Kathryn Bigelow Makes Herstory at the Academy Awards!

This year at the 2010 Academy Awards, we made herstory during Women’s History Month. Kathryn Bigelow is the first woman to receive an Oscar for Best Director. She won for her film The Hurt Locker (which also won Best Picture). Why should we care if she won? Because even though women make up 51% of the population, in 2009 only 7% of directors, 8% of writers, and 17% of executive producers in Hollywood were women. If women aren’t making the movies, we don’t get a say in what stories get told or how we are represented. And if we don’t get that say, then much can get left out.

That’s where Women’s History Month comes in. What is Women’s History Month, you might ask? Women’s History Month was started by a small group of people in California. They wrote to their congressmen to recognize the accomplishments of women and to influence public schools and non-profits to teach the public about the great work that women have achieved.

From Alice Paul standing up to ensure that women received the right to vote in 1920 to Golda Meir, who was the only woman in the Labor administration and served as the prime minister of Israel from 1969-1974, women wanted and deserved to be recognized for their great work.

For thirty years, both Democrats and Republicans have supported “Women’s History Week” and for 23 years they have supported Women’s History Month. So check out the Herstory section of Girl Future and then teach your family and friends about something wonderful a woman has done in her community. Then you’ll be helping to make herstory yourself!

Photo of Kathryn Bigelow by Joe Mabel. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kathryn_Bigelow_02.jpg

Kathryn Bigelow Makes Herstory at the Academy Awards!

Tara Laxer

About the Author

Tara Laxer

Kathryn Bigelow Makes Herstory at the Academy Awards! Tara Laxer This year at the 2010 Academy Awards, we made herstory during Women’s History Month. Kathryn Bigelow is the first woman to receive an Oscar for Best Director. She won for her film The Hurt Locker (which also won Best Picture). Why should we care if she won? Because even though women make up 51% of the population, in 2009 only 7% of directors, 8% of writers, and 17% of executive producers in Hollywood were women. If women aren’t making the movies, we don’t get a say in what stories get told or how we are represented. And if we don’t get that say, then much can get left out. That’s where Women’s History Month comes in. What is Women’s History Month, you might ask? Women’s History Month was started by a small group of people in California. They wrote to their congressmen to recognize the accomplishments of women and to influence public schools and non-profits to teach the public about the great work that women have achieved. From Alice Paul standing up to ensure that women received the right to vote in 1920 to Golda Meir, who was the only woman in the Labor administration and served as the prime minister of Israel from 1969-1974, women wanted and deserved to be recognized for their great work. For thirty years, both Democrats and Republicans have supported “Women’s History Week” and for 23 years they have supported Women’s History Month. So check out the Herstory section of Girl Future and then teach your family and friends about something wonderful a woman has done in her community. Then you’ll be helping to make herstory yourself! Photo of Kathryn Bigelow by Joe Mabel. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kathryn_Bigelow_02.jpg
About the Author Tara Laxer Tara Laxer, Director of Jewish Women’s Foundation of the Greater Palm Beaches, has been a educator for the Equal Rights Alliance for a decade and an advocate for issues concerning women and girls and veterans. Tara is a former chief of staff to a State Senator. She resides in Boca Raton.