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women’s history month Panther Prowler • March 26, 2021
Sarena Kabir News Editor Deepa Venkat Staff Writer Nandini Patro Staff Writer Emerson Fuentes Alabanza Graphic Artist Anna Johnson Entertainment Editor Emerson Fuentes Alabanza and Prasheetha Karthikeyan/Prowler for all graphics
1792 Mary Wollstonecraft wrote “A Vindication of the Rights of Women” which argues that women are not inferior, but not properly educated due to sexism.
1840s Ada Lovelace, a mathematician, wrote the world’s first machine algorithm for an early computer.
1680s Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, a poet and philosopher, published her poem “Hombres necios que acusáis” (“You Foolish Men”), which criticized the double standard and inequality men placed on women.
Given decades of the continued fight for equal opportunity, women across the globe celebrate the month of March every year in commemoration of those struggles women have faced. Women come together to cherish and celebrate the accomplishments, the victories and their importance in society. Locally, many women have pushed down the societal barriers by pursuing their jobs and passions in men-infiltrated work areas.
Women in STEM Many young women interested in STEM at NPHS participate in activities to further their knowledge and learn alongside like-minded individuals. One of the clubs that facilitates this is Mu Alpha Theta, which allows students with a passion for math to develop their skills further through participating in math competitions. While STEM activities may often be male dominated, students like Ananya Arvind, freshman, and Antonia Ang, junior, joined Mu Alpha Theta to pursue math regardless. Ang especially enjoys problem solving using numbers and equations. “I have always enjoyed solving puzzles, jigsaw, Rubik’s cubes, you name it, and I remember how fun it was,” Ang said. “So, I decided to start up again this year.” Women’s history month is important for both Arvind and Ang to remember the influential women within mathematics. “It reminds me of all the women who have made significant contributions to our society and have inspired others to do the same. It demonstrates to me that, regardless of gender, anything is possible if you put your mind to it,” Arvind said. Another STEM-oriented club at NPHS is Science Olympiad,
1848 The Seneca Falls Convention was the first woman’s rights convention in the United States which sparked the women’s suffrage movement.
where teams of students compete to demonstrate their extensive knowledge in science. Emily Ho, senior, and Lianne King, freshman, joined Science Olympiad to demonstrate their knowledge and compete against other students. Ho has always enjoyed learning new topics in science, and being the president of Science Olympiad has allowed her to explore the field more in depth. “Science Olympiad always challenged me in niche topics like circuit building or biotechnology or anatomy. I like how even if I briefly learn about these topics at school, SciOly makes me take it to the next level of understanding,” Ho said. King shares a love of science, and joining this club has encouraged her to pursue a career in STEM in the future. “I hope to have a career in STEM. I’m not sure what I want to do, but I enjoy CS and biology,” King said. Although the number of girls on the Science Olympiad team has increased this year, Ho hopes to see more female participation. “I ended up reaching out to a bunch of rising freshman girls from a local middle school interested in STEM to talk to them about SciOly and other science opportunities at NPHS,” Ho said.
Rithu Velu Mu Alpha Theta & SciOly Member “I believe that during women’s history month we get to celebrate and acknowledge all the achievements that women have had in history, and it also encourages women to find different ways to make more positive impacts in our society.”
Francesca Angletti Global Advocacy Relations Director
“On this Women’s History Month 2021 I reflect on the strength and resilience of the women who came before me. My grandmother who earned a living in the fields, growing vegetables and selling them at the town market, while caring for a family of six. She taught me that hard work and integrity are what make us equal.”
Jackie Sheng CEO of Gensun Biopharma, CSO of Zelgen “Looking back at my career since I stepped in STEM, there have been many challenges and obstacles... One fundamental belief that never changed for me is that I firmly believe that women are not inferior to men in our ability by any means.”
1911 International Women’s Day was officially celebrated primarily in European countries, in which millions of people came together in support of women’s rights.
1903 and 1911 Marie Curie won two Nobel Prizes, one for her accomplishments in physics studying radioactivity, and one for chemistry by isolating pure radium.
1933 Dorothea Lange was a disabled female photographer whose photos documented important aspects of the Great Depressions, highlighting especially those who were homeless and/or displaced.
Student Organizations Many students at NPHS have come together to create and participate in women’s rights-related clubs. One of these clubs, Periods with Pride, is a branch of a statewide organization centered around collecting menstrual products and educating people on period poverty. Nikitha Lakshminarayanan, founder of Periods with Pride, is currently a student at USC and created the group after a visit to a homeless shelter, where she learned some women could not afford to buy their own menstrual products. “Something that I took for granted every single month was something that was so difficult for her to Charity DriveDrive Periods With Pride, a local get,” Lakshminarayanan said. “We club that provides menstrual products for decided to host a drive to collect people in need, held a Valentine’s Day drive. products within our community. The products received were donated to Many And within one week, we were able Mansions. Sarena Kabir/Prowler to collect enough products to supply over 50 women for an entire year.” This month, the organization is using its social media to educate the community on women who have fought for menstrual equity. “We really resonated with the fact that we really want to challenge inequality, gender stereotypes and challenge ourselves to make a difference in the world around us,” Lakshminarayanan said. At NPHS, Himani Pothulu, sophomore, is the co-president of the Newbury Park branch of the organization. “Menstruation is such a big thing that’s not talked about, normalizing it and making it talked about more, it’s really nice,” said Pothulu. She hopes that working with Periods with Pride will help normalize menstruation for everyone, especially at school. Another club on campus that promotes female empowerment is GirlUp, where students meet to have discussions on issues related to gender inequity. Sophia Distefano, sophomore, is the current secretary and joined her freshman year to further her activism.“It felt like a good place to start and kind of started using my voice and building myself as an activist… I like to focus on women’s rights,” Distefano said. Currently, the club is underway in celebrations of Women’s History Month by sharing information to members about significant women in history. “We are doing presentations on women that were really impactful in history and who use their voices to kind of change society at the time,” Distefano said.
