I once shared a post on social media about my husband and I having healthy, strong debates.  

The importance of this post was the fact that, at one point, women could not have done this in the United States. Even today, there are countries where women would never dare to disagree with their husbands.  

I think it is even more important to think of how far the world has come in terms of women’s rights. I mean, women did not gain the right to vote until 1920. That was only 100 years ago.   We continually see more and more positions filled by women for the first time. Women are official referees at some sports for the first time, and let’s not forget, the United States has its first female vice-president.  

We are moving forward.  

While we still have a long way to go for full equality, I believe it is essential to look back and see how far we have come and continue to work towards equal rights for everyone.  

Below I am including my post from last year for more context. I originally posted it on March 8, 2020.  

“My husband and I rarely fight. But we do have some strong debates.  

One common debate is on privilege. While having a healthy and loud debate today, Bub runs through the house yelling, “FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT” and laughing.” 

While it’s a joke in our house, I think about how across the world, some women would never be able to debate a different thought than their husbands’ because that would be talking back or out of place.  

I think about how so many years ago this wouldn’t have been a reality in America. While we’ve come such a long way as a society, we still have much work to do. Here’s to the strong women before us: the strong women we are and the strong women we’re raising for the future.  

Happy International Women’s Day! 

Brittany Hively can be contacted at  hayes100@marshall.edu.