Men and women all over the University of Memphis marched throughout campus, boasting signs celebrating feminism for Women's History Month Wednesday.
Faculty and students showed their gratitude for women's rights with signs promoting equal pay and gender equality.
Women's History Month is sponsored by the Center for Research on Women. Their mission is to conduct, promote and disseminate scholarship on women and social equality. Established in 1982, CROW has investigated issues of gender, race, class and social inequality for 30 years.
Women's History Month is a time to celebrate the women who have inspired positive change in history. This year at the U of M, women and men have taken the time to emphasize the struggles and accomplishments of women and girls.
"My definition of being a feminist is all about women's rights and women being treated equally," Dhakyia Jackson, sophomore nursing major, said.
The terms "feminism" or "feminist" first appeared in France and the Netherlands in 1872, Great Britain in the 1890s and the U.S. in 1910. The feminism social movement dates back from the Enlightenment.
Soon after the Enlightenment, the Woman Suffrage movement began to gather momentum. Although it faced stiff resistance, women gained the right to vote in 1918 and 1920.
In the years that followed, there were more events where feminism emerged in the workplace as well as in the 20th century, where equal rights arose regardless of race, creed, economic or educational status, physical appearance or ability and sexual preference.
Being a feminist does not only pertain to being female - an individual does not have to be a woman in order to be pro-woman.
Michael Barbour, a junior criminology and criminal justice major, believes feminism becomes a concern when feminist extremists believe that women are better than men or have a higher role of power over men.
"From my education, I have learned that feminist of the past stood up for what is right to make rights of women equal to men," Barbour said.
Last year, Women's History Month was celebrated with a flash mob inside of the University Center as a part of one of the active events for the month.
This year, the rescheduled opening ceremony was celebrated with a campus-wide march themed "This is what a feminist looks like."
There was also a feminism fair on the Alumni Mall with booths that explained different aspects of women's rights and feminism, such as women's mental health sponsored by Active Minds.
The U of M Nursing Department had a vagina table where they taught about vaginal health and gave out vaginal lubricants for women.
"The feminism fair is an educational experience for me because I can learn a little bit and they are even able to get the guys to say 'Hey, I can be a feminist too'," Ashley Deering, broadcast journalism major, said.
As Women's History Month continues through March, students interested in keeping up with the events can find the rest of the events on the CROW at memphis.edu/crow.
