5 amazing women you need to know about
We celebrate and honor women on a particular day every March, while that may be a way to show women our appreciation and admire them for their works but some women need to be remembered always irrespective of the time. We all must have heard about Marie Curie, Florence Nightingale, Anne Frank, and Oprah Winfrey, let us also applaud and adore some ladies lesser spoken of.
Starting with the strong, the sassy, and my personal favorite,
1) Margaret Thatcher
Born to a local grocer in Lincolnshire, Margaret was as bold and unapologetic from her early years as she was when she became the Prime Minister of the UK and was also the first woman to head a European nation.
The towering Tory politician was known for her economic policy- Thatcherism, as we say. Although people have divided opinions on the influence of Thatcher as a leader, the takeaway from this legendary figure is how she shot right at the top in a male-dominated area and was unapologetically straightforward when it came to implementing her policies.
“Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.” — Ladies take notes.
2) Maryam Mirzakhani
Have you ever wondered at the curve of pringles chips or the curly ends of a leaf of kale? Well, she did.
Her research work surrounded not exactly the chip or kale but the surfaces known as ‘Hyperbolic Surfaces’. What is a hyperbolic surface? We do not need to know that, all we need to know and celebrate is that Maryam was the first woman to have been honored with the prestigious Fields medal, often regarded as highly as a Nobel but distinct as it is given every four years.
Maryam Mirzakhani died at the young age of 40 due to breast cancer which came as a huge loss to the entire fraternity of mathematicians. Often described as ambitious and fearless, she makes us women always believe in the power of our intellect and dreams.
So if you ever feel insecure about the surroundings being male dominant, just think about her and I promise you, you will get that dose of motivation you need at that moment.
3) Rosalind Franklin
“Wronged Heroine”, “Dark Lady of DNA”, “Feminist Icon” (I like this one), are some of the epithets given to Rosalind mainly because of her major contributions to the discovery of DNA structure which were recognized only after her demise.
The British scientist also researched on Tobacco Mosaic Virus but sadly passed away just a day before the research was to be presented. Her other contributions include work in remarkable X-ray crystallography and studies related to Coal and Carbon during World War 2. Well, that is one hell of a story for a biopic, isn’t it?
The world is under constant transformation and some women still face challenges even today, it wouldn’t be an overstatement that Rosalind Franklin can be regarded as the flag bearer of feminism in the transitional period.
4) Billie Jean King
Sagittarius women are brimming with passion and ambition they say, well I believe it because that describes this powerhouse of talent. Billie Jean King is a former no. 1 American tennis player and has 39 career titles including 12 singles.
Apart from being one of the most influential women in the history of female athletes, she has also been the strongest advocate of equal pay for women and men in sports. She is also the first prominent athlete to come out as a Lesbian and thereafter she worked for GBLT rights. In 2020, the prestigious Federation cup was renamed after her. The list of her achievements just doesn’t seem to end
. Although I am not very active in sports, I have always admired female athletes because they radiate so much energy and passion and it is very empowering to see wonderful women excelling in sports.
5) Margaret Sanger
It’s just a coincidence that I began the list with one Margaret and going to end it with another. The term ‘sex educator’ sounds rather a recent term in popularity, but Sanger was a social reformer and sex educator when these topics were still viewed with a narrow perspective.
Motivated by her life events, she began to raise awareness on the subject of childbirth and alleviate the problems of women facing unwanted pregnancies, as she lost her mother at a young age to TB which was worsened due to the continuous cycle of childbirth and miscarriages. Margaret is also credited to be the founder of the term ‘Birth Control’.
While sex education still didn’t get the importance it deserves but we have come still come a long way for which efforts of women like Sanger need to be appreciated
Inspiring, impressive, and impelling are the words that describe these great women. Keep working hard ladies, you never know, one day you might make it to the list too.
