On January 20th, just a year after almost five million Americans took to the streets to rally against inequality in one of the largest protests in U.S. history, millions were back for round two. This assembly, the “Women’s March,” gathered hundreds of thousands in major cities across the U.S., fighting for wider voter registration and against many of President Trump’s oppressive policies.
The increasing prominence of what The New York Times called “powerful men abusing women,” and the willingness of our country to elect one of these men as our leader has inspired many women of all ages to fight for equality. Amidst such demand for change, our major concern should be what we contribute as individuals. We cannot forget our duty in the wake of flashier news headlines, talk of collusion, and each week’s scandal on Capitol Hill.
The Greenville area generated a highly successful Women’s March this year, drawing in over 1,000 community members in protest of unequal rights and oppression of women. This alone is a great achievement, and we should be proud of our community for engaging in the demand for change. Greenville’s participation in this movement does not stop there, though.
The Greenville Democratic Party, according to their official website, is “committed to advancing the rights and opportunities of women and girls as a central focus of American diplomacy, development, and defense efforts and will continue to support the United States National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security.” They are working to “end the the epidemic of gender-based violence around the world.” In addition, they have promoted the South Carolina Women’s Rights and Empowerment Network, an organization whose objective is to support and encourage women and girls’ well-being. The advances the Greenville Democrats have made and the goals that they have set to eradicate sexism in our society are essential for our future.
While the progress Greenville is making in equality efforts is quite evident, it is just as important to consider the efforts of our even more immediate atmosphere: Furman. With an astonishingly low 33% of Furman faculty being female, there is definitely some room for improvement in terms of the presence of women, but also the empowerment of female students who benefit from having female role models.
The Women’s Leadership Institute, an organization dedicated to educating women on current challenges and strategies for professional success, is a significant advance towards the triumph of women that Furman has made in recent years. We have made a step towards being an institution known for widely celebrating powerful women and advocating for equality, but we certainly have a long way to go. The current state of our society needs more universities to be sites for female empowerment. We need to be that university and teach our students how to have powerful voices that call for change when needed. This is not something we will achieve passively. We cannot forget the Women’s March. We cannot forget the inequalities in our society, and we cannot ignore the those who abuse their power. In both our Furman community and our democracy, we must work together to actively create an atmosphere of social justice.