What began as a single day has evolved into a month-long recognition, and that evolution matters.
March marks the beginning of Women’s History Month.
What began as a single day has evolved into a month-long recognition, and that evolution matters.
International Women’s Day is celebrated on March 8, and was established as a holiday in 1911. The National Woman’s Party was formed in March 1917. The group was dedicated to getting women the right to vote.
A day of protest and solidarity evolved into a month of recognition.
Because the fight was never just about one right. It was about access. About visibility. About power.
This year’s 2026 theme, “Leading the Change: Women Shaping a Sustainable Future,” feels especially important. Securing our collective future has never felt more important than it does now. We are living through rapid technological advancement, global conversations around climate, equity, and innovation, and a generation determined to push systems forward.
Yet alongside these advancements, there has been visible pushback. Pushback against progression. Against inclusivity. Against diversity initiatives. For every step we try to carve out for the future there have been loud voices calling for a retreat backwards.
Let’s make no mistake: advocating for inclusivity is advocating for everyone. Equity is not a finite resource. It does not diminish one group to uplift another. It is the foundation of any future that claims to be sustainable.
As a Black woman, and as a Women in Games ambassador, I have often found that my gender and my race are treated as separate conversations, particularly in all-women spaces. As though one does not inform the other.
In my experience within the British gaming industry, I have attended panels on sexism that consisted entirely of white feminists. Panels that spoke about universal barriers women face, unequal pay, online harassment, a feeling of intentional or unintentional exclusion in certain male-dominated spaces, while unintentionally replicating another barrier in the very makeup of the discussion.
The conversation narrows when every voice reflects the same racial experience.
The experiences of women who have to navigate both racism and sexism simultaneously are left unspoken.
For example my as a black woman living with a disability, these experiences are not separate strands that I can choose between, they inform my daily life and shape how I am perceived and treated. When that complexity is absent from the room, the nuance disappears with it.
What I find most alarming is not always what is said but what is not.
The absence is not born of malice but of genuine incomprehension, an almost casual lack of awareness. This sends an unintended message about whose experiences are considered important and whose experiences are considered peripheral.
But intention does not dilute impact.
And in that absence, this sends an unintended message about whose experiences are considered important and whose experiences are considered peripheral.
If we are serious about “leading the change,” then we must recognise that progress for some women cannot come at the erasure of others. A sustainable future cannot be built on selective inclusion.
Women’s History Month is not simply about honouring the past. It is a call to examine where we stand now, and to be intentional about the future we are building. When we speak about women shaping tomorrow, it must include all women, not just a select few.
I am Annabel or creativelyanzy as I’m known online! I am the founder of Melanin Gamers: a gaming community that promotes diversity and inclusivity in the video games industry, with a special focus on content creators; whiles also providing a safe space for people of colour to come together and game
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I am Annabel or creativelyanzy as I’m known online! I am the founder of Melanin Gamers: a gaming community that promotes diversity and inclusivity in the video games industry, with a special focus on content creators; whiles also providing a safe space for people of colour to come together and game