Dr. David J. Childs
Northern Kentucky University
There is still much work to be done in the area of women’s studies and women’s rights. Society has continued to treat women as second class citizens. And often the struggles of women are compounded when they are from a minoritized group and of a low socioeconomic background. In this way, the glass ceiling is real for women and minorities. The US education system has long been complicit in perpetuating the inequality of women. Social studies educators as well as textbooks publishers have largely omitted the discussion of women in history, as well as the study of their many accomplishments. In many classrooms even today, serious discussions of women are an afterthought. Thus, it is very important to provide opportunities that empower women and to let girls know that opportunities are available for them as well. Girls today need as much inspiration and encouragement as possible. That is just what conference coordinator Dr. Kimberly Clayton-Code has set out to do with the non-profit Young Women Lead. There is an upcoming virtual conference September 24-25, 2020 and folks can register here.
The conference website states that “High school girls and their chaperones are invited to join us for this minds-on, interactive virtual conference designed to inspire these young women to believe in their qualities and strengths, and to challenge them to believe in a higher level of personal growth and development. This year’s conference will feature award-winning presenters Julie Marie Carrier, Maryam Rehman, Nivaal Rehman, and Monique Coleman.”
Links for further Information:
Young Women Lead Upcoming Conference Details
Mission and History of Young Women Lead
Democracy and Me Articles as a Part of Women’s History Series
Part One- A History of Women’s Right to Vote and Other Teaching Resources
Part Two (Women’s Rights)- Intersectionality, Race and Gender: Understanding how Race and Socioeconomics affect Women’s Life Experiences
Part Three (Women’s Rights)- The Womanist Tradition and Domestic Workers in the Early Twentieth Century US
Part Four (Women’s Rights) – Bringing Awareness to Violence Against Native American Women
Part Five (Women’s Rights) – Can we Talk About this in Class: Unpacking Some Complexities of the Me Too Movement
This article was perfectly said; it was short, yet got to the point. Women’s studies and women’s rights are often overlooked due to what people believe to be “bigger problems” in society. I like the idea of a Young Women’s Lead to help empower young women. Women have definitely been given more rights over the years, but many laws can still be changed to help women, especially in the workplace.
I believe that there is still more work to be done in the area of women’s rights in today’s world, particularly in the classroom. People nowadays are far too eager to think that women’s rights have progressed to their full potential. Yet, these evidence demonstrates that this is not the fact.
This article caught my attention immediately. I am all about empowering women. I want to raise my daughter to know that she can do or be anything that she wants. In my workplace, I can honestly and sadly say that there are men who think they are superior to women just because they are a man. Our ancestors didn’t fight for equal rights for women for us to backtrack. It is vital that we continue to uplift young girls and women.
I really enjoyed this article, and this article gave me a lot of information I didn’t know. The importance in discussing empowered women, and the opportunities they had. I liked that you stated that “Girls today need as much inspiration and encouragement as possible”. This is an important statement that more people need to be aware of. I can only imagine the struggles some women have been through to have the rights that they have always deserved. We need to incorporate women’s rights more in the classroom, it just simply isn’t discussed enough. Thank you for sharing a good read.
I love that there was a conference for the intention of empowering all girls. I agree with the article that there is still a lot that needs to be done in the area of women’s studies and women’s rights. I don’t think that there will ever be a stopping point regarding the topics. I think informing others on the topic should start in elementary, like another article was suggesting regarding racism and civics. As usual there are great links in this article for the topic mentioned.
I also believe that women’s rights is a topic that needs to be more discussed and acknowledged. It is important to educate children in school about women just as much as they do men. Women’s right have definitely improved over the years, but we still need to make progress in this area. I love the idea of the Women’s Lead Conference for young women. This is a conference that I got to participate in when I was in high school and it was very eye opening and was such an empowering experience.
This article is very accurate in that women and their accomplishments are not discussed enough in our history classrooms. It would be so much more encouraging for young women to hear these things discussed but they are expected to be confident when the glass ceiling is still very much apparent in our society. I love the fact that there is a conference specifically for that purpose. As a woman I am excited to get to encourage young women within my classroom so that they know they have the power to be great within society too. I can make that difference for the young women I come into contact with.
This article could not have been more true, but it is something that largely gets overlooked in society. For example, I personally did not think about the fact that women do not really get mentioned in American History. However, upon afterthought, I realized that this could not be further from the truth. This subconsciously perpetrates male dominance within our society even further.
This subject hits very close to home for me. As an athletic coach of predominately male sports, the underrepresentation of females has always been a problem. As a teacher, the fact that we do not teach more about historic women, such as Elenore Roosevelt is troubling to say the least. I hope in the future we can include every race/gender in Social Studies education.
The article was an excellent read and certainly shed light on one of the greatest overshadowed issues surrounding our secondary education system. It is imperative that all students (of all races, genders, creeds and cultures) are offered a fair and equitable education. Groups such as Young Women’s Leads will hopefully, over the next several years, begin to grow in number across the U.S. so that all students may receive a proper education.