Victoria St. Jean celebrates the history of International Women’s Day

by Alexis Messina

Sophomore Victoria St. Jean challenged gender inequality with her Academic Showcase presentation on International Women’s Day.

St. Jean said she was inspired to do this project by her Introduction to Women’s Studies class. “For as long as I have understood the word, I have identified as a feminist,” she said in an email interview. “I am proud to be a strong and empowered woman and I want to capture that in what I do. The history of International Women’s Day felt like a perfect way to show my passion. ”

St. Jean created an informational poster describing how International Women’s Day was started with a march in New York City and was officially celebrated across the world in 1911 on March 8th. The date was chosen before even World War I but was not as big of a deal until 2000.

International Women’s Day is celebrated in recent years with different campaigns revolving around reproduction rights, education, and more. This years campaign was called “#ChooseToChallenge.” The Women’s Studies program surveyed students by asking them how they challenge gender inequality and biases in their everyday lives. Among these responses, included on St. Jean’s poster, was “I will challenge gender inequality by taking a stand and calling out inequality and judgement when I see it. This world is too full of hate and it is time to start spreading acceptance, love, and kindness.”

St. Jean also included the resource in her poster internationalwomensday.com, which was created in 2001. This site includes the current year’s campaign theme, such as “#ChooseToChallenge.”

“I enjoyed going through the International Women’s Day website,” she said. “I never realized how much information was on the site and all the resources it offered.”

Another feature of St. Jean’s poster were current statistics from UN Women. “The current facts included in the poster stood out to me the most,” viewer Abigail Anspach said. “I’m well aware that women experience a high number of sexual harassment and domestic violence, but seeing the actual numbers is scary. Specifically the point about 137 women being killed a member of their family everyday.”