Women do amazing things. Not only for their gender, but for the world. International Woman's Day just passed, and I'll say that I am proud to be a woman. We are stronger and more tenacious than we even know. Great things await us, accomplishments for mankind and womanhood alike.
Don't forget about those before us, who set us up to succeed, sometimes fail, and always learn. International Woman's Day is for the amazing women in your life and the women we might forget to appreciate.
1. Harriet Beecher Stowe
Best known for her anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, Stowe helped bring America to the Civil War. At the start of the war, she went to Washington D.C and met with Abraham Lincoln who greeted her, "So you are the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war."
2. Eleanor Roosevelt
She is one of the most active first lady's. Eleanor Roosevelt dealt in Democratic Party politics and also social reforms. After her husband's death, Roosevelt became a delegate for the United Nations as well as a continued advocate for social rights.
3. Simone de Beauvoir
A French writer and existentialist, de Beauvoir was responsible for the road to modern feminism. She wrote the book, The Second Sex, to critique the patriarchy and how women are made into second-class citizens.
4. Mother Teresa
It is hard to forget about the first female saint. She was a great humanitarian who founded a congregation of women who helped the poor and needy, Order of the Missionaries of Charity. Women are rumored to be driven by their heart. Mother Teresa proved that, maybe, following the heart, isn't such a bad idea.
5. Dorothy Hodgkin
Today, high school chemistry classes read a book about her life and her amazing accomplishments in the science field. She discovered the structure of penicillin, B12, and insulin, which awarded her the Nobel prize for chemistry in 1964.
6. Billie Holiday
Her voice is timeless. Billie Holiday is thought to be one of the best jazz singers of all time. She gave women a place as vocalists. Holiday paved the road that women artists strut down daily.
7. Betty Friedan
Betty Friedan held an active part in the woman's movement. Often, she is thought to have brought on the second wave of American feminism with her book The Feminine Mystique. She was a writer and an activist. Friedan co-founded and resided as president of the National Organization for Women.
8. Wangari Maathai
On top of being an internationally-known environmental activist, she led the way for women on the other side of the world. She was the first woman to earn a doctorate degree in East and Central Africa and the first African woman to win a Nobel prize.
9. Hillary Clinton
She is the closest any woman has come to becoming president. We have been rulers of all kinds: queens, heroes and prime ministers, but never President of the United States. Clinton was brave and a trailblazer for amazing women.
10. Oprah Winfrey
An advocate for women and the black community, Oprah Winfrey was the first woman to have her own talk show and is the richest African-American. She was the first black person in North America to become a multi-billionaire.
