It is no mystery that bad ass women walk this Earth, and it is a simple fact that they have always walked this Earth. However, it is always nice to catch a glimpse of a woman warrior that we may have not yet heard about. Whether these women walked this land many years ago, or they are just starting to make waves, here is a homage to some pretty amazing women. Any day is a good day to celebrate heroes, so without further delay here are 10 badass women you should know about.
1. Irena Sendlerowa
This resilient Polish woman was the face of hope to thousands of Jewish children that she smuggled out of the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II. She risked her life continuously while smuggling children, while even providing the children with fake documents of identification so they could start a new life after rescue. At one point she was even imprisoned by the Gestapo and tortured. Through all the torture she endured she did not release any of the children’s information. She luckily narrowingly escaped the day prior to her scheduled execution, and she continued to help children until the war ended. Her bravery is definitely something to aspire to.
2. G. Willow Wilson
Wilson is an American comic writer changing the comic world as we know it. What was once thought to be just for boys is being taken over by a whole new player field. Wilson is not only a woman, but she is Muslim, which is a rare find in the comic industry. She had previously worked on popular comics such as Superman, so her networking within Marvel served her the right ignition to get her foot in the door. Soon she was given the opportunity to create a Ms. Marvel, which is when Kamala Khan was born. Khan’s character is a teenage Muslim American girl who fights crime alongside her male counterparts. Finally, a comic character girls can relate to.
3. Audre Lorde
Lorde was an American writer, feminist, and civil-rights activist. She is best known for her moving poetry which served as a strong voice during an unsettling time in history. Lorde was brilliant and she used her powerful mind as a tool to fight injustice. She stood up to a whole range of injustice issues concerning race, gender, and sexuality. She held firm in her beliefs, although the time period she was a part of had differing opinions. Lorde will forever be remembered as the remarkable woman who lived a life she fully believed in, and the woman who could not be silenced.
4. Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Ginsburg is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, and as such she is one of the four woman to have ever held a Supreme Court position. She is a feminist lawyer who sticks out in comparison to her surrounding male counterparts. She has influenced a large number of important decisions within the court, such as persuading the court that an on-body search had gone too far in the case of Safford Unified School District v. Redding. As a supporter of the Me Too movement she has become a critical voice of women in today’s times. She plans to hold her position as long as she is able to, so we hopefully won’t see her go anywhere anytime soon.
5. Senda Berenson Abbott
This legendary women is the reason why UCONN’s winning Women’s Basketball team exists today. In 1892, while she was in college, she started organizing groups of girls together and taught them how to play basketball. She quickly realized some changes needed to be made for this new “women version” of basketball, so she modified the rules- essentially creating Women’s Basketball. This all happened right up at Smith College in Noho MA, which is very close to UCONN’s main campus. Abbott landed herself a spot in the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA in 1995. University of Connecticut Women’s Basketball Team thanks you greatly Abbot.
6. Alice Brooks
Brooks is making waves in the toy industry with her creation of Roominate. Currently, the bulk of engineering and technology toys, such as Legos, focuses around typical male stereotypes and ignores female interest. Since the beginning of time girls have been discouraged by male-centered engineering toys, which leads them to believe that girls are not meant for engineering or building. Roominate changes this and shows girls how building can be creative and fun, and that successful building skills are not only obtainable by boys. Thank you Brooks for introducing what has been long overdue, and getting young girls everywhere interested in the STEM field early.
7. Margaret Heafield
One could very well claim that Heafield was majorly responsible for getting man to the moon. As director of software engineering for NASA’s Apollo Space Program in 1969, she wrote out the mathematical sequence that enabled the Apollo Mission. The Apollo Mission was a success in part because of the flight software code Heafield wrote out by hand. She is even the person who coined the term “Software Engineering.” Heafield is a remarkable role model who shows aspirational women to reach for the moon.
8. Emma Gonzalez
Many are aware of who Gonzalez is and the voice she has held against gun violence in wake of the tragic Parkland High School shooting back in February 2018. She remained strong after experiencing the tragedy firsthand, and has made a number of powerful speeches regarding her advocating for gun control. Gonzalez is a fearless woman, at just nineteen years young, fighting for what she believes to be the safety rights of everyone. She has even co-founded the gun-control advocacy group Never Again MSD. At her age to take a stance on something and to fight so hard for it is meaningful and impressive.
9. Marley Dias
This badass girl is just a woman in the making, yet she deserved to land on this list. At just thirteen years old she realized the need for young black girls to read books with characters that are representative to them. In 2015, she launched a campaign called #1000BlackGirlBooks with a goal of collecting 1000 books featuring black main characters. These books would then be distributed to young black girls around America. She quickly reached her goal within a few months and continued to collect even more books. She has since written her own book, Marley Dias Gets It Done: And So Can You!, with the hopes of showing young girls everywhere that hopes and dreams can come true.
10. Princess Diana
Princess Diana is a legacy who gained respect and fame worldwide. One of her most famous quotes was “Anywhere I see suffering, that is where I want to be, doing what I can.” Although she was drowning in riches, she truly cared for others, devoting much of her time to charity events. Unlike current pop stars swimming in money such as the Kardashians, she did not need a PR team to tell her to do this stuff, she just really felt it was the right thing to do. She was smart, gorgeous, caring, and classy. She is a true timeless role model.
Now that you know of these 10 badass women and the difference they have made in the world, you can be inspired to make your own changes. Lift the women around you up, and the men for that matter, and make a difference. We can all come together to create the world we want.
We can all be badass.