It’s Women’s History Month—Men, We Must Do Better

The best way to celebrate women's history is to elevate women and to shut down the men working to deny women equal justice

March is Women’s History Month, a time to honor the incredible contributions of women throughout history. But I want to challenge men to go a step further and also make this a time to recognize the systemic injustices imposed by men that have long kept women from true equality. I challenge men to not just acknowledge that reality, but also work to counter that oppression with meaningful action. And if you’re a guy and reading the above makes you a bit uncomfortable—good. Push yourself out of your comfort zone for a moment and read the receipts I provide below. They will be eye opening. Let’s Address This.

Credit: City of Lakewood, CA

A Timeline of Injustice

From the very founding of this nation, men have excluded women from the promise of equality. The same Constitution that declared “all men are created equal” was written by (wealthy white land owning) men, for men, without any regard for the rights of women. For centuries, men ensured women had no say in the laws that governed them, no right to vote, no protection from violence, no economic autonomy, and no recognition of their full humanity. Every single right women have today—every single one—was fought for, clawed back from a system designed by men to exclude them. And that fight is far from over.

Let’s look at some of the major milestones in women’s rights—milestones that should have never required a fight in the first place:

• 1776 – Our founding documents declare “all men are created equal,” ignoring women entirely. This foundation codified centuries of men oppressing women.

• 1848 – The Married Women’s Property Act finally allows (white) women to own property. The mere idea that women could own property, and not be property, did not exist for the first 72 years of our nation’s existence.

• 1920 – Beating women is finally criminalized. Yes, for the first 144 years of the USA’s existence, men could physically abuse women and face no criminal consequences. As Law Professor Carolyn B. Ramsey writes, “Although wife beating was formally illegal in all U.S. states by 1920, it was not until the 1970s that efforts by the women’s movement to recast DV as a public concern began to succeed.” She then cites fellow Criminal Law Professor Melissa Murray, who reports, “Historically, spousal violence was exempted from state intervention and criminal prosecution.” Think about this as you realize that even today, the NIH reports that 1 in 3 women in America still suffer gender based violence from men.

• 1921 – Women finally gain voting rights through the ratification of the 19th Amendment—but only white women. Asian women had to wait until 1952. Native women had to wait until 1962. Black women had to wait until 1965. And Latino women had to wait until 1975 in many parts of the country.

• 1970 – No-fault divorce is legalized, leading to a 20% decrease in female suicide. The nostalgic 1950s family unit some men dream of was a torturous era for women of zero financial autonomy, gender based violence, and high suicide rates.

• 1974 – The Equal Credit Opportunity Act finally lets women have independent credit. Finally, women could purchase a home, a car, anything on credit—without a man’s approval. Just sit with this for a moment — men controlled every aspect of women’s financial existence for the first 198 years of the USA’s existence.

• 1981 – Sandra Day O’Connor becomes the first woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court—205 years after the country was founded. For more than two centuries, every final interpretation of the law ever passed, even those laws that explicitly addressed women, was done through the lens of male approval.

• 1993 – Marital rape is finally criminalized across all 50 states—meaning husbands could legally rape their wives for the first 217 years of American history.

• 2022 – The Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, stripping women of reproductive rights and setting back progress by 50 years. Subsequently repeated studies have shown a rise in infant and maternal mortality due to women being denied the basic healthcare they need and is medically required.

• 2025 – The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) still isn’t law in 2025, meaning that 249 years after America’s founding on documents that stated “all men are created equal,” women still do not have constitutional equality.

And this is just a snapshot of the incredible obstacles and barriers men have placed before women in the fight for women’s equality. Women didn’t create this system—men did. And it’s men who must do the work of dismantling it.

Men, We Must Step Up — Here’s What That Looks Like

Because it isn’t just the Supreme Court—of which 94% throughout American history have been (white) men. 100%of all U.S. presidents have been men (98% white men). 98% of the U.S. Senate has been men. 90% of U.S. Fortune 500 CEOs have been men.

And while impact of these systemic injustices are still here and now, perhaps even worse, the federal government and red states are working to revive those systemic injustices. How? By rushing to criminalize abortion, restrict contraception, roll back protections against workplace harassment, eliminate Affirmative Action, eliminate DEI initiatives, and more. Sadly, we are watching history repeat itself.

Therefore, men must step up to undo this imbalance and instead ensure meaningful justice. Women have spent centuries fighting for the rights men were simply given. This fight cannot be viewed as a “woman’s issue.” These are human rights issues, and men must play our part.

Here are three examples of what that looks like:

• Listen to women, and challenge other men – Women’s experiences demand representation, and by the way, they save lives. For example, while men cause more car accidents than do women, women are more likely to die in car accidents because car safety measures are designed with men in mind, not women. When corporations refuse to hire women, they both ignore more than half the population and also literally cost lives. Therefore, sexism isn’t just a “women’s issue,” it’s life and death. As men we must actively challenge spaces that deny women access and representation. It isn’t enough to be not misogynist. We must be anti-misogynist. We don’t get a gold star for clearing the very low bar of treating women as equal human beings. We must go beyond to break down the systems of misogyny and sexism (as listed above) with our words and actions.

• Support policies that protect women’s rights – Pay attention to local, state, and national laws that impact women’s rights and vote accordingly. We must both elect more women to public office, and counter any law that regulates women’s bodies over the advice of doctor’s and women themselves. Men should be at the forefront of that fight. If you want to see what this looks like, for example, pre-order former Congresswoman

  Marie Newman
  ’s forthcoming book, A Life Made From Scratch, about her life journey and experience in Congress. Marie won her seat by taking down an anti-choice (male) corporate politician. Her lived experience is an example for men to read, learn from, and follow. So men in particular, click below and pre-order her book.

• Amplify women’s voices – Whether in media, politics, or everyday life, use your platforms and (male) privilege to amplify the women leading the fight for justice. Here are five amazing women I highly recommend you follow and support:

  • Ayesha Noor

  • Dara Starr Tucker

  • Sylvia Salazar

  • Pari and Eve

  • Lindsay Meyer-Harley

And to be sure, I am not just mentioning these thought leaders for the sake of it, I am also a paying subscriber to each of them. I say this only to make clear that given the financial injustices imposed upon women for centuries in this country, those men of means who are able to elevate women with their platforms and their pocketbooks absolutely should. Doing so is a good first step towards advancing justice.

Conclusion

Equality shouldn’t have to be a fight. Women have fought too hard and sacrificed too much to continue doing this alone. Men—we must do better. This Women’s History Month, let’s commit to more than just words. Let’s commit to action, to change, and to finally building a society where women don’t have to fight for what should have been theirs all along.

It starts with us. Let’s go.