In the wake of electing a blatant misogynist to the presidency, I think it’s important that we take a minute to remember some women who have left lasting, and positive imprints on our world. The women listed here are truly extraordinary, and I wish I had the time and space to list more, but here’s just a handful of women I think we can all look up to. They are in alphabetical order, not in order of importance, since who can really determine that?
Benazir Bhutto
Benazir Bhutto was the 11th Prime Minister of Pakistan, and the first female Prime Minister of a Muslim country. Though she may have been grandfathered into the position of head of the Pakistan Peoples Party, which her father founded, she was not unqualified, having attended Radcliffe College, Harvard, and Oxford. But her status did not make life easy. She was placed under house arrest twice, exiled from Pakistan all together, charged with corruption, and even attacked. Still, she served a little over 2 terms as Prime Minister. She was assassinated in December, 2007 and was deeply mourned by the entire country.
Tammy Duckworth
Tammy Duckworth has quite the impressive resume, including several firsts. She has attended 3 colleges, including the University of Hawaii, George Washington University, and Northern Illinois University, where she sought a Ph.D. in political science. As part of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, she was deployed to Iraq in 2004 as a Blackhawk pilot, flying in Operation Iraqi Freedom. In the fall, her helicopter was shot down by a RPG, taking both her legs and her ability to use her right arm. When asked about her injuries, she said, “I was hurt in service for my country. I was proud to go. It was my duty as a soldier to go. And I would go tomorrow.” She then became an activist for better medical care for veterans and went on to be the director of Illinois’s Department of Veterans’ Affairs. Under Barack Obama she became the secretary for public and intergovernmental affairs for the Department of Veterans Affairs. In 2012 she became the first Asian-American Congresswoman from Illinois and the first disabled female veteran Congresswoman. In Congress she gained a reputation for continuing to defend Veterans, and calling out those who disrespected them. In this past election, she became the first US senator born in Thailand.
Aung San Suu Kyi
This amazing woman is an activist, government office holder, and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. She opposed the military government of Myanmar (aka Burma) and their violent responses to protesters. Eventually, they put her under house arrest with the promise of freedom if she agreed to leave the country. She refused, sacrificing her freedom for her country and her fight for democracy and human rights. During this time, she won the 1991 Nobel Prize for Peace. Her house arrest lasted for 6 years, ending in 1995. In 1999, she formed a representative body declaring it the ruling body of Myanmar. She was placed under house arrest again for two more years. In 2003, she was arrested after a clash with pro-government demonstrators. Despite international outcry, she was not released, and was arrested again in 2009 and charged with breaking the rules of her house arrest. She was then sentenced to 3 years, which became 18 months in prison. Through laws and all of these arrests, the government strove to keep her out of politics, but in 2012 she managed to win a seat in parliament. She continued to win seats through 2015, when her party finally won a majority. She currently serves as the state counsellor, a position above the president. Democracy was hard won, but she fought the long and hard fight for her country. She has also won 3 other international awards besides the Nobel Prize, including the Rafto Prize, Simón Bolívar Prize, and the Jawaharlal Nehru Prize.
Dorothea Lange
Most people have seen the photograph of the woman and her children during the great depression, but most know little about the woman behind the camera. From early on, Lange was determined to control her own life. At a young age, she cast off her father’s last name and took up her mother’s maiden name of Lange. After attending a training school for teachers, she rejected one of the few acceptable careers for women at the time and decided to pursue photography instead. By the time she was 23, she had a successful photography business in San Francisco. In her early career of documentary photography in the 1920s and 30s, she began photographing those who society liked to turn a blind eye to: Native Americans, those in poverty, strikes, bread lines, and many other parts of society that are less than aesthetically pleasing. She was given a job by the Farm Security Administration and took photos while her second husband wrote reports exposing the hardships of rural American life. During WWII she photographed the lives of Japanese Americans forced into internment camps, another example of her showing the world what was really going on. By 1945 she had been given the privilege to photograph the San Francisco conference, in which the UN was created. Despite aging, she continued to travel and be active in the global world. She founded a publishing company called Aperture, took on assignments from Life magazine, and traveled everywhere from Utah, to Pakistan, to Korea, and even Vietnam, never putting down her camera.
Juliette Gordon Low
Perhaps one of the most well-known women on this list, Juliette Gordon Low was the founder of the Girl Scouts (or Girl Guides if you’re of the European/British persuasion.) Though inspired by the Boy Scouts, started by Sir Robert Baden-Powell, Girl Scouts was really Low’s own creation, and it was a revolutionary one at that. With the go-get-em attitude she was known for, the Girl Scouts were essentially started by these words: “I’ve got something for the girls of Savannah, and all of America, and all the world, and we’re going to start it tonight!” These words were rather revolutionary at the time. There wasn’t much for girls. Especially nothing like the girl scouts. Her first troop started with only 18 girls, who came from all walks of life, and a variety of cultural and ethnic backgrounds. This was unheard of in 1912. And with this troop she began to help them develop leadership, networking skills, and a variety of “unladylike” skills. These included basketball, hiking, and camping. They also worked on things like learning foreign languages, and being able to read weather and time signs in nature, and of course, provided service to the community around them. Her movement was so effective and popular that even today, 64% of American women in power were Girl Scouts, including Michelle Obama and Madeleine Albright. Thanks Daisy!
Evanna Lynch
Even if you haven’t heard of Evanna before, you’ve probably heard of Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter. Of course her acting is fabulous, but that’s not all that qualifies her for this list. As early as 11, Lynch struggled with the horrible disease of anorexia nervosa. She was in and out of the hospital and rehabilitation centers for two years. But through J.K. Rowling’s popular series, Harry Potter, and her own personal strength, she was able to overcome her disease and mind and has become a successful actress and activist. She still advocates for healthy body images and self-confidence to try and help fight anorexia. She also has been heavily involved in the fight against MS and the fight for equal rights for LGBT+ persons. This is all not to mention the reminder that her amazing portrayal of Luna gives us: be weird. It’s so much more interesting.
Wilma Mankiller
Besides having a badass last name, Wilma Mankiller was a pioneer for women and indigenous nations in America. Wilma Mankiller was the first woman principal chief of the Cherokee Nation. Despite sever health battles following a nearly fatal car accident in 1979, Wilma rose quickly in the ranks within the Cherokee Nation. She won election as principal chief in 1985, and held this position for ten years. Before and during this time, she fought for the reclamation of tribal lands as well as for better health care and education within the Cherokee Nation. She published two books detailing her life, and the experiences of indigenous women. She also was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998.
Mary Wollstonecraft
Perhaps the mother of all feminism, Mary Wollstonecraft was an English writer in the mid to late 1700s. A prolific writer, she published a variety of works, which served to do anything from entertain to advocate for gender equality. Her works weighed in on politics, philosophy, and as mentioned earlier, women’s rights. Though she died at the young age of 38, her writing went on to be incredibly influential, and she is often considered to be one of the British philosophers of the enlightenment era. Her book, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, provides a basis for all three feminist movements, which wouldn’t begin until 1848. This book argues that women are not inferior to men, but the lack of education and equal opportunities provided at the time portrayed them that way. She is also the mother of Mary Shelley, the groundbreaking author of Frankenstein. Obviously, some rebellion runs in those veins!