March 8 was originally celebrated as International Women’s Day. However, this year it has taken on a slightly different role. To follow up the Women’s Marches, which took place earlier this year, March 8, 2017, has now been proclaimed as “A Day Without A Woman.” It is a day for more peaceful protesting that includes simple acts such as: wearing red in solidarity, not participating in paid or unpaid work, and trying to avoid going shopping. Now I know people might be thinking, how could participating in Storm Lake or even simply on BV campus really make a difference? The answer is this: while one person may not be able to make a communitywide difference, your simple acts of protest could make a person or a group of people think.

I decided to participate on the 8th and a couple interesting things happened. First, I learned how I could participate from the American Association of University Women (AAUW) organization on campus. I saw their Facebook post and knew I wanted to participate! The information they provided was quite interesting and only strengthened my desire to protest. I decided to share that information and make sure all my Facebook friends were informed on what I would participate in on the 8th. I contacted my friends and my mom, asked each one of them if they would wear red, and I made plans that I would take a stand. I picked out my red outfit and couldn’t wait to see if anyone else would participate.

During the first couple minutes of my Written Communication II class with Dr. James McFadden, I saw a couple other women in my class wearing red. Dr. McFadden was also supporting the movement by wearing a red tie and vest. To my surprise, Dr. McFadden opened the class by asking the women, “I see you wearing red but yet you still come to class. What’s going on?” The women in my class, myself included, sat there confused. We knew he was referencing the movement but we didn’t know we were even allowed to think about missing class. The next statement he made will forever stick in my mind, “Do you need to ask a man for permission to do anything?”

Here I was, thinking that I was a free thinking, strong woman, yet I wasn’t strong enough to stand up for my own beliefs and miss a class. I had to be reminded, by a man, that he doesn’t have the rights or power to tell me what I can and cannot do (within reason). With one simple question, I realized I had been viewing this protest completely wrong. I naively thought that by simply wearing red, not going to work, or not spending money would make a difference. Please don’t get me wrong, when a large group of people do that, it really does make a difference. In reality, I had missed the big picture. The protest is to prove the point that women are in charge of their lives and that they don’t need permission to live the way THEY decide.

I want to thank Dr. McFadden for taking a moment out of class to help me, and other women, better understand just how important our rights are; to teach us one of the most valuable lessons you can’t learn from sitting in a classroom. I am a human being. I am a woman and no one can take that away from me.