HANNAH MONTGOMERY; Photographer; montgohm@plu.edu
There are a few common misconceptions about the Women’s March. Some believe it began to protest Trump’s presidency, others believe it is solely a pro-Planned Parenthood march.
In actuality, the Women’s March is whatever you want it to be. The past two marches, millions of people have gathered around the world to protest racism, sexism, gender equity and many other relevant issues. I was there to participate and to surround myself with people who share the same values as I do.
Laurel Stevenson marches with sign at rally.
There were some people in the crowd who carried signs that made me cringe, but the majority of the posters made me laugh and smile. There were homemade puns painted across cardboard and children walking along strollers with signs scrawled in crayon. The evidence of positive humanity was visible in the actions of the people around me.
This year, a few of my friends and I traveled to the Women’s March in Olympia, WA with transportation provided by the Center for Gender Equity. Talcott Broadhead, the Director of the CGE at Pacific Lutheran University organized the trip and drove students there in a PLU van. Laurel Stevenson, a PLU first-year who is majoring in Political Science, attended the march and stated, “I was super excited to go to one down here [the continental United States] because in Juneau, Alaska, we had one but it was still really small. So, I was excited to see more people and hear different stories and experiences.”
Once we parked, our small group walked through historical Olympia to the capitol building. As we got closer, cheers echoed across the muddy lawns and we could see pink hats in the distance.
A light rain began to fall and we donned our jackets. We chose to walk through the back of the capitol building towards the front steps where the crowd was gathered, listening to speakers as they impassioned the crowd. After standing for at least an hour, we began the march. However, there was much confusion about the direction protesters were to walk in.
No markers indicated where we were supposed to go, and quickly people began to break off from the crowd. After walking a couple blocks, our small group was disappointed in the lack of direction and decided to take shelter from the rain in a small coffee shop in downtown Olympia.
According to The Olympian, there were “Two paths for the stroll [not a March], one around the lake and another around town. Plans on the website not matching the plans reported by The Olympian.”
Stevenson commented later, “It was a way to stand in solidarity with other people and to bring awareness to other issues that we kinda talk about but that people just put on the back burner. So I went to show that this is still important and that we need to talk about these issues, they can’t just be talked about once. The speeches were good but the march wasn’t really organized so I wish there was more walking and marching involved.” It was frustrating, we were so excited to support and empower each other, and when we finally began the march there was no direction for us to follow.
Participating in the Women’s March is incredibly important to me, but I believe that there is still much more to be done. In order to make change in our society, there needs to be some changes within the movement.
The aggravation that I, and many others, felt would be enough to turn people away from participating again. It has definitely become more inclusive than it was last year as people realized the importance of validating minority experiences.
Stevenson observed, “I think it’s become more intersectional and that people are starting to realize that there is no one experience that encompasses all of the various struggles people face. You have to take into account all the factors that play into a person’s life. It’s not perfect, but it’s a lot more inclusive than past Women’s Rights movements.” However, without consistency in planning and execution, the Women’s March may see an unfortunate decrease in its attendance next year.
