Women's History Month 2013 Begins

As a prelude to Women's History Month PBS ran the 3 hour documentary MAKERS - The Women Who Make America on Tuesday, February 26th.  Not only was it a look back at the successes and failures, but for me there were stories of individual women previously unknown to me.

You can watch the full show online at this link: MAKERS documentary 

Personally, I wish the program had been longer.  There were several icons of feminism missing whose writing has greatly influenced me.  They include Alice Walker, Susan Griffin, Elizabeth Gould Davies and Andrea Dworkin.  I came across a review by Katha Pollitt in The Nation that I found myself agreeing with for the most part.  Check out the article here.

I plan to do my best to post daily, spotlighting different stories about women whose places in history have often gotten overlooked or who I have found inspiring.

One final note for all of us to celebrate.  On February 28th, fourteen months after the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) came up for reauthorization by Congress, the bill finally passed in both the House and the Senate.  It will be headed to the President, where he has promised to sign the bill into law.  The stumbling block was finally overcome - and protection for Native American women on their lands, LGBT women and undocumented women immigrants is included in this bill.  During those fourteen months, SIXTEEN MILLION women were victims of violence.