International Women’s Day is March 8 and celebrates women’s contributions in society. Obstacles have been thrown at women for hundreds of years: suffrage, wage gap, political power and many more.
The main Women’s March took place in Washington D.C., but according to Heavy’s writer Stephanie Dube Dwilson there were 673 “sister marches” with an estimation of two million people participating in those marches. Freshman Carley Talamantes was one of the many women at the Women’s March this year, along with her mother, grandmother and sister. These marches were not limited to the United States alone, but countries all around the world participated. Citizens of London, England and Paris, France also marched in defense of their rights. Talamantes marched along with her family in Saint Paul, Minn. on Jan. 21.
“It was so empowering,” Talamantes said. “It just gives you this sense that you can get through it.”
Women all over the world have been fighting for their for rights for so long, and Talamantes saw older women at the march who said how unfortunate it was to continue to fight for the similar rights they were fighting for years ago.
“I participated in this to be a part of history,” Talamantes said. “To say that I did something to stop the inequality.”
According to the Women’s March website A Day Without a Woman is taking place on March 8 and there are three ways people can partake in any action: “Women take the day off, from paid and unpaid labor, avoid shopping for one day (with exceptions for small, women- and minority- owned businesses) and wear red in solidarity with A Day Without a Woman.” The Women’s March website also states, “Let’s raise our voices together again, to say that women’s rights are human rights, regardless of a woman’s race, ethnicity, religion, immigration status, sexual identity, gender expression, economic status, age or disability.”
“Never stop fighting for what’s right,” Talamantes said.