Students attend STL Women’s March
Sophie Koritz Editor-in-Chief
T
he 19th Amendment granted women the right to vote in the United States. Now, nearly 100 years later, thousands of women walked shoulder to shoulder using another amendment of the Constitution—the right to peacefully assemble. In front of St. Louis’ Union Station Jan. 19, women and men from all across the St. Louis region gathered to participate in the third annual Women’s March on St. Louis. “I didn’t go the first year it happened, but I saw it on TV, and it was really inspiring,” junior Elizabeth Derner said. “I wanted to be a part of it the next year.” Just like Derner, junior Zoe Godefroid participated in the women’s march for the second year. Accompanied by her mother, sister, friend and thousands of other supporters, Godefroid marched through downtown St. Louis. “We’re all like pretty passionate about what’s going on in the world, so that gave us an opportunity to meet with people who were also [passionate] about stuff like that,” Godefroid said. “It’s a good opportunity to see people
excited about the same stuff.” Despite the below freezing temperatures and freezing rain on the day of the march, hundreds of people attended the march—both women and men. “There were actually a lot more men at the march than I expected, which was really great to see since it’s extremely important for men to fight for women’s rights, too,” Derner said. “...I’m glad for their support of the movement, as they play an important role in creating change for gender equality.” Some of the changes women and men hope to see from these marches is the bringing of attention to sexual harassment and the pay gap, but no matter what specific cause they attended for, all went to show their support for women—strangers and friends alike. “There were a few things I had in mind like abortion rights and stuff like that, but I think I mainly just went to kind of stand with all the other women that go there because they personally [have] been affected by something…”
junior Emily Hahne said. Though the women’s marches are meant to spread awareness of all issues women encounter, they have received criticism for overlooking the specific hardships and challenges that women of color experience. “...I know one of the biggest problems about the women’s marches is that they aren’t diverse enough, and they don’t talk about broad enough subjects,” Godefroid said. “So if we incorporate that into it, maybe that would be better for everything.” For some people, marches have acquired a negative connotation, which causes some participants to become hesitant about attending them. But for Derner, Godefroid and Hahne, the women’s march was nothing but a positive experience. “I think a lot of people think of it more as like a protest,” Hahne said, “so in their minds they think that a protest is like a violent thing, but the women’s march... was so supportive and peaceful, and I felt really safe being there.”
Photo submitted by Elizabeth Derner
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