Compass Gender: D.C. Hosts Fourth Women's March

The D.C. Women's March this year. (Brooke Tanner)

The fourth annual Women’s March occurred in Washington, D.C., on January 18. Even amid smatterings of hail and deepening divisions ahead of the Democratic primaries, tens of thousands of women took the chance to dance, sing, and scream their freedom to an increasingly polarized nation.

January 2017 saw the first Women’s March become likely the largest single-day protest in recorded history. Millions marched in D.C. and cities worldwide the day after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, rallying around a broad slate of liberal priorities extending beyond women’s empowerment to encompass issues like healthcare and climate change.

While building on the legacy of previous marches, the 2020 Women’s March tried to address systemic problems and scandals persistent in the organization over the past two years. The March’s first board faced allegations of anti-Semitism based in part on claims by Vanessa Wruble, a Jewish board member who split from the organization. However, Wruble commented that the priority was unity in the face of the upcoming presidential election. “We can’t afford to be divided,” she remarked in a statement. “And I welcome everyone to join us as we march on the polls again.”

Organizers this year focused on reproductive rights, immigration, climate change, and removing Trump, either by impeachment or at the voting booth. The protesters marched to the White House, where the Chilean group LasTesis led attendees in choreography to their viral protest song "A Rapist In Your Path.”

Despite drawing lower turnout than past iterations, the event’s crowd was enthusiastic, many wearing bright pink pussy hats and brandishing banners. More than 200 sister marches occurred all over the world, from Brussels to Chicago to London. Marchers focused on the unity of the movement, encouraging all women to attend the march, even if they disagreed with some of the main tenets. Since the march did not endorse specific legislation, organizers hope that the event will inspire women to organize spin-off groups focused on more specific issue advocacy.

Ella Swager, a high schooler who traveled from Richmond, Virginia, to participate, held a sign in the spirit of the march, encouraging change no matter how small it may seem. Quoting the late historian Howard Zinn, her sign read, “Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world.”