Women’s Herstory Month
About the February Sticker
March is Women’s History Month, or here at Sac State Women’s “Herstory” month.
“Iconic” describes iconic female figures in history who may be often overlooked. The crown represents women as figurative queens who “never put others down” and are “uplifting to all”, as defined by the following entry from Urban Dictionary:“Our History is Our Strength” is a quote from National Women’s History Alliance (NWHA), a non-profit organization dedicated to honoring and preserving women’s history. In 1987, NWHA lobbied Congress to establish March as Women’s History Month in March.
Stories from Union WELL Staff
My name is Aliyah Ausmer, I am a WELL Marketing Program Supervisor, I go by She/Her Pronouns. I believe Women's History is an important highlight this month because women with all ethnical backgrounds including African American women, have endured and persevered through many obstacles and trials to earn equal pay as men, the right to vote, and the ability to work and be treated equally. As a Film Production Major, I find it very powerful to use film as a tool to narrate and highlight stories in film that are based on history and real life experiences. When I watched the film Hidden Figures last weekend, I recognized not only does this film cover race it also covers women working in such a high valued industry such as NASA.
I am taking a Film History class this semester and I learned some new information that really inspired and empowered me. A woman named Alice Guy-Blache was one of the first filmmakers to make a narrative fiction film as well as the first woman to direct any film. From 1896 and 1906 she was the only woman filmmaker in the world becoming the co-founder of Solax Studios. She discovered synchronized sound in film and props on set. She is known today as the Pioneer of filmmaking, a Director, Screenwriter, Producer and Actress. I was surprised that I did not know this sooner because I always thought women in the film industry came in later in history.
Another interesting thing that I learned was when my mom was joining the U.S Navy, she wanted to be a fighter pilot and at the time they didn't allow women to fly yet and now they do. A Legislation passed in 1948 for women to join the military in general BUT, women weren't allowed to fly combat aircraft until 1993. Harriet Tubman who discovered a plan to free the slaves was also the first woman to lead a major military operation in the United States when she and 150 African American Union Soldiers rescued more than 700 slaves in the Combahee Ferry Raid during the Civil War. I recommend watching the film Harriet, it's a great representation of a woman leading with triumph and perseverance. All of this history made me believe that anything is possible regardless of the circumstances and environment. Sometimes you have to create circumstances around yourself to become the first woman, Film Director, Lawyer, Engineer, Scientist, Fighter Pilot etc. It is never to late to do the so called "Impossible"
Aliyah Ausmer