Women’s History Month is the 31 days a year when we’re semi-required to look back at all the hard work our foremothers put into making the world a more fair and equal place. We typically celebrate women who helped get us the vote, pioneered the women’s rights movement, and shattered glass ceilings in male-dominated industries.

But we don't always stop to think about what we can do to shape the future of women’s history -- since it sort of feels like we are doing that every day, just by living our lives and waking up like dis 365 days a year:

However, what if someone said there was one thing we could all do --- regardless of gender -- to change women’s history forever, and it doesn’t involve learning about women’s suffrage (though you should), or arguing about who is or isn’t a feminist (looking at you, Taylor). It just involves making one change to a paradigm that's impacted the lives of women since the beginning of forever (um, no biggie…).

Here's the proposition:

Let's all start believing women.

If we believe the 1 in 6 American women who courageously say they've been sexually assaulted, we can focus on ending violence against women, instead of trying to find holes in their stories.

If we believe women when they say they work just as hard, or sometimes even harder, we can all finally agree that women should be paid equally for equal work.

If we stop asking women if they can "have it all," and just believe them when they say they are happy with their lives, women will have the freedom to explore and grow and not feel guilty about it.

Imagine what can come from this?

If we believe women when they say they enjoy sex, and are proud of their sexuality, women will be able to find pride in their bodies, and power in their gender.

Believing women when they say they get talked over in meetings, brushed up against in the elevator, or sent inappropriate emails will make workplaces safer for everyone, and businesses will do better overall.

The same goes for believing women when they say they don't like being harassed on the street.

If we believe women at college campuses when they accuse another student of assault, we can spend less time on a lengthy and often harmful judicial processes, and more time preventing 1 in 5 college women from being assaulted to begin with.

If we believe women when they say they want more women like themselves in movies and TV, we can create a more diverse and beautiful cast of female characters for them to identify with, and heroes for girls and young women to look up to.

If we believe women when they say they know what is right for their bodies and their lives, women will be able to make decisions based on their full potential, and families will be better off because of it.

If we believe women when they say they like the way they look, we can stop wasting everyone’s time and money pressuring them to change.

If we believe women when they say they are gamers, feminists, engineers, comedians, et al, we can begin to create supportive communities that encourage collaboration between all members involved.

Believing women won't end sexism, but it might be the start of a solution that involves each of us making a conscious choice to be better allies to the women in our lives.

So, what do you think?