10 Women Who Marked and Changed History
Throughout their lives, several women dared to take control of their destiny and transcend the context in which they lived.
Throughout history, despite living in a patriarchal world, many women were able to change the course of political, historical, scientific, and social events in humanity.
Thousands of women throughout history fought against prejudice and proved that it is possible to excel in a male-dominated world. They dared to take control of their destinies and transcend the context in which they lived. In doing so, they marked a turning point in history.
This article reviews 10 women—out of the many that exist—who developed and participated in heroic and inspiring tasks. Find out what each of their contributions was.
1. Malala Yousafzai
Malala is a civil rights activist, particularly for women in the Swat Valley of Pakistan, where the Taliban regime has banned girls from attending school. Her ideals led to her being shot in the head while returning home from school on a bus in the city of Mingora. Far from being deterred, the young woman extended her fight globally. Her work led to her being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014. At just 17 years old, she became the youngest person ever to receive this prestigious award.
2. Marie Curie
A two-time Nobel Prize winner in different fields (physics and chemistry), Marie Curie is the most renowned female scientist in history. The Polish-born, naturalized French scientist discovered polonium and radium as chemical elements and was the first woman to become a professor at the University of Paris. Demonstrating a selfless attitude, Marie Curie did not patent the process of isolating radium, leaving it open to research by the entire scientific community. Despite facing prejudice as a woman in science, Curie never gave up on her passion and continued her research even at the risk of her health.
3.Hedy Lamarr
She was an actress of extraordinary beauty who reigned supreme in the pantheon of Hollywood's golden age. She possessed a glamour that everyone admired, which overshadowed her other facets. The artist was not only a sex symbol, but also possessed a brilliant mind and was the creator of a communications system upon which all current technologies are based, including GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and even military transmissions.
Inventing was her true passion. She developed a parallel and rather discreet career as a telecommunications engineer. She helped the magnate Howard Hughes in his obsession with creating a faster airplane by studying the aerodynamics of birds and the physiology of fish.
4. Simone de Beauvoir
She was a French writer, teacher, and philosopher. "The Second Sex" is considered one of the most fundamental works of the feminist movement. This book was included on the Catholic Church's Index of Prohibited Books. In her writings, she denounced the education given to girls and criticized the patriarchal society in which young women grew up, a society that limited them to marriage and family.
5. Frida Kahlo
She is considered one of the most influential Mexican women of her time. She transcended boundaries through her innovative artwork and is remembered today as one of the most famous artists of the 20th century. From her paintings to more personal aspects of her life, Kahlo always sought to do things differently from the norm. Her sexual orientation and her challenge to stereotypes were a clear sign of rebellion. For this reason, she became an icon of strong women.
6. Rosa Parks
Recognized as the “First Lady of Civil Rights” by the United States Congress, Rosa Parks was an activist who refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger. This led to a boycott in Montgomery and other similar demonstrations that sought to end racial segregation and fight for the civil rights of African Americans in the United States.
7. Valentina Tereshkova
This Soviet woman was the first woman in history to travel to space and the only one to do so solo, aboard Vostok 6 in 1963. She was part of a study that sought to answer the question of whether women offered the same physical and mental stamina in space as men. The conclusion after the three-day extraterrestrial journey was affirmative. After the space mission, she studied and graduated as a space engineer. Years later, she entered politics, where she held various positions until reaching the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
8. Coco Chanel
If anyone marked a turning point in the world of fashion, it was Coco Chanel. During World War I, she abandoned opulent women's dresses and adapted traditionally masculine garments with a simple and comfortable style. She also developed lines of handbags, perfumes, hats, and jewelry. She is the only fashion designer to appear on Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century.
9. Amelia Earhart
Besides being one of the pioneers of aviation in the United States, Earhart was the first woman pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. When World War I broke out, Amelia moved with her sister to Toronto to volunteer caring for wounded and sick pilots. It was there that she came into contact with the world of aviation and began to familiarize herself with "those strange machines."
Her passion for flying truly blossomed in California in 1929, when she dared to fly a biplane during an air show in Long Beach. It was her baptism by fire. From that moment on, she began taking flying lessons from another female pilot, Neta Snook, and earned her pilot's license, something only 15 women had achieved up to that point. In 1937, Earhart disappeared without a trace while flying over the central Pacific Ocean.
10.Virginia Woolf
With her novels and writings, British author Virginia Woolf became one of the leading figures of 20th-century feminism and literary modernism. In fact, her 1923 essay "A Room of One's Own" is one of the most frequently cited texts. The writer suffered several bouts of depression throughout her life, the first occurring at age 13 with the death of her mother. In the following years, she was also sexually abused by her stepbrothers, which instilled in her a strong sense of resistance against sexism that she expressed in her work.
Original article: 10 Women Who Marked and Changed History by The times
