March, is a national women's history month. This year's focus is on women in technical, scientific, and mathematic fields and to stick to my trend of blog posts this week, I wanted to talk about a hashtag. I know a hashtag, how hipster can I be. Well, this particular hashtag was created by the United Nations Women. This hashtag is on the rise over many platforms of social media from March of 2018 to present. It is continuing to grow and spread awareness, #Planet5050. The hashtag was created from the campaign “Planet 50-50 by 2039: Step It Up for Gender Equality”. The movement is to build a future foundation for their Sustainable Development Goals, and their commitments on gender equality, women's rights, and the empowerment of women's rights. The organization is using the best tool available for spreading their cause, social media. Director of the Nations Women Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuke stated “We must not leave anyone behind. We must not leave behind those who are willing and able to serve their countries, to serve their universities, to serve their churches, to sever their companies, and to serve the united nations.”

Why talk about a hashtag that was created over a year ago? Aren’t we supposed to talk about what's “trending” like Klohe Kardashian vs. Jordyn Woods and Tristan Tompson, or something about Megan Markle and how her body movements are really describing the dysfunction of the royal family. You know something the whole world totally needs to know about. But, there is a method to my madness. I am the type of person who doesn’t really go in depth in politics. I keep myself updated by checking the news every couple days or so. I also check for any major events on social media, not just celebrities news. Though I am a Gen Z female who grew up alongside the internet, I also on occasion check the NY Times, Washington Post, CNN, National Geographic, and NBC. I prefer diversity in my news sources to avoid bias.

Why would I talk about the hashtag from a year ago when I usually never take a stand on political issues. Now, that is not mean to say I don’t have a stand but rather I am not one who likes to argue and most people who talk about politics ONLY want to argue. I think that the topics of old are what create the foundation of the new. The message established by the United Nations Women a year ago is just as if not more so relevant today.

Gender Equality has been a battle we as a people have been fighting for years. It goes back to 1843 in Seneca Falls, New York when the women's suffrage movement was born. The fight for equality hasn’t been just an issue for our society, the Roman Empire, and the Greek Empire both suffered from the aftermath of this same fight.

My point, Planet 50-50 is a campaign to bring together the genders for ALL to have equal rights. I think that campaign is one of the few that has a genuine opportunity to become a possibility. While yes, they are focusing on women primarily. They are calling for gender equality by 2039. That’s 20 years from now, this organization is calling for this year-long battle to be resolved by then. I personally think, there is never an eradication of a problem but instead, it is satisfied, for now. It is literally impossible to please every single person on this earth for the same purpose. Impossible, this battle will continue to the end of the human race. But, that doesn’t mean that the progress we have made is to be ignored. Women are making around $0.77 to the dollar a man does, it used to be below $0.39 to the dollar. That is a HUGE step in the right direction. No problem is ever fixed within days or even years. Life is trial and error. Whatever doesn’t work we address it and try to work to fix it. That is what I believe this campaign represents. It a hopeful wish to have the problem satisfied by 2039, but who knows what life will be like in 20 years. I didn’t ever think I would leave the house a week after turning 18 and move across the country to start over. But I did it. We have put men and women on the moon, we as a society did that. We have had disease, war with foreign nations, war with each other, but we survived. We are at this very moment making advancements in technology never thought of 50 years ago. Although the hover car was a favorite idea of older movies and cartoons, it is something we are still working on.

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams”. We can only move forward with the progress we have and hope for the best for the feature. #Planet5050