Women’s History Month: Women as Persons

| By Emilia Oliver | October 25, 2021 |

In 1992, the Government of Canada designated October as Women’s History Month. This was meant to mark “the beginning of an annual month-long celebration of the outstanding achievements of women and girls throughout Canada’s history.” It doesn’t appear as though this celebration has caught on, maybe because October was already boasting Thanksgiving and Halloween as its trademark holidays. Nevertheless, there is a government website where one can check a timeline of women in Canadian history. Included are some familiar names, such as Laura Secord and Roberta Bondar, along with some important events such as “1918: Some women were granted the right to vote in federal elections” and “1929: Women were declared as persons.” The timeline speaks of struggles past, outlining what were great achievements in their time, but that seem distant and are taken for granted now. We are a generation that has always been told that the difference between women and men is what we make it, that there is no head start and no difference in opportunities. At least in Canada.

Growing up in a country like ours it’s easy to forget that being born a girl is still a dangerous thing in many places. Recently, we have all been reminded of that with the events taking place in Afghanistan after the resurgence of the Taliban. For the last twenty years, thanks to the presence of a US-backed government, Afghan women were told that education was a ticket out of poverty, that working hard would bring rewards, that talent was to be cultivated and would be appreciated. Overnight, all of this stopped being true, and many girls were faced with a choice: stay in their country and become obedient housewives, or leave. The decision had to be made in hours, and the leaving was to be done alone, on a plane to an unknown destination with no plans for the next day.

We have heard very little from the girls that did stay in Afghanistan. We know that at the moment only primary schooling is allowed, as female teachers continue to negotiate with the Taliban to re-open secondary schools for girls. Boys are allowed to continue studying at any age. The girls who stayed in Afghanistan do not seem to currently have an outlet to be heard. We have, however, heard from the internationally accomplished Afghan girls robotics team that has found refuge in Mexico, the Afghan girls soccer team that has settled in Portugal and the hundreds of girl refugees who are settling in Saskatchewan. It seems they all felt that leaving Afghanistan was the only way to continue pursuing their dreams. With a third of Afghan girls being married by the age of 18, they were probably right.

All of this gives us a new perspective when looking at the Government of Canada website. I am grateful that all those women decided to stay here and fight to be recognized as persons. I am grateful that I was born a “person”, even though I am female. I am grateful that I didn’t even know I had anything to be grateful for.