Well Behaved Women Seldom Make History
On this anniversary month of the 100 years of women having the right to vote, I am finally publishing the women in history blog.
In 1976, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich wrote a little article about a Puritan funeral service. She included that sentence never realizing it would become almost an anthem for women. The article concluded that witches and women of ill repute would be remembered, but that those to whom were mothers and upstanding members of society would not.
Well Known Women
While All women are important, some of the better known women throughout history have left a mark on the consciousness of society. Starting with one of my all time favorites, Elizabeth Cady Stanton. It as Stanton, not Susan B. Anthony, who really started the women’s movement. It was in 1848 in Seneca Falls, NY when she came to be known for writing the Declaration of Sentiments for women for the first women’s rights convention. She began her interests with abolition and temperance, but soon focused her efforts on women’s rights or lack thereof. When she married her husband, she left out the phrase “to obey” feeling it was a partnership. You Go Girl! That, at the time, total badass move!
Fateful Meeting
It wasn’t until 1851 that Elizabeth met Susan B. Anthony and the two women formed an unstoppable force. They traveled the country giving speeches wherever they could. Since Elizabeth had 7 children throughout the years, it was up to Susan to do much of the travel. Both women died before seeing their years of hard work become a reality with the ratification of the 19th amendment.
Fly Girls
Even though Raymonde de Laroche in France was the first woman to fly solo, and Harriet Quimby was the first American female licensed pilot, it was Amelia Earhart who is well known as the first woman to pilot across the atlantic. Had she not followed her heart and determination, and had the ambition to do so, no one would know who she was. She didn’t let anyone stop her and she changed history.
First Ladies
A few of the most influential first ladies in U.S. history are Eleanor Roosevelt, first lady from 1933 to 1945. After President Roosevelt died, Eleanor was on the board of directors for the NAACP, helped form the United Nations and was instrumental in believing in FDR so he could run for elected office in the first place. Betty Ford was a major advocate for the Equal Rights Amendment and founder of the Betty Ford clinic. Dolley Madison wouldn’t leave the White House during the war of 1812 while it was being attacked until she could save as many items as possible ensuring historical significance.
The first woman to run for president, was a suffragette, named Victoria Woodhull, though she wasn’t yet 35 years old and couldn’t even vote! Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to Congress, ran for President in 1972, as did Carol Moseley Braun in 2003.
Gloria Steinem and Bella Abzug help found the National Women’s Political Caucus. The League Of Women Voters, founded just 6 months before the 19th amendment was passed, to ensure the passage and continues today to be a bipartisan information and voter registration organization.
Queens
Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, was thought to have influenced Roman politics through her relationships with Caesar and Mark Antony, keeping Egypt an independent country. Queen Kristina of Sweden never married and never had a male advisor.
Mother of the Freedom Movement
What if Rosa Parks was well behaved and didn’t sit in the ‘whites only’ section of the bus? By doing so, she started a snowball of events that changed history. By not sitting at the back of the bus, she inspired thousands of people to make a change for the better. Harriet Tubman was an abolitionist and activist who escaped slavery and went on to rescue many more, and organized a network to do so.
“Each Person Must Live Their Life As A Model For Others”~Rosa Parks
Margaret Thatcher, Mother Teresa, Marie Curie, Pocahontas, Hillary Clinton, Alice Guy-Blanche, Hattie McDaniel, Mary Shelley, writer of Frankenstein, and thousands more all refusing to be complacent and accept that they should not do their own thing and stand out. History, despite most of it being written and narrated by men, does not belong to only men, but to all. Remember, women can do anything a man can do, backwards and in high heels. If girls can’t open a book and read about women and girls like themselves, how are they to know anything is possible?
Who are some of your favorite female warriors and badasses? Share in the comments and go be a leader!