Happy Sunday and International Women's Day! This day is aimed to help nations worldwide eliminate
discrimination against women and to help women achieve full and equal participation in global development. 2020 theme is #EachforEqual. Individually we are all responsible for our own thoughts and actions, all day, everyday. We can actively choose to challenge stereotypes, fight bias, broaden perceptions, improve situations and celebrate women's achievements. COLLECTIVELY, each one of us can help create a gender equal world. Let's all be #EachforEqual everyday.
The official day to celebrate is today, March 8!
We think it should be everyday!
While there are numerous women throughout history that have challenged norms and stood up to societal pressure, and changed the world, we can’t possibly cover them all.
Here are 12 global women from 1700's to current day (plus 1) who all broke the mold decades - sometimes even centuries - before their time.
CHEERS!
Maria Theresa of Austria (1717-1780)
In 1740,
Maria Theresa
inherited the rule of a country that was penniless and poorly governed. Though her father had ensured her succession, he had not educated her on matters of the state. She eventually chose her own
advisers
and deftly delegated responsibilities. She turned around the economy, revitalized the military, and instituted mandatory public education for both boys and girls in the country. She held onto her rule amidst 2 wars, and managed all this while still giving birth to 16 children.
Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797)
Perhaps best known for her work,
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792),
Mary Wollstonecraft
was anything but a traditional young English woman. She became an intellectual and a writer, and believed strongly that women should be educated as men. She took lovers and had a child out of wedlock when such things were scandalous, and her reputation was tarnished for decades. However, it is believed that her works strongly influenced writers like Jane Austin, and during the women’s suffrage movement of the late 1800’s her writings, particularly her ideas about educating women, became the backbone of the feminist movement.
Queen Victoria (1819-1901)
Queen Victoria
inherited the throne at the age of 18, and was the longest ruling monarch in British history, until her granddaughter surpassed her record in 2015. She presided over one of the largest empires the world has ever known, and was beloved both in England and in many of the British Colonies. She managed to maintain her rule and continue to build the modern constitutional monarchy while remaining largely independent of party politics.
Susan B. Anthony (1820 -1906)
An American social reformer and women's rights activist who played a pivotal role in the
women's suffrage
movement. Born into a
Quaker
family committed to social equality, she collected
anti-slavery
petitions at the age of 17. In 1856, she became the New York state agent for the
American Anti-Slavery Society
.
In 1878,
Anthony
arranged for Congress to be presented with an amendment giving women the right to vote which it later became known colloquially as the
Susan B. Anthony
Amendment and was ratified as the
Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
in 1920.
When she first began campaigning for women's rights,
Anthony
was harshly ridiculed and accused of trying to destroy the institution of marriage. She became the first actual woman to be depicted on U.S. coinage when her portrait appeared on the
1979 dollar coin
.
Jane Addams (1860- 1935)
Known as the mother of
social work
, she was a pioneer American
settlement
activist/reformer, social worker,
public philosopher
,
sociologist
,
public administrator,
[
protestor
,
author
, and
leader
in
women's suffrage
and
world peace
.
She co-founded Chicago's
Hull House
, one of America's most famous settlement houses. In 1920 she was a co-founder for the
ACLU
.
[7]
In 1931 she became the first American woman to be awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize
,
and is recognized as the founder of the
social work
profession in the United States.
Addams
became a role model for
middle-class
women who volunteered to uplift their communities.
Coco Chanel (1883-1971)
While a fashion icon may seem to be a trivial representation of a great female leader, (I would never say such a thing)
Coco Chanel
was remarkable in her forward thinking and indifference to societal expectations. Choosing to wear trousers and “men’s” clothing, she released women from corsets and other encumbering clothing, focusing on casual comfort instead, and revolutionizing women’ She challenged society on social level as well, choosing never to marry or have children, while publicly embracing intimate relationships with men on her own terms.
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962)
Eleanor Roosevelt
began her influential career when she was in her teens, becoming active in social work, before meeting her future husband. She was an early advocate of civil rights, and as First Lady of the United States, was independent and outspoken on the rights of women and African-American’s, long before the onset of the Civil Rights movement. She wrote a daily newspaper column that reached vast people, in which she defended women’s rights and other humanitarian causes. After her husband’s death, she continued working as a delegate to the UN, where she advocated for people, taking a non-partisan stance on most issues. She fought all her struggles, whether personal or political, with honesty and straightforwardness.
Indira Ghandi (1917-1984)
Though she is a controversial figure,
Indira Ghandi
is a stunning example of a woman who managed to gain power in a time and place where women were generally treated badly. Groomed for the position by her father, she became the first, and only, female prime minister of India. She took a very troubled country in dire straits and turned around the government and the economy. She was also a strong advocate for women’s rights, and helped to advance India on the international stage. Unfortunately, she was assassinated by two of her own bodyguards in 1984, in response to an attack on a Sikh temple by Indian forces while trying to remove a political opponent.
Ruth Bader Ginsberg (1933-)
Still going strong,
Ruth Bader Ginsberg
remains one of the most influential women in modern history. Being one of the first women ever to enroll at Harvard Law School, she had a prestigious academic career before she went on to argue cases for women’s rights that have helped to try and level the playing field for women. She has fought against gender discrimination every step of the way, and continues to do so from her esteemed seat on the United States Supreme Court.
Angela Dorothea Merkel
(1954-)
Oprah Winfrey (1954-)
With the longest running daytime talk show on television, broadcast in 145 countries around the world, it’s easy to recount the leadership of this incredible woman. Beginning her life in poverty, she went on to become the single wealthiest African-American, and has in turn dedicated herself to trying to lift others out of poverty as well. She established the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, and invested over $40 million of her own money in the project.
Malala Yousafzai (1997- )
AND ONE BONUS
Alma M. McCoy 1915- 2018 (BONUS ROUND)
A self-made and self - taught creator and business women ahead of her time. With no training, no advertising, no staff, no education, no loans, no resources she started her own wedding cake business in the 1950’s all done out of her tiny kitchen in Pottstown, Illinois - and did so for over 45 years very successfully. She also is a survivor of domestic abuse.
If you want to do something just do it and do it well! YEP. Best. Grandma. Ever.
Miss her every day. Legendary. She will always be a hero to me.
