Women’s Impact on Wheeling

From March 1st to March 31st, women are continuously celebrated for their contributions to history and contemporary society. In 1987, Congress officially named March National Women’s Month, which has been honored ever since. Now, how have women impacted Wheeling and even West Virginia as a whole?

Here in Wheeling, there is a local chapter of a national group, MomsRising, which Amy Jo Hutchinson– a family and child community activist– runs. MomsRising is a national organization dedicated to empowering moms and those around them. According to their website, momsrising.org, MomsRising now has over 1 million members across the board, including my very own mother, Susan McAninch. They take on serious issues facing women, mothers, and families while continuing to educate those around them. This organization comes together in order to bring the voices and real-world world experiences of women and mothers straight to the political leaders of the country. As well as this, they amplify women’s voices and policy issues in the nation, you can find them across all social media, connecting all the moms together. Without this connection, moms across the county would not feel empowered, especially in Wheeling which is significantly smaller than major cities where sources of empowerment are primarily found. Therefore, this organization becoming more popular in Wheeling opens new doors for accreditation.

“I think this group is very important as it makes you feel not alone, as a mom myself of a teenage girl in this world, it’s important to be that we boost them and support them in their activism, which is why I encourage other moms to get heavily involved, we meet up once every few months and discuss ways of bettering ourselves and our families, we’ve done self-defense, we’ve had legislation come and talk to us about political issues, and we continue to talk about current issues in our chat rooms,” said McAninch.

There are many opportunities for community members to get involved with Moms Rising and make a difference for the next generation.

“There is recently a new group coming up called Moms Next Door, they will have stuff like power harnessing workshops and month action agendas, this can help moms across the United States come together and fight for their community and the futures of their families, which is also connected to MomsRising,” said Hutchinson.

Alongside empowerment groups for adult women, Wheeling has also been adjusting with ways to uplift young school age activists. Here at Park, one student, Jana Schodzinksi, is heavily involved.

“Growing up in the Ohio Valley, it became obvious to me at a young age that women and girls were not held to the same standard as men, especially in the political sphere. As someone who held an interest in policy and public speaking from a young age, I know firsthand the best way to combat sexism and other issues is to find a community or a group. Surrounding yourself with other intelligent, passionate, and confident women is a form of protest itself. For instance, even as a member of Wheeling’s legacy speech and debate team, I’ve been consistently criticized and demeaned at larger tournaments due to my combined femininity and passion through competition in extemporaneous speech. Since this, I’ve joined organizations such as Equality in Forensics and W.Va’s chapter of IgniteHer to support both myself and others facing these same battles. I’ve also begun working as a staff writer for the Red Folder, a national student-run journalism platform. These organizations and more are run by women who inspire me and others to continue breaking societal barriers. Even in times of federal instability and fear for women’s rights, health, and empowerment, the community is the driving force in maintaining and broadening opportunities for young girls across the nation, therefore continuing to acknowledge important women in history with Women’s Month is severely important for young girls all around,” Schodzinksi said.

Without women’s month, women would not get the acknowledgment and recognition they deserve after all these years, with the continuous support, young girl can continue to make a difference in their communities. Looking at those women who affected the political and social scene for us today can empower those indefinitely.

Happy Women’s Month!