With National Women’s Month right around the corner, we’re reminded of why we love being women. We’re proud to be women because of all the women who use their voices to make the world a better and more equal place. We are honored to walk the path that the women before us have paved, and we aspire to make them proud. So, in the spirit of Nation Women’s Month, we have composed a list of a few women (it was so hard to choose) who inspire us.
- Greta Thunberg
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Greta Thunberg has shown us the power of youth as she fights for policymakers to take action and protect our planet during one of the most crucial periods of the climate crisis. She does not let her age or her gender define her ability to generate change. Her popularity comes from her actions, from organizing school climate strikes to speaking publicly against the decisions made by world leaders. She has modeled for us the power of the youth and the power of a female voice.
- Amy Poehler
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Amy Poehler, known for her quirky character, Leslie Knope from Parks and Recreation, has shown us that women can be funny and that being funny does not detract from our femininity. She created an organization called, Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls, to empower girls to be their “authentic self” and emphasizes women’s and girls’ intelligence and imagination, fostering a place where girls can be weird, funny, and wholeheartedly themselves.
- Jameela Al Jamil
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Jameela Al Jamil champions the body positive movement, calling out famous people and influencers who advertise unhealthy weight loss tea, the fabricated “ideal” of a woman’s body, etc. She has created a trend called #iweigh, where women list all the things they love about themselves that have nothing to do with the way they look. Jameela Al Jamil thinks our “weight” is defined by our intelligence, our creativity, our passions rather than some preconceived ideas of what a woman should look like or be.
- Michelle Obama
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Michelle Obama is so much more than the previous First Lady of the United States. As demonstrated in her recently published memoir, Becoming, Michelle Obama has shown herself to be incredibly hard-working, accomplished, and inspiring. She wants people to be able to find their voice, especially those voices that have been oppressed and undervalued in our society. She cares deeply about people and wants women to remember that being a woman is a privilege.
- JK Rowling
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JK Rowling has created one of the richest and most compelling fictional worlds to date. Her books have been popular since they came out, and the world she created has given a home to many. She has captured the imagination of millions of people, becoming one of the most famous female authors. However, her rise to success was not without hardship. When speaking of her life before Harry Potter she says, “Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life,” proving to women and men alike that no matter where you find yourself in life, whether you’ve been beaten down to your lowest point, you can build yourself back up with the power of your own capabilities.
- Emma Watson
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Known for being the iconic, Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter franchise, Emma Watson is not only an incredible actress but also an activist for women. She launched the HeForShe movement to call men into the process of equality between men and women, stepping into a controversial conversation about the negative aspects of the feminist movement. She argues that to be a feminist, you cannot hate men; that is not equality. Though she receives hate for it, she faces it bravely and she inspires me every day to fight for what I believe in, not what the masses tell me to believe in.
- Reese Witherspoon
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Reese Witherspoon has created an empire for herself. She started her career as an actress known for her numerous iconic roles, and she has used every ounce of her fame to be a role model for women. She’s an actor, a feminist, a mother, a wife, an activist, and so much more. She’s created one of the most popular book clubs and has made reading “cool” again as well as producing TV shows of the books she chooses. Her passion and kindness radiate from her, and this is evident in everything she does. I aspire to be as unapologetically female as she is.
- Taylor Swift
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Taylor Swift has faced criticism on criticism on criticism throughout the process of creating her musical career. She’s been told she’s dramatic, she’s been hated by her industry peers, her songs have been mocked, and so much more. Yet, she always takes the criticism with admirable grace and strength. She forges on despite the critics and despite the fact that the music industry is controlled primarily by men. She calls for women to support each other and practices what she preaches, and I think we can all learn from Taylor Swift’s perseverance.
- Elizabeth Warren
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Elizabeth Warren is one of the current leading Democratic Presidential candidates. She fights for the middle class, for better working wages, for Medicare, and for women. No matter your political affiliation or your feelings on her platform, there is something incredibly impressive about a woman who stands up for herself and fights for her beliefs in an arena that has been dominated by men since its creation. Despite the attempts to silence her, she persists.
In addition to the women listed above, I am also endlessly inspired by my peers, my friends, my teachers, mothers, etc. All of these women have shaped who I am and they have paved the way for me to be a successful woman in this world. They teach me about kindness, generosity, creativity, success, and so much more by being who they are. I hope this month we remember the importance of building up the women around us and finding inspiration in them.