that were once solely occupied by men. There are a lot of woman that have come before me that I admire. Women who have made a contribution to this world. Women who have qualities I admire and would love to acquire myself. Although they may not be perfect, they contributed in many aspects of life. Some names that came to mind: Emma Smith, Ruth, Esther, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Jesus, Anne Frank, Eleanor Roosevelt, Harriet Tubman, Amelia Earhart, Susan B. Anthony, Mother Teresa, Marie Curie, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Rosa Louise Parks, Georgia O'Keeffe, Madeleine Albright, Billie Jean King, Helen Keller, Ella Fitzgerald, Emily Dickinson, Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott, Audrey Hepburn, Katharine Hepburn, Joan of Arc, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Gilda Radner, Princess Diana, Queen Elizabeth I, Mary Ann Angel Young and my Mom. I know! Random list. It isn't a complete list of all I admire but you get the drift. I admire the strength and conviction these women had to meet their goals, the talents they developed and shared with the world, and their desire to make life better for others in their own individual ways.

We have come along way. I remember watching Mary Poppins as a child and asking my Mom about what I called the "Votes for Women" song which was sung by Mrs. Banks (which is actually called Sister Suffragette). She explained to me about the right to vote and how women didn't always have it as well as equal rights with men. Before this conversation I had always liked that song and Mrs. Banks. She had a silent strength about her that I admired. As I got older, I more fully understood what the song she was singing represented. Here is the song for your viewing pleasure:

Now, before you men readers get your panties in a twist, let me clarify that I've never been what you'd call a Feminist. I get annoyed with those women who want to play on a male football or basketball team or who want to be in the Boy Scouts. It's called BOY Scouts people! Men and women definitely have different strengths and weakness. I'm not as physically strong (brute strength) as my husband and I don't pretend that I am. But I have strengths in other physical areas such as tolerance for pain. I know a lot of men who would never be able to handle "Aunt Flo" every month and what comes with it, let alone childbirth. It's a good thing we can or the population would have died out a long time ago. That is just one example of a difference. We are different! I don't care who you talk to and what they have to say. But that is the great thing about men and women. We were put here on this earth to compliment each other, not to separate ourselves. Which leads me to wonder why we have to have a Womans History Month or a Black History Month or Latin Grammy's or Ebony magazine. People talk about how far we have come but yet we still place labels on ourselves that separate us from everyone else. Also, if we get a month, shouldn't men? I feel it is unfair that men never get a month to celebrate. Men are wonderful people, too. But you would never see a Caucasian American Male History Day as a national or world holiday. Isn't that kind of inequality, too? :] We have come a long way but we have a bit further to go. Just a thought. (Sound of Nancy getting off her soap box) ;]