Admired Women

[WildChild]

We get bombarded with plastic women; models, actresses, performers. News stories even about powerful and influential women will often make note of what they were wearing and sometimes even discount the woman's message or work over commentary on her wardrobe.

I love the saying that Well Mannered Women Seldom Make History. One series of books I really like is Vicki Leon's, Uppity Women. She's got them for just about every time in history which is an accomplishment considering how sidelined women have been for much of it.

Putting aside the shallowness about boobs, butts, makeup and wardrobe - who are women now or historically that you admire and why?

[WildChild]

One woman I find interesting is Cleopatra. She was the last of the Ptolemiac Pharaohs. While her beauty was legend, by the standards of her time, she was quite a politician. She was well educated and spoke several languages. As custom dictated to keep the blood line she was married to two of her brothers, both of whom died without issue (probably with a little help).

She consolidated her rule by aligning with Gaius Julius Caesar and had a son (Caesarian) with him. After Caesar was assasinated, she and Mark Anthony had three children together. He killed himself after losing a battle fighting Octavian to keep her throne. The story has been that she committed suicide by having an Asp bite her but recently speculation has been that she was in fact murdered by Ocatavian or his minions. The city she died in is now under water.

As an author I was reading pointed out, she didn't win her place in history and legend by standing around pigeon toed, with a finger in her mouth, giggling. She was a force to be reckonned with. At that time in history succession went to the one who survived, assasination was a common means of clearing a path, forming alliances was vital, subtlety and manipulation were needed - seems not much has changed in politics.

She was a facinating woman will never know all the truth about her but when do we ever?

[ItsASecret]

Rosalind Franklin. Anyone who has taken a decent chemistry or biology course should know of her. She worked with a method called X-ray diffraction which is a way to determine properties like chemical composition, and crystal structure of materials. Her main focus was on DNA. It was her work that lead to the confirmation of the structure of DNA by two famous guys called James Watson and Francis Crick. Many scientists believe that it should have been Rosalind credited with the discovery of the structure but Watson and Crick got it instead. I think I like her because there are not a whole lot of women in history that have made such major contributions to science like she did.

[ThexMrs]

No way! I cannot believe you just posted this thread. I was laying in bed last night thinking because yet again, I couldn't sleep and I was going to post a thread on people you admire, not just women but this is a great start. Thank you!

I really admire Margaret Sanger. When I was in High School I did a report on her. She was a "Womens Rights Activist" for birth control. She thought that women should have the right as to whether or not they wanted to have children. She endured a lot because of this. Margaret also founded what we know now as Planned Parenthood.

[WildChild]

Well there's some serendipity for you !

[dr.mansview]

mother teresa..a woman who put thousands of poor and dying people's interests above her own well being

[ThexMrs]

mother teresa..a woman who put thousands of poor and dying people's interests above her own well being

So cliche, lol.

Well there's some serendipity for you !

I know it, that's great!

[anonymouswhitefemale]

I admire Gail Porters boobs.

Also the girl from Mythbusters, she's a good shot - unexpected for a woman

[Isabellacat]

One series of books I really like is Vicki Leon's, Uppity Women.

OMG I have that book too!!! It's on my shelf right next to my Jean Shinoda Bolen books that I still need to read. That's a great book you have!

As far as women who I look up to...... I like Grace Slick,Wendy O Williams, Lydia Lunch, Mary Timony, Joan Jett.....the women in rock n roll who are totally against all that plastic stuff, say things that's on their minds and write music for people to think.

As far as literature I look up to Mary Daly and Virginia Woolfe. I don't agree way too much with a few things they say because they're out of date, but I do admire their radical stance against oppression. Mary Daly has such a wonderful array of words, I really feel her anger towards men.

[acerousme]

I admire George Sand....No...its not a man. Shes a writer. Many female writers had to take on aliases to get published.


OR Helen Keller...