This article will provide insights into the following topics:
- Most influential women in history
- Forbes list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women
- Inspirational female leaders
MICHELLE OBAMA
Who does not know about the previous first lady of the US (2009 to 2017). She is one of the fashion icons in the world and has worked a lot on child obesity, which is the leading US public health crisis, by airing a show and promoting good eating habits. She had a stronghold in helping her husband with the rallies and campaigns by actively participating in them and advocating on issues like military families, helping working women, encouraging national service, promoting arts and arts education, LGBT rights, poverty awareness.
She worked on her professional responsibilities and even wrote stump speeches for her husband’s campaign. All her attempts to uplift the problems of society have made her a role model for many women. She has motivated many people due to her devotion to her husband, her country and the empathetic nature for the sufferer.
It is not like she has not been entailed by worries, her father suffered from multiple sclerosis, yet as he desired for her to succeed she remained a bright student and did not let the worries become a hurdle in her life. She had been discriminated against for her gender, her skin colour yet she was of the firm belief to give respect and dignity to those whom you don’t know and also those you don’t agree with.
ROSA PARKS
Every one of us knows her as the mother of freedom, the first lady of civil rights and the Montgomery bus incident. She was a well known American activist in the Civil Rights Movement.
In 1995, she refused to relinquish her seat in the coloured section to a white passenger after the whites-only section was filled. This was the event that marked the beginning of the Black Power Movement, Boycott Montgomery Buses, Racial Segregation, and support for the political prisoners in the US involving issues of self-defence. Even in the later years of life when her body could not stand much exertion, she co-founded the Rosa L.Parks Scholarship Foundation, the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development and served on the board of advocates of planned parenthood. She continued to work till death as she was of the opinion that much was to be changed and only a little had been accomplished by her.
Her life had many predicaments and moments of grief like she was once acquitted for using a deadly weapon to protect herself from sexual assault, she and her husband suffered from stomach ulcers, and they even faced financial strains. She even required financial assistance from the church groups. Her husband died from throat cancer, and the same fate was met by her brother and the only sibling. Despite these despondent moments, she served her mother till death and even society. Her indomitable spirit to continue working and her empathy for those who are discriminated against and the strong character she possesses deserves the honour.
RUTH BADER GINSBURG
She recently died due to complications of pancreatic cancer and was earlier also diagnosed with colon cancer. Her husband too suffered from testicular cancer. Nevertheless, these hard times did not deter her from missing the court sessions.
She was a renowned lawyer who became the Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, the second woman to serve on the court. Earlier she served as the Solicitor General. She mainly focussed on women’s rights and gender equality.
Her visit to Sweden showed her a different lifestyle for women as compared to that in the US. She advocated as a volunteer attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, was the first tenured woman at Columbia Law School, co-authored the first law school casebook on sex discrimination. She advocated on many issues like abortion rights, voting rights and for the rights of Native Americans and was successful in many.
Despite the fact that her mother died even before she completed her high school and that she, herself was discriminated against like she was paid less at the Law School and the difficulties she faced in finding employment did not stop her from raising these issues in the court and fighting for the rights of a woman who too is a human being.
Her skilled oral advocacy and the zeal to get the rights by focussing on simple points rather than asking for an end to gender equality simply made her successful in her career.
MARY COFFIN WARE DENNETT
Mary co-founded the Twilight Sleep Association and wrote the famous twenty four-page long passage on ‘Sex Side of Life’ which was considered radical, obscene and smutty. She was an American activist for women’s suffrage and mainly worked on issues like sex education, birth control etc.
Her father died when she was just ten years old, but her mother provided a proper upbringing to the girl, and both her mother and her aunt worked for women’s rights. Her husband left her because she was advised by the doctor to not have more kids. She had gone through a near-death experience in all her deliveries, and her second child had sadly died soon after the delivery. When her husband even refused to provide financial help to their children, she was firstly shaken by the austere realities of life but then gaining up the courage she joined the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association and became the Secretary.
Later, she co-founded the National Birth Control League and advocated the use of scopolamine and morphine for painless deliveries. She considered that these issues though, considered as indecent and filthy among the public, needed mention in the society, as she herself was a sufferer and could understand the other women who were in the same boat as she was. She participated in campaigns, rallies, petitions, gave lectures, mainly focusing on making birth control information legal.
Thus, she inspires many women of every generation to not remain silent but speak up boldly and fight for the rights they deserve, the issues that need a mention and can’t be just ignored by giving the name offensive and crude.
CLAUDIA JONES
She was a journalist, activist and founder of UK’s first major black newspaper (WEST GAZETTE) which was anti-racist and anti-imperialist. She was a member of the communist party of the USA and was also a feminist. The nucleus of the movement was mainly anti-imperialism, and she even wrote a piece of writing on ‘An end to the neglect of the problems of the Negro women’ For this she was arrested and sentenced to first of four spelling in prison. Later she was sent to the UK where she continued her work and got acclaimed from many blacks.
The major setback in her life was that she being a part of a stricken poverty family suffered from tuberculosis which damaged her lungs, astonishingly, she could not even get proper treatment for it. Moreover, she was a bright student yet found difficulty in further career and studies in the US as she was a black woman. She has shown to all the girls that skin colour is not the colour of your thoughts, heart, and soul so, never let the outer appearance diminish the spark inside you.
SOJOURNER TRUTH
Born into slavery, she worked on charity for the poor and women’s rights. She escaped from slavery with her girl and even fought in court to get her son back. Interestingly, she was the first black woman to win against a white man.
The sufferings of women and slaves can only be felt but not described. She delivered a speech ‘Ain’t I a woman’ which became famous during the civil war, was based on the lack of recognition black women received. Furthermore, her speeches had a huge impact on the general public like the speech delivered at Northampton Camp Meeting, Mob Convention, Abolitionist Convention, American Equal Rights Association, Eighth Anniversary of Negro Freedom etc.’She helped recruit many black troops for the Union Army after the war. She changed her name to Sojourner Truth because she felt the Spirit of God was calling on her to preach the truth. She became a part of organisations that support women’s rights, religious tolerance and pacifism.
AMELIA EARHART
She is regarded as the feminist icon, being the first woman to fly alone across the Atlantic Ocean. Amelia was an aviation pioneer as well as an author and was also the backbone of the Ninety-Nines, an organisation for female pilots. Since her childhood, she had been adventurous. She had a gleeful and colourful childhood which was shattered with the death of her grandmother and the loss of her father’s job. Before her ride in an Air racer, she had tried many career options which were mainly dominated by men. But once the realisation of her goal struck on her, she worked hard, with full dedication and focus. Though some hurdles like her sinus operation, the financial crisis in her family did come in her way, yet nothing could stop her from going on many solo flying expeditions. Remorsefully, she disappeared on one such flight from Howland Island to New Guinea and was declared dead later. But her dedication, the spirit to achieve her goals at a time when women were fighting for equal rights inspires many.
Forbes list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women
2019 (top 10 selection)
Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany
Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, and President of the European Central Bank
Nancy Pelosi, 52nd Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission
Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors
Melinda Gates, Co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Abigail Johnson, President-CEO of Fidelity Investments
Ana Patricia Botín, Executive Chairman of Banco Santander
Ginni Rometty, CEO of IBM
Marillyn Hewson, CEO of Lockheed Martin
Source: Wikipedia
Conclusion
It is quite clear that earlier or later everyone has to face some problems in their lives and they come up in different forms. For some of us, these may be common while they can be completely different too, yet we must understand that those who fight them are able to leave an indelible impression in human history. Those who remain silent and don’t stand against the wrong or realise his/her dreams is the one at whom everyone looks up to. Not just the rights these and many more women have advocated for but also the values and their character to reflect a strong spirit and provide one with a lot to learn from. The hard work, dedication, sincerity, serenity, empathy, love and care they have shown are the other values that we must imbibe from them. Their deeds will continue to inspire future generations.
Co-author: Paridhi Singhal
