Kim Kardashian has been making headlines again after appearing naked on the front cover of Paper Magazine. There has been huge controversy surrounding these images. Does she really deserve to be given this much publicity? Kim Kardashian is not who I want to represent my gender, and nor is she who I want to inspire my gender. There have been so many more inspirational women whose actions and achievements have shaped 2014 for the better – here are just a few!
Malala Yousafzai
Malala Yousafzai was jointly awarded the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize, the youngest person ever to do so. She gained public attention after publication of her diary on BBC Urdu, which spoke about her desire to remain in education and her deep wish that woman in Pakistan could be educated too. She became a Taliban target for promoting ‘secular education’ and in October 2012, Malala was shot in the head. She fully recovered and since then has continued to campaign for education for children, particularly young girls. She set up a fund in her name to help children around the world struggling to get an education, and even travelled to Nigeria to talk with the Nigerian President to press for action to press for further action to free the 200 girls kidnapped by the Boko Haram terrorist group. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sgg06a7mHZ4
Lupita Nyong’o
Lupita Nyong’o rose to fame with her role as ‘Patsy’ in 12 Years a Slave which led to her winning the 2014 Oscar Award for Best Supporting Actress. She took social media by storm with her incredibly inspiring March 2014 speech on ‘black beauty’ in which she criticises the Western tendency to correlate pale skin and beauty, and stresses the beauty that comes from within. In April she was unveiled as the new face of Lancôme and in July she appeared on the front cover of Vogue. She is only the second African woman to do so. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPCkfARH2eE&feature=youtu.be
Emma Watson
In July 2014, Emma Watson took over as the UN Goodwill Ambassador. Aged only 24, Emma Watson has already been involved in many humanitarian schemes, visiting Bangladesh and Zambia to promote female education and fairtrade. Alongside her studies at Brown University, she was an ambassador for Camfed International, a group dedicated to girl’s education in rural Africa. Now, she has launched the UN HeShe campaign promoting gender equality. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0Dg226G2Z8
Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi is a veteran democracy campaigner and leader of Burma’s National League of Democracy. In 1990, the NLD had a landslide victory, but Aung San Suu Kyi was falsely placed under house arrest for 15 years, and was only released in November 2010. In 2012, she won a seat at the Burmese House of Representatives and since then has been actively campaigning for the protection of Burmese people’s democratic rights. Earlier this year she announced her desire to run for Presidency in the November 2015 elections, but is banned from doing so under 2008 constitution which prohibits her on the grounds of being a widow and mother to foreigners. Aun San Suu Kyi is campaigning against this constitution, backed by Barack Obama and despite the many obstacles in her place continues to press for democracy in Burma. http://www.youtube.com/watchv=g9OquBLTpfw
Karren Brady
Karren Brady is the former managing director of Birmingham FC, vice-chairman of West Ham FC, the first woman to possess either of these roles. She is well known for championing women in business and calling on fellow female professionals to help other women climb the business ladder as well. In September 2014, Karren Brady was awarded a Conservative life peer at the House of Lords. She was given the title of Baroness Brady, of Knightsbridge.
http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCzNf658acA
Photo Credits:
Mirror.co.uk
Telegraph.co.uk
VanityFair.com
HuffingtonPost.com
KSDK.com