International Women's Day and the Search for Opportunity, Education and Acceptance

My hometown of Andover, Massachusetts was once a remote outpost in the wilderness, long before there was a bustling Northeast United States. One of the town’s earliest settlers was a wife, mother, and also a writer. Her name was Anne Bradstreet and in 1650 she had a book of poetry published all the way overseas in London.

This was quite an achievement especially when you consider those times. A woman being educated, much less being an author, was not something particularly welcomed.

Carol Majahad of the North Andover Historical Society told me, "It was rare for a woman to be as educated as Anne was in her day." One of Bradstreet's poems "gives a good reflection of popular opinion at the time.”

I am obnoxious to each carping tongue
Who says my hand a needle better fits,
A poet's pen all scorn I should thus wrong, 
For such despite they cast on female wits;
If what I do prove well, it won't advance,
They'll say it's stol'n, or else it was by chance, 

Wendy Martin, in her book An American Triptych, wrote that in Bradstreet’s era, “women who stepped beyond their domestic confines by means of literature, whether by reading or writing, risked being branded as dangerous to themselves and society.”

What if such attitudes had prevented Bradstreet’s work from being published or distributed? Or prevented her from receiving an education in the first place? She might never have become a writer or been published. Her achievement might never have been shared with the world. How many others never got an opportunity?

This is a struggle not unique to Bradstreet’s time. As International Women's Day arrives, there are women all across the globe who are being deprived of education and opportunities. This may be because of the poverty they live in, but it can also be due to deep-rooted societal beliefs.

Recently I learned of an organization called the Afghan Women’s Writing Project. This was started by novelist Masha Hamilton in order to give Afghan women a voice, one for which they have to struggle.

The first thing I noticed about the Project was that the family names of the Afghan women published on the site had to be concealed. These women must submit their work in secret from their families and friends. The locations of these authors are also kept hidden. Why? There are those in Afghanistan who disapprove of women being educated or telling their story through writing. Their personal information is kept hidden out of fear for their safety.

Article Author: William Lambers

William Lambers is the author of Ending World Hunger. This book features over 50 interviews with officials from the UN World Food Programme and other charities discussing school feeding programs that fight child hunger. …

Visit William Lambers's author page — William Lambers's Blog