March is Women’s History Month. A month dedicated to women all over in all walks of life. Though we should be celebrated all the time, I will take this month and run with it.
The future without a doubt is female. But we have a lot of women to thank that have paved the way. Here is my incomplete list of some of the most influential women I can think of — women that have trail-blazed to bring voices to the voiceless, worked for equal rights and intersectional feminism. Please feel free to add your own as I know I’m missing so many and *tried* to just keep them in this century. If I added every inspiring female this post would never end and your hand would cramp up from scrolling. I’m just here to help and get your brain fired up.
In no particular order I present my heroes and some important bullet points.
Ida Bell Wells-Barnett (better known as Ida B. Wells)
- Did you know they named a street after her in Chicago? It’s my favorite.
- She was one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
- To add to her credits: investigative journalist, educator, and an early leader in the Civil Rights Movement and Women’s Suffrage Movement.
Angela Merkel
- Often described as the de facto leader of the European Union and the most powerful woman in the world.
- Earned a doctorate in quantum chemistry in 1986 and entered the political scene in 1989 and has been reelected every time since, working her way up to now serving as Chancellor of Germany (since 2005).
- Neither one of us can hide our annoyance because our faces will always give us away.
Sandra Day O’Connor
- She said upon her confirmation, “I think the important fact about my appointment is not that I will decide cases as a woman but that I am a woman who will get to decide cases.”
- The FIRST woman to serve on the Supreme Court after her 1981 nomination.
- She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor of the United States, by President Barack Obama in 2009
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (She gets her own too because if you know me, you know RBG is at the top and always will be. Enjoy some of her best quotes.)
- “When I’m sometimes asked when will there be enough [women on the supreme court]? And I say ‘When there are nine.’ People are shocked. But there’d been nine men, and nobody’s ever raised a question about that.”
- “Women will have achieved true equality when men share with them the responsibility of bringing up the next generation.”
- “I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.”
Rosa Parks
- When you think of the Civil Rights Movement you think of Rosa Parks. In 1955, Parks refused to give up her seat in the “colored section” of a bus to a white man and was charged with civil disobedience. This launched her into the role of international icon of resistance for racial segregation.
- She is known as “the mother of the freedom movement” or “the first lady of civil rights.”
Eleanor Roosevelt
- She holds a special place in my heart after I did a book report on her in 4th grade – probably to blame for my democratic roots.
- After her husband passed, Eleanor continued her humanitarian efforts as a member of the first American delegation to the U.N. and helped develop the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and UNICEF.
Margaret Sanger
- I will get some flack for this but honestly, her contribution to the world has helped me. In 2007 I had an abnormal result during my annual test. I couldn’t afford health insurance and looked to (*ducks in anticipation of tomatoes or insults being thrown my way) Planned Parenthood to do a biopsy and prescribe affordable birth control to help with the pain. I’m fine now, though I’m still screened annually to make sure I don’t have cervical cancer. I have my own health insurance now but I know I could depend on them for a mammogram down the road.
- Sanger founded the American Birth Control League — later known as Planned Parenthood — and was behind the research and funding for the first FDA-approved oral contraceptive, Enovid.
Gloria Steinem
- Gloria went undercover as a Playboy bunny to report on the treatment of women at Playboy clubs for Show magazine.
- Gloria was also one of over three hundred women who founded the National Women’s Political Caucus (NWPC), including other incredibly notable women such as Bella Abzug, Betty Friedan, Shirley Chisholm, and Myrlie Evers-Williams.
- “This is no simple reform. It really is a revolution. Sex and race because they are easy and visible differences have been the primary ways of organizing human beings into superior and inferior groups and into the cheap labor on which this system still depends. We are talking about a society in which there will be no roles other than those chosen or those earned. We are really talking about humanism.”
Carrie Fisher
- Carrie is my hero. She will always be my hero. What she has done for me, a daily survivor from the burdens of my mental health, will never be matched. She has always inspired me to not worry about the thoughts of those who criticize me. To be a princess but also a general. To age naturally and gracefully. And most importantly, to be my genuine, unapologetic, badass self.
Margaret Thatcher
- Nicknamed “The Iron Lady” from her uncompromising politics and leadership style, Margaret became the first woman to lead a major political party in the United Kingdom in 1975. She went on to be the Prime Minister after winning the 1979 general election.
Oprah Winfrey
- In all honesty, what has Oprah not done? Hosted the most successful daytime TV program in history and won multiple Emmys. Probably won the election for Obama. Started the Oprah Book Club boosting the country to read more. She’s been successful in film, writing and publishing. Marketing genius. Oprah is the boss of all bosses and one of the most inspiring women to exist in my opinion.
Sylvia Plath
- Oh, the woman who put her head in the oven? What the hell, Chrystal? But if it wasn’t for Sylvia Plath, you wouldn’t be reading this or any other blogs by me. Sylvia inspired me to write, especially about navigating my life through depression and eventually an unhappy marriage. She spearheaded confessional style poetry and became someone I looked up to in my teenage years. I remember reading “Daddy” for the first time after learning about her in a literature class. The tear stained book of poems still sits on my bookshelf, dog-eared and filled with notes and my own thoughts and observations. So thank her if you’re reading this. Or curse her if you hate what I write about. I don’t care at all as long as her name is on your mind now.
Frida Kahlo
- Frida was a Mexican artist that was mostly unknown until the 70s when her work was rediscovered.
- Frida has since become recognized as a figure in art history, but also as an icon for Chicanos, the feminism movement and the LGBTQ movement.
Georgia O’Keeffe
- Not to be confused with me, Chrystal O’Keefe, only one F.
- She is the “Mother of American modernism” and the inspiration behind my love of photographing flowers.
Diana, Princess of Wales
- I wanted to note that through the immense pressure the palace and media put on her, she found time to devote herself to the following humanitarian efforts (to name a few): AIDS, Cancer, Landmines, HIV, Leprosy and Homelessness.
Rosalind Franklin
- Rosalind Franklin was a British Chemist who made significant contributions to understanding the structure of DNA and RNA.
- Not to brag on her or anything but this led to the discovery of the DNA double helix.
Malala Yousafzai
- Malala is a Pakistani schoolgirl who defied threats of the Taliban to campaign for the right to education.
- She survived being shot in the head by the Taliban.
- Now she is a global advocate for women’s rights, especially the right to education.
Coretta Scott King
- Coretta, widow to Martin Luther King Jr., founded the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change.
- She continued to campaign for civil rights and gay rights even after her husband’s death.
- She also helped to found the National Organisation for Women. (NOW)
Sojourner Truth
- Sojourner was an African-American abolitionist and women’s rights campaigner.
- In 1851, Sojourner gave the famous speech you might’ve heard about in history class. “Ain’t I a woman?” She was ahead of her time and expressed that women are actually equal to men.
Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw
- We wouldn’t have the term “intersectional feminism” without Kimberlé. I urge you to read her 1991 article Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color. We all need to be present at the table, but women of color are rarely brought to the Civil Rights discussion. You think having a man dictate what happens with a female body is wrong? Imagine how women of color feel when the table is full of white girls deciding for all women.
Annie Clark (aka St. Vincent)
- Honestly, I just think she’s the most gorgeous woman in the world and needs to be here. Her music has always empowered me and her guitar skills are out of this world good. Listen to MASSEDUCTION and try to not feel like a sexy and totally empowered person. It is just not possible. She’s the babe of all babes.
Last but not least, my beautiful, smart and mostly bionic cousin, Nicole.
- She inspires me daily to overcome obstacles both large and small. After breaking nearly everything after being struck by a car, she learned how to walk again and finished school before going off to law school. She’s my hero and basically Wonder Woman.
