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Lilah Saber and Juliana Mosley smile after their presentations at the Yes, All Women! event Thursday at West Chester University.<\/p><\/div>\n
WEST CHESTER \u2013 March is women\u2019s history month, and at West Chester University Thursday, women of all ages, races and backgrounds gathered to discuss how they can learn from their own histories and create their collective future.<\/p>\n
The discussion, called \u201cYes, All Women!\u201d was hosted by Chester County Fund for Women & Girls and featured three speakers: educational consultant Juliana Mosley, WCU student Lilah Saber and former PA State Representative, Barbara McIlvaine Smith.<\/p>\n
The goal of the event was to ensure that the voices of women of all ages are heard, and to discuss how women can leverage commonalities rather than stand divided because of differences.<\/p>\n
\u201cTonight reflects the heart of our organization as we come together toward progress,\u201d said Michelle Legaspi Sanchez, the fund\u2019s executive director, as she welcomed all of the attendees.<\/p>\n
During her presentation, Mosley gave an in-depth review of generational differences between living women, starting with the Greatest Generation (those born between 1910 and 1924) up through the most recent generation that includes adult women, which is commonly referred to as Generation Z (those born between 1996 and 2010). Mosley highlighted the traits of each generation that make them different from the others, including the tendency of Baby Boomers and members of Generation X to be workaholics, whereas many members of the Millennial generation have a different work style that often allows them to multitask faster than other generations.<\/p>\n
Saber, who is studying social work, youth empowerment and urban studies at WCU, reviewed the history of the women\u2019s movement, starting with Elizabeth Cady Stanton in the late 1800s and Susan B. Anthony and Margaret Sanger in the early 1900s. She then explained the movement\u2019s evolution through the 1960s and 1980s into the present, and she mentioned the concept of intersectionality, as introduced by Kimberl\u00e9 Crenshaw in 1989, as being at the forefront of the modern women\u2019s rights movement.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would argue that we are starting a new era of women\u2019s rights,\u201d Saber said. \u201cI am a middle-class Millennial Middle Eastern woman, and I can\u2019t separate those.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Former PA State Representative Barbara McIlvaine Smith leads a group discussion about the meaning of feminism at the event presented by the Chester County Fund for Women and Girls<\/p><\/div>\n
McIlvaine Smith started her part of the discussion by inviting the approximately 50 attendees to break into small groups of six to eight people. The members of each group were then asked to share what they thought made them unique as women, what commonalities they might all share and what the word feminism means to them. After the small group discussions concluded, McIlvaine Smith asked a representative from each group to share the findings with the larger audience, which led to a lively discourse that highlighted different perspectives on women\u2019s rights, including why some of the attendees do not view themselves as feminists, and why it is important for white cisgender women to stand up for the rights of both trans women and women of color.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re all daughters of someone,\u201d McIlvaine Smith said. \u201cAnd the daughters have to join hands and feel their power.\u201d<\/p>\n