Ferris State University will be cel­e­brat­ing Women’s History Month, which is a time to reflect on women’s past and present struggles.

“As with all cul­tural events we spon­sor, Women’s History Month is another oppor­tu­nity for the FSU com­mu­nity to engage and learn about cul­ture, his­tory and cur­rent events,” said Michael Wade, assis­tant direc­tor of the Office of Multicultural Student Services.

Several events will be com­ing up this month to cel­e­brate women’s his­tory. Nancy Hulse will be giv­ing a pre­sen­ta­tion enti­tled “That Ain’t No Way to Treat a Lady.” There will also be a fash­ion show, a bio­graph­i­cal recita­tion, and a 5-Star event speaker.

During Women’s History Month there will be a Virtual Women’s Center online that fea­tures the pro­file of a dif­fer­ent woman each week. You can visit the vir­tual cen­ter at fer​ris​.edu/​s​t​u​d​ent life/minority/vwc/.

Sharon Robideaux, pro­fes­sor of lan­guage and lit­er­a­ture and teacher of women‘s stud­ies, said that women have endured many strug­gles in the past and there are still many obsta­cles they will need to over­come, which is one rea­son learn­ing about women’s his­tory is so important.

Robideaux has many rea­sons she believes cel­e­brat­ing women’s his­tory is impor­tant. She com­mented on the fact that there has yet to be a female pres­i­dent or vice pres­i­dent and there are still many restric­tions placed on women in the military.

“Far too often, young women see that young men have strong, pow­er­ful male role mod­els,” said Robideaux.

“They don’t see that young women have female role mod­els because his­tory has usu­ally been writ­ten by men, and men have usu­ally down­played or ignored women’s contributions.”

Robideaux said that too often in our soci­ety peo­ple think the free­doms and rights women have now are things they have always had. She is reminded of an inci­dent that hap­pened less than 40 years ago when she was told by a male co-worker she should quit her job and that women didn’t belong work­ing out­side the home.

Women still have obsta­cles they will need to over­come in order to gain eco­nomic equal­ity in the work­place, said Robideaux. She said women will never reach equal­ity with men as long as they are per­ceived as “newcomers.”

“When the num­ber of female CEOs and com­pany pres­i­dents of lead­ers of indus­try equal the num­ber of males, per­haps eco­nomic equal rights will be pos­si­ble,” said Robideaux. “Until then, women still earn less than men in many fields, even when they are doing the same work.”

Feminism is some­thing Robideaux says peo­ple have mis­con­cep­tions about. She tells her stu­dents fem­i­nists are peo­ple who believe women have rights and many of them are men work­ing to improve the lives of women they know.

“Feminists aren’t man-hating. bra-burning, hairy-legged mon­sters,” said Robideaux. “It is an honor to call one­self a fem­i­nist and to believe in equal rights for women.”

Robideaux said a greater empha­sis should be put on women’s his­tory before stu­dents come to col­lege. Many of her stu­dents have reported not know­ing some of women’s most sig­nif­i­cant accom­plish­ments. She feels that it is impor­tant for peo­ple to know about the past so that they don’t repeat its mistakes.

Ferris’ cel­e­bra­tion of women’s his­tory is a chance to learn more about the strug­gles and accom­plish­ments of women. There is a vari­ety of dif­fer­ent medi­ums avail­able to stu­dents that will allow them to learn more in an enter­tain­ing fashion.

“We have come a long way,” said Robideaux. “Each vic­tory seems to cre­ate con­fi­dence that other vic­to­ries for women’s rights are ahead of us.”

Fun Facts About Women’s HIstory

• 1848 — First women’s-right con­ven­tion meets in Seneca Falls, N.Y.
• 1869 — Wyoming Territory is the first to grant women the right to vote
• 1928 — Amelia Earhart is the first woman to cross the Atlantic in an airplane
• 1933 — Frances Perkins becomes the first female Presidential cab­i­net member
• 1943 — All-American Girls Professional Baseball League is the first pro­fes­sional sports league for females
• 1977 — Janet Guthrie becomes the first woman to drive in the Indy 500
• 2010-Kathryn Bigelow is the first woman to win an Oscar for Best Director
• 2.4 per­cent of Fortune 500 com­pany CEOs are women, which is an increase from .6 per­cent in 2000
• 17 per­cent of the U.S. Congress are women and 18 per­cent of gov­er­nors are women
• Information from diver​si​ty​inc​.com and his​tory​.com