Just a bit of inspiration for your next #womancrushwednesday (but honestly, who needs a special occasion to celebrate inspirational women?)
1. Ruth Bader Ginsburg
As the second female supreme court justice and first Jewish female supreme court justice in history, Ruth Bader Ginsburg has spent a considerable portion of her career acting as a women's rights activist. Ginsburg, (affectionately referred to as "The Notorious RBG") spends her off-time working with a personal trainer in the Supreme Court gym, and can reportedly lift more than fellow male justices Breyer and Kagan. You go, RBG!
2. Malala Yousafzai
In 2012, Malala was shot by members of the Taliban in retaliation for her public demands that women in Pakistan receive an education. Malala survived the attack, going on to become the youngest recipient of a Nobel Peace Prize, and is currently continuing her activist work through 'The Malala Fund'.
3. Geung-hye Park
As South Korea's first-ever female president, Geung-hye Park oversees the world's 14th largest economy. Park has been named the world's 11th most powerful woman by Forbes magazine two years running, and is currently dedicating her time to enhancing national security against threats from No rth Korea.
4. Anita Sarkeesian
If you aren't already familiar with the work of this Canadian-American feminist blogger, I highly recommend that you check out one of her many videos or articles on feministfrequency.com. Sarkeesian is particularly well-known for her role as an advocate for equal gender representation in the gaming industry, an idea she first explored in her masters' thesis, entitled "I'll Make a Man Out of You: Strong women in Science Fiction and Fantasy Television."
5. Amy Schumer
Perhaps you know her from her work on Saturday Night Live, or from her 2015 film Trainwrecked... or maybe you recognize Schumer's name from her sketch comedy series, Inside Amy Schumer. Schumer is currently taking over the comedy industry with her witty comedy, using humor to promote feminist ideas and address relevant social issues. I think its safe to say that Amy has become the official #girlcrush of world citizens everywhere.
6. Obiageli Ezekwesili
Ezekwesili is the co-founder of Transparency International, a non-government affiliated organization dedicated to eliminating corporate and political corruption, while providing voices to the victims of such corruption. She is perhaps best known for her instrumental role in the viral #BringBackOurGirls campaign, following the abduction of nearly 300 Christian girls by the Islamic militant group Boko Haram. Tragically, most of the girls remain missing today.
7. Katrin Amunts
Katrin Amunts loves the human brain. Her passion for delving into the complex world of neurons and synapses serves her well in her job as leader of a research team responsible for developing the most comprehensive and high-resolution digital model of the human brain ever.
8. Ellen Ochoa
In 1993, Ellen Ochoa became the first Hispanic woman in the world to go into space. Today, she has logged more than 950 hours in space travel time, having participated in four separate NASA missions. Ellen has won more metals and awards than I can fit into a reasonable amount of text, and is currently serving as director of the Johnson Space Center.
9. Roxane Gay
At age 19, Roxane Gay ran away from home. Instead of boarding her flight back to Connecticut, where she was enrolled at Yale University, she hopped on a flight to Arizona and spent a year doing "nothing illegal". This defiant lady is now famous for her best-selling novel "Bad Feminist," which criticizes forms of feminism that "improve the lives of heterosexual white women to the detriment of all others."
10. Seryl Sanberg
This Facebook COO got her start as chief of staff for a U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, before becoming VP of Google's Global Online Sales and Operations and eventually joining Facebook. Sandburg is currently reported to be worth over 1 billion U.S. dollars, and serves on the board of Women for Women International.
