On the spot on Wednesday night, our group named a few female icons and inspiring women...
It's amazing what your brain mulling something over, and the input of a few mates, can do in 36 hours, isn't it?
Abigail Witchells
Amelia Earheart
Ang San Su Chi
Angela Merkell
Anita Roddick
Ann Begg
Annie Oakley
Billie Holiday
Boadicea
Camilla Batmanghelidjh
Charlotte Bronte
Debbi Harry
Delia Smith
Dorothy Day
Eleanor Rosevelt
Ellen McArthur
Emily Bronte
Emily Dickinson
Emmeline Pankhurst
Estelle Morris
Esther (Bible)
Eve (Bible)
Fiona Castle
Florence Nightingale
Gee Walker
Germaine Greer
Helen Keller
Ida Lupino
Jacqueline Wilson
Janet Street Porter
Jennifer Beals
Jo Brand
Jo Whiley
Joan of Arc
Jocelyn Bell-Burnell
Julian of Norwich
Julie Walters
Karen Brady
Kate Bush
Kate Winslett
Kylie
Madonna
Margaret Atwood
Margaret Thatcher
Marie Curie
Martha (Bible)
Mary (Bible)
Mary Seacole
Michelle Obama
Mother Teresa
My mum
My nan
“myself”
Nancy Rothwell
Naomi (Bible)
Patti Smith
PJ Harvey
Queen Elizabeth I
Queen Margaret
Queen Victoria
Rachel Whiteread
Rosa Parkes
Ruth (Bible)
Sam Taylor Wood
Sheila Hancock
Tamar (Genesis 38, Bible)
Tanni Grey Thompson
Virginia Woolf
Vivien Westwood
Winnie Mandela
8 comments:
Kevin says Dame Judie Dench... (blogger won't let him post)
Jo Brand?
Thatcher?
I guess it was a very long 36 hours if you managed to scrape them from the back of the drawer... how exactly can we find inspiration from Brand? How is Thatcher a role model for girls?
I would be interested to see how Jade Goody and Harriet Harman failed to pass the same stringent criteria you have used to pass Brand and Thatcher in your rigorous selection process! ;)
...Lev
I may not approve of Maggie's politics, but she and Jo Brand certainly have shown a lot of boldness, audacity and the courage to say what they think - I'm often not very good at that and I admire them for it... and I love Jo Brand's insightfulness and sense of humour... Go Jo!
Jo Brand also for being fat and not caring. Fat is a feminist issue, y'know.
And Margaret Thatcher was a trailblazer - having a prime minister who was a woman has probably changed what women feel able to expect to achieve.
I'd also add Betty Friedan to the list.
I'm really not sure how you would argue for Jade Goodyas either a female icon or an inspiring woman.
Yeah, Thatcher is a tricky one. I feel very strongly against much of what she stood for and accomplished politically, not to mention her shutting and bolting the trap door in the glass ceiling firmly shut behind her. I also have a big problem with the way she "ruled" the cabinet and the country.
But the fact that she was a female elected to a top job for a significant amount of time can't be ignored.
She doesn't inspire me, just makes me very angry in how she changed the society in which I live (if society exists, eh Maggie?) for the worse and how she did nothing active to encourage women in politics. But I guess she may be inspiring to others, which is why the list wouldn't be complete without her...
Yes, her style was, I think, to act like a man, so she did nothing to change notions of power in a way which would encourage diversity. But just by being female and doing the job she changed the landscape. Equally, I don't really like Jacqui Smith's approach but I'm very pleased to have a female home secretary. It feels less like gender matters now in choosing cabinet positions.
There are no criteria or judgements to it. It's just a list.
Big shout-out for comedy women. There are lots of 'em, and this is just a few that have inspired me:
Dawn French.
Kathy Burke.
Oriane Messina and Fay Rusling (writers).
Jo Enright.
Amelia Bullmore.
Linda Smith.
Jessica Hynes.
Caroline Aherne.
Doon Mackichan.
Victoria Pile (Green Wing creator).
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