Groups and organizations on Simpson’s campus came together in support of Women’s History Month to perform “Discovering Jane Doe: Pieces About Women.”

Seniors Bill Hitt and Molly Monk hosted the event. Performances included dancing, acting and art visual performances. Organizers encouraged attendees to bring a box of tampons or other feminine products to be donated to the Hawthorn Hill Family Shelter, a nonprofit organization in Des Moines that provides housing and service programs to homeless families with children.

Event organizers focused on feminism and empowerment.

“When people tell me that we have equality and everything is fine, I don’t really think that is quite true yet,” Monk said. “We need to continue talking about feminism, and we need to continue talking about women, which is what we are doing.”

Since 1981, the month of March is designated to paying tribute to the generations of women who contribute to the history and society of our country.

Each year, a theme is declared by the National Women’s History Project. The theme for this year is “working to form a more perfect union: honoring women in public service and government.”

Freshman Sarah Mosinski attended the event for her Women and Gender Studies class.

“Events like (these) give students more understanding of women in the world today,” said Mosinski.

Of the 13 pieces performed at the event, eight were originally written pieces.

One of the original performances included a powerful slam poem written by sophomore Shelby Minnmann.

“I wrote it because it is a topic that people do not like to talk about, so I am going to talk about it,” said Minnmann.

The original poem was about the process of menstruation for women.

“I really enjoyed the event,” said freshman Liz Nimmo. “I thought it was a really important event to have because women’s issues don’t get enough attention. My favorite performance was Shelby’s slam poem. She talked about an uncomfortable topic but received awesome audience participation. It was great.”

Groups that performed included the Alpha Psi Omega Zeta Gamma cast, Pi Beta Phi and students from the Art Department. Two teams of art majors from the art seminar class created visual art performances.

The first team created an abstract video performance to reflect the views of women around campus. The second team also created an abstract video which looked into the mind of the modern woman as she discovers her own identity.

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