The Voices They Keep Forgetting
The Voices They Keep Forgetting
Some stories get told once a year. The rest of the time, they vanish into silence.
Every International Women’s Day, the media rolls out its listicles: “Ten Amazing Women You Should Know.”
The rest of the year? Silence. Unless it’s a scandal. Unless it fits a stereotype. Unless it can be packaged neatly for a headline.
I spent years researching women erased from history — not because they lacked brilliance, but because they didn’t fit the marketable version of womanhood the media likes to celebrate.
Now that I’m trying to share those stories? The press won’t touch it.
We pitched to major UK and U.S. publications. Most didn’t respond. A few sent polite rejections. Not one engaged with the content.
Apparently, a man writing about the erasure of women — using their voices to tell their stories — doesn’t fit their idea of what sells.
But here’s the truth: it’s not about me. It’s about them — the women who were overlooked then, and are still being overlooked now.
If the media really cared about equality, it would go deeper than quoting Simone de Beauvoir once a year. It would tell the complex, uncomfortable stories — the ones that make you think differently. The ones that refuse to fit the box.
So here I am, still shouting into the wind. Because if I stop, their silence wins. And the voices I wrote about — the ones history forgot — will be forgotten again.
Have you ever seen a story — in history, politics, or culture — reduced to a shallow headline? Or found out something important was left out entirely? Share it below. These moments help us all see the bigger picture.
History & Equality – The Author’s Voice explores the stories society left behind.
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