OPINION: Let’s celebrate Women’s History Month and work to achieve full equality
With March marking Women’s History Month, it provides the opportunity to reflect upon the strides made by women past and present and the progress still to be made on the path to equality. For example, even in the year 2015, many women still don’t earn equal pay for equal work. In fact, women are making a mere 77 cents for every dollar a man earns, and it’s time for this to change.
Over the years, New York state has played a leading role in many pivotal events in the fight for equal rights, so we can and should continue leading the way for progress.
Throughout history, New Yorkers have long been at the forefront of the women’s equality movement, including both Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, two key figures in the fight for women’s suffrage. Stanton drafted the Declaration of Sentiments for the Seneca Falls Convention, hosted in 1848, to address women’s rights, and both Stanton and Anthony’s efforts were crucial in winning women the right to vote with the ratification of the 19th Amendment.
These women never gave up on their dream of full equality, and that’s why they continue to serve as an inspiration for women’s rights today.