March 8 marked the 99th annual International Women's Day, which is a day not just for women to celebrate themselves, but an opportunity for all of society to learn and grow together. This year's celebration brought advances in the entertainment industry with Kathyrn Bigelow becoming the first female director to win an Oscar for her movie “The Hurt Locker.” Several countries, including China, Russia, Kazakhstan and Vietnam, make International Women's Day a national holiday. But, the U.S. is yet to make the leap.

The U.S. does mark March as Women's History Month. Still, most people I talked to hadn’t heard of International Women's Day. In fact, until this year, I hadn't even heard of International Women’s Day. The day is a noble cause, but it falters in being highly under-marketed.

Many people in our generation operate under the false assumption that the fight to gain women's rights is a done deal. I'm a big supporter of other civil rights movements, such as equality for minorities and alternative sexual orientations. But sometimes it's easy to focus on “the next big movement” and forget about less in-your-face injustices. Although women's rights have come a long way, we still haven't reached full equality when it comes to things like employment and pay-grades.

The University can do its part by promoting the centennial International Women’s Day next year. But, aside from that, the University already does a good job of marketing when it comes to the women on campus. The University has been celebrating female faculty, staff, alumni and students with the “Women of Distinction” calendar since 2004. The Women's Recognition Program has been in place since 2001 and the Women's Hall of Fame dates back to the 1970s.

All of these programs — and the Men of Merit, not to leave out students with a Y chromosome — are sponsored by the Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center. The fact that our University even has such a thing as the Resource Center, not to mention all of its programs, sets us apart when it comes to acknowledging female achievement. Add in the various women's studies classes and literature classes focused on female authors outside the traditional white male cannon, and the University has a lot to offer in the way of women's history throughout the year.

As far as Women's History Month goes, the University has plenty of events planned, including guest speakers, documentary viewings, happy vagina crafts and a showing of the Vagina Monologues. These events are a wonderful way for women to celebrate their femininity, but the issue has never really been women failing to acknowledge themselves.

I urge male students and faculty to attend as many of this month's events as possible. After this month, branch out and take some women's studies classes. It's important for this time to be about women, but it shouldn't be exclusive to women. Just as it's important for women to learn about all the important male figures in our history and to try to understand male culture, it's important for men to return the sentiment. If the men on campus really show some interest now, maybe the International Women’s Day centennial can bring a huge celebration by both genders.

— Lytton is a senior from Kodiak, Alaska, in creative writing.