Women’s History Month is a holiday instilled by a proclamation in 1981 to celebrate everyday women that contribute to a difference in American history.
To educate on the importance of Women’s History Month in this digital age there are tons of movies and TV shows highlighting the struggle women have gone through to earn a place in American history today.
Some of my favorites are “Hidden Figures” (2016), “The Post” (2017) and “The Chair” (2021).
“Hidden Figures” is a movie released in 2016 which focuses on the experience of African American women at NASA during segregation in the 1960s. The film focuses on not just what it’s like to be a female in the workforce, but the harsh realities of what it was like to be a woman of color in the workplace during segregation.
It follows three women who are data computers: Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson. Katherine is a math genius, Dorthy has the mind of an engineer and Mary is a born leader doing the work of a supervisor, yet none of them are fairly paid for their work.
Together they heavily contribute to the success of NASA’s first moon landing by working with everyone at the company. These women pushed boundaries proving science and math are not just for men but for women too.
My next suggestion is “The Post,” a historical fiction movie about Katharine Graham, played by Meryl Streep, the first woman to head the Washington Post as CEO in 1963.
In the movie, Katharine works hard to keep her place at the table and must fight the judgment of others. Many people in the movie think she inherited the position after her husband died and can plan a party but not a stock exchange.
She proves them all wrong by studying finances day in and out, meeting with white house executives and even taking the stand against the United States Supreme Court.
Katharine fights for freedom of the press in front of all of America in order to defend the legitimacy of her newspaper, earning the Washington Post its award-winning record as one of the highest regarded papers, along with the New York Times.
No Women’s History Month is complete without celebrating the existence of Sandra Oh and her newest venture in a Netflix original, “The Chair.”
It’s not historical fiction like the other films but is inspired by the experience of the movie’s co-writer Amanda Peet. This experience is modeled after her time as a student in the Harvard English department.
It follows Dr. Ji-Yoon Kim, played by Sandra Oh, who is the first woman of color to head the English department at Pembroke University.
Ji-Yoon has a lot on her plate managing a dying English department, being a single mom and dealing with what life throws at her every day.
Having to prove she earned her job, Ji-Yoon tirelessly fights for her position because she is not only a woman but a woman of color as well. After starting as head chair she sticks to playing nice, deciding against making waves, but is ultimately forced to fight back against a man in charge so that she can get her way in the end.
It’s a nice modern take on the struggles women have to go through every day. From parenting to departmental problems Ji-Yoon manages it all with real emotional struggle, no fake facades that one person can handle it all. It’s a nice reminder that with great power comes all the emotional and melodramatic responsibility, showing other single working moms or other women that it’s all part of everyday life and to roll with what life throws at you with confidence.
These three different stories perfectly illustrate some of the many women who embody change in history and the recognition of strong women in every industry.
Celebrating Women’s History Month acknowledges those who paved the way for the future and encourages more women to be the head of a university department, the CEO of a company or even take Americans to the moon and beyond.
