FEMINISM

By Alyssa Peccatiello, Saman Ali, and Aurora-Marie Munoz

This March, we celebrated Women's History Month Throughout history, women across the globe have campaigned and fought for better treatment, rights, and equality. This year, the feminist movement was shaken by the women's rights crisis occurring in Afghanistan The Taliban has prohibited women and girls from attending high school and pursuing an education at a university, attending and partaking in public activities and facilities like gyms and amusement parks, and are overall pushed to simply remain in their homes Despite the gains feminists and women everywhere have made over the years, not all women are guaranteed the same freedoms. In this issue of Voices Magazine, we want to honor the work of women and girls who are consistently fighting and advocating for females everywhere.

In order to hear from some female leaders forging new paths in our community, we interviewed Ila Gowda, one of the girls in charge of WiSTEM, a club dedicated to "increasing female representation in STEM at Rancho Bernardo High School."

Ila explained that when women pursue careers in STEM fields, "it helps to promote gender diversity and equality in the workforce" and that "women participating in STEM serve as role models and will inspire the net generations of girls to pursue their own interests in this field." Ila discussed the valuable "hands-on STEM workshops" that her club has created for middle-schoolers, explaining that "activities like this are igniting new passions and interests that they wouldn't have discovered otherwise."

When asked about the importance of women's roles in society, Ila explained that "their roles have evolved ... they now occupy important positions in the workforce, politics, and other sectors of society." In regards to education, she expressed that "when women have access to education and economic opportunities, they are better able to support their families, improve their health and contribute to their communities."

Girls like Ila are blazing new trails in the fields of math and science that have been heavily dominated by men over the years. Through new opportunities and education, "we can build a more equitable world for everyone."