Women's History Month 2025

Women’s History Month (WHM) celebrates, recognizes, and affirms the work and achievements of women and femme-identified individuals living the full diversity of experience. Women’s History Month began in 1981 as “Women’s History Week” and was designated as an official month of celebration by beginning March 1987. What started as a way to recognize the specific achievements women have made over the course of American history in a variety of fields, Women’s History Month has expanded to become an annual celebration of the past, present, and future of women and femme-identified people.

A separate, but related movement to establish an International Women’s Day began as early as 1908, culminating in the marking of March 8 as International Women’s Day in 1914. Women’s History Month in the US was structured around the International Women’s Day celebration, blooming into an entire month of recognition and celebration for women and femme folks across the country.

Sources:

• https://www.womenshistorymonth.gov/about.html
• https://www.womenshistory.org/womens-history/womens-history-month
• https://www.internationalwomensday.com/Activity/15586/The-history-of-IWD

The Women’s Center uses the phrase “women and femme folks” to refer to the student body we serve. Why this particular phrasing? Because while we want to be as inclusive as possible as to who we serve, we live in a patriarchal system where misogyny is still more of the norm than the exception. Thus, we see a utility in having a safe space for those who experience misogyny and patriarchy to come and be in community with others.

As we use it, women as a gender identity refers to both cis- and transgender women while femme or femme-identifying refers to the gender expression of all folks, including genderqueer or non-binary individuals. For more information on gender identity and expression, visit the CSGD’s Sexual and Gender Diversity Education webpage.

Womxn was a term coined in the 70s and later adopted in 90s to include gender non-conforming individuals, transgender and genderqueer folks, two spirit people, femmes, and other non-binary people within the sphere of womxnhood. While some feel using the word “womxn” in place of “women” acknowledges that gender identity exists in a sphere and one word has room for multiple gender expressions, others feel the term is exclusionary in that it was/is a term created by cis women to differentiate transwomen.

We don’t use the term womxn at the Women’s Center, instead preferring the term “women and femme folks”to identify the population we serve.

Sources:

• https://womxnscenter.uci.edu/why-womxn-with-a-x/
• https://www.globeslcc.com/2021/04/02/women-vs-womxn-why-the-x/
• https://girlboss.com/blogs/read/womxn-meaning

The Women's Center maintains a running list of resources related to gender equity, reproductive justice, and more! Visit https://students.duke.edu/belonging/icr/wc/resources-for-women/ to see the full list of resources and learn how to access them.

If you have a resource you’d like to submit, email womenctr@duke.edu with the subject “WHM Resources.”

Below is a list of women and femme-led student groups the Women’s Center has worked with in the past. This is NOT a comprehensive list of all the organizations listed here aren't the women/femme-led student groups on campus. The full list can be found on Duke Groups at https://dukegroups.com/club_signup. Want your organization to be added to this list or need to make an edit? Email womenctr@duke.edu with the subject “Women and Femme Student Groups.”

• The Flow
• Women’s Empowerment at Duke
• All of the Above
• Planned Parenthood Generation Action
• Period.
• Women in Science and Engineering (WISE)
• Black Women’s Union

Thank you to everyone who submitted a program, event, or resource to our 2024 WHM programming calendar!

Special thanks to CMA’s Alex Espaillat for establishing the format of Heritage Month Celebrations at Duke and the Student Affairs Communications team, especially Kristin Lobiondo and Rezin Davis, for spearheading the creative direction for the WHM banners and branding.

Want to be a part of next year’s Women’s History Month Celebration or have an idea for a theme? Email womenctr@duke.edu with the subject line “WHM Involvement.”