Though Women’s History Month is drawing to a close, that doesn’t mean we should stop honoring the lovely ladies it commemorates. Her Campus has chosen our favorite influential women- take a lesson from their success!
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We are surrounded by women that have broken the traditional views and expectations of gender. Women have more freedom to succeed and to be themselves than ever before. Here’s a look at the most influential women who have tested the boundaries of society; we can all learn a lesson or two from them.
Oprah Winfrey
“I was raised to believe that excellence is the best deterrent to racism or sexism. And that’s how I operate my life.” -Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey wasn’t born successful or even on a path that would encourage her to be. She was born into poverty and constantly switched homes until she eventually ran away at the age of 13.
She began setting high standards for herself at an early age – by 19 years old, she was the youngest person to anchor a news channel. In 1984 she hosted her first talk show and within a month, it became the number one talk show in the country. In less than a year it was The Oprah Winfrey Show.
After one year, The Oprah Winfrey Show was the highest rated talk show in TV history and remained there for 24 consecutive seasons. Her show reaches 40 million viewers a week in the U.S. and is shown in 145 countries.
Winfrey is an all-around success. She was only the third woman to own her own studio when she founded HARPO. Winfrey also has a magazine and radio station, which are both very popular. Her recently launched television network OWN debuted in 67 percent of U.S. homes.
To help others be successful, she created the Oprah Winfrey Scholars Program, which gives money to students going to college. She also initiated the National Child Protection Act to establish a national database of convicted child abusers. Oprah Winfrey surpassed the trappings of racism and sexism to set a new standard for women worldwide.
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J.K. Rowling
Even if you don’t
like the series, everyone has heard of Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling’s writing took a children’s book and made it a worldwide, compelling story. She became one of the world’s most famous authors by implementing her ideas and never taking no for an answer. Her mother’s death and her own divorce served as inspiration for the writer, as did other events in her life.
She wrote the first book of the series Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone as a single mother who felt the pressure to write a success in order to support her daughter. For a year, she struggled to find an agent and publishers who were willing to take a chance on her first book. After securing these necessities, she was encouraged to use her initials, J.K. instead of Joanne because publishers did not think the intended audience–young boys–would purchase the book if they knew a woman wrote it.
It took seven years for her book to be published. In its first year, Harry Potter won the British Book Awards’ Children’s book of the year. In 2004, she became the first writer to become a billionaire.
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Hillary Clinton
Put your political views and opinions of her aside, Hillary Clinton Hillary Clinton is an inspiration for all women. In 1977 she was the first woman to be chair of the Legal Services Corporation. While her husband, Bill Clinton, was governor of Arkansas, she chaired the Arkansas Educational Standards Committee, co-founded the Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, and served on several other boards.
Clinton was also noted as one of the most powerful lawyers in 1988. During the 1992 presidential campaign, she emerged as a dynamic partner to her husband as head of the Task Force on National Health Reform. When Clinton became a U.S. senator, she was the only first lady to run for public office. She was also the first woman to be elected Senator of New York. In the 2008 presidential race, Clinton won more candidates than any other female candidate. In 2009, she became the Secretary of State and she is currently the only former first lady to be in the President’s cabinet.
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Amelia Earhart
Amelia Earhart took her first airplane ride in 1920 – and so began her path to success. One week later, she was enrolled in flying classes and though she was not a natural flyer, her perseverance and passion drove her to keep at it. Six months after her first airplane experience, she purchased her own plane.
She set the women’s highest altitude record, and on June 19th she was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic. In 1932, she made the same journey, this time alone, becoming the first woman to do so. She was also the first woman to fly solo coast-to-coast nonstop. Earhart was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic alo Throughout her life she set many other records like being the first to fly to Hawaii and Mexico. Amelia Earhart inspires people to go beyond their own limits and achieve the unexpected.
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Rosa Parks
“Each person must live their lives as a model for others”- Rosa Parks.
Rose Parks lived her life according to this statement. She grew up in a time where racism was impossible to avoid, but she fought the standards. Even though she was not the first person to refuse to move her seat on a bus, her action directly led to the Montgomery bus boycott. This act of civil disobedience cost her her job and she was forced to move.
These setbacks didn’t stop her from pursuing her goal to eliminate segregation–she continued as secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Rosa Parks was not recognized or honored for her actions until 1979 when she received the NAACP’s highest honor: the Spingarn medal. She received the Martin Luther King Jr. award the following year. In 1983 she was inducted into the Michigan women’s hall of fame.
Sources:
http://www.oprah.com/pressroom/Oprah-Winfreys-Official-Biography/2
http://womenshistory.about.com/cs/quotes/a/oprah_winfrey_2.htm
http://www.acepilots.com/earhart2.html#top
http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/par0bio-1
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/r/rosaparks133228.html
http://www.politonomist.com/hillary-clinton-achievements-thus-far-001409/
http://www.factmonster.com/spot/harrycreator1.html