March is Women’s History Month. According to History.com, “Women’s History Month is a celebration of women’s contributions to history, culture and society and has been observed annually in the month of March in the United States since 1987.”
A public holiday in many countries, March 8 is International Women’s Day. First held on Feb. 28, 1909, it was organized by the Socialist Party of America.
There are over 180 days set aside on the calendar to recognize and support women, including:
• Women Rock Day - Jan. 3
• National Girls and Women in Sports Day - Feb. 5
• Grandmother Achievement Day - Feb. 11
• International Every Girl Wins Day - March 13
• National Girl Me Too Day - April 7
• Mother’s Day - May 12
• Women’s Golf Month - June
• Single Working Women’s Day - Aug. 4
• National Little Black Dress Day - Sept. 1
• International Day of Rural Women - Oct. 15
• International Girls Day - Nov. 14
• National Women Support Women Day - Dec. 1
Feminist Gloria Steinem famously said, “A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle.” That was the 1960s.
1972 President Richard Nixon signed the Education Amendments Act of 1972, including Title IX. One of its promises was to open doors for girls in academia and ensure equal access once they got in. One of its most significant impacts was expanding girls’ opportunities in sports.
In 1972, just over 300,000 women and girls competed in high school and college sports in the U.S. By 2012, that number had risen to over 3 million.
Ironically, today women are being set aside and ignored. They are increasingly being replaced by transgender women (a biological male who identifies as a woman).
These “men” are taking away opportunities and financial rewards from women.
Riley Gaines is leading the fight against this onslaught. Her goal was to win a national title in women’s swimming in college. As a senior in college Gaines was ranked 3rd in the nation. She famously lost to Lia Thomas — formerly known as Will Thomas. As a man Will was ranked 462nd in the nation.
Only a woman athlete can understand this injustice. Grains says that when women clap for a transgender woman taking the trophy, they are applauding “our own erasure, our own demolition” from sports.
Another female athlete you may not be aware of is Taylor Silverman. Her sport of choice is skateboarding. After losing competitions with cash prizes to biological men, she began to speak out.
All these women want is fairness.
There is more at stake than just honor and money. In February, three girls at the Lowell Collegiate Charter School were allegedly injured by a trans-identified male basketball player from Kipp Academy. The trans person had facial hair.
The coach from Lowell forfeited the game after one of his players sustained a back injury from an altercation with the male player.
This is not an isolated incident.
In 2022, Payton McNabb, playing volleyball for North Carolina, was knocked unconscious when a trans-identified player spiked a ball that hit her in the head.
Last year, another female athlete was injured playing field hockey in Massachusetts when a trans-identified male knocked her teeth out with the ball.
Transgender women are also taking jobs and opportunities away from women outside of sports.
In May 2023, Adidas ran a swimsuit ad for women that used a biological male as the model.
Last March, Hershey Chocolate ran an advertisement to celebrate International Women’s Day. They featured a trans woman.
Rikkie Valerie Kolle — a trans woman — was crowned Miss Netherlands.
In April of last year, Maybelline paid trans woman Dylan Mulvaney to model its makeup.
Speaking of Mulvaney, he was awarded “Woman of the Year” by Virgin Atlantic, a British LGBTQ magazine.
Today, a male can dominate in any women’s sport and take their place in any job.
It appears Steinem was wrong. It’s not men who are obsolete, it’s women.
