Cosumnes River College continued its Women’s History Month event series with their “Making Moves: A Collection of Feminisms” presentation on March 11. Hosted by history professor Diana Reed and art history professor Maizy Enck, the presentation explained the complex history for all women and the rights they had to fight for and expressing femininity.

The beginning of the presentation featured a gallery of photos showing women fighting against sterilization during the Civil War and the patriarchy.

“I thought it was really cool…but, the sterilization one, the forced one, was something new to me,” said Raphael Davina Garcia, an 18-year-old electrical engineering major.

Enck presented a painting of a Black woman named Sandra. The painting is mostly made up of pastels, rhinestones and glitter. Sandra was one of many women who struggled to find her femininity. This section of the presentation was about women, especially Sandra, standing up for their femininity and their right to be a woman freely. Enck expressed how the pastel painting was shown to Sandra in her own point of view. Enck spoke on the symbolism in the art.

“Her eyeshadows express boldness, self-confidence, and of course femininity,” Enck said. “The earrings, the hair, it kind of gave me hyper femininity, and I really liked that.”

Students were interacting and involved with the presentation about Women’s History. They were answering questions and voicing opinions about each topic.

The presentation also covered the women’s suffrage movement from 1848 to1920, which led to women gaining the right to vote through the 19th Amendment.

Sofia Brusatori, a 19-year-old psychology and art history major, said that the overall presentation offered good information, with a few moments standing out.

“Moments that stood out to me were all of the different signs, the chronological order of different suffrage movement signs,” Brusatori said.

Reed said she hoped that by going to the event, more students would interact on campus by reaching out and getting in touch with history events. Reed said that there are many events about history in general and most students either don’t know about them or simply don’t go.

“I hope that it made them want to engage on campus and know that there are a lot of great events on campus. There are so many different histories out there and college is a great place to learn about all the various kinds,” Reed said.

Reed said that women during this period dealt with discrimination, unequal treatment, unfairness and inequality—issues that some still go through today. She added that women should remember to believe in themselves.

“Keep the faith,” Reed said.

Enck ended the event with words of affirmation.

“You’re worthy, and we’re gonna be okay,” Enck said.