Notable women in world history are few and far between. This is entirely due to the dated belief that a woman’s sole responsibilities are with her family. Consequently, many talented women were discouraged from pursuing their dreams and ambitions. Nonetheless, a number of women have managed to shine brightly even under such adverse circumstances. There have been great women leaders, accomplished women scientists, and brilliant female athletes. In this article, I will offer my list of the greatest women in history. Who is your favorite?
Even till this day when gender inequality is much less prevalent, there are still hardly any women in leadership positions. Yet, there once was a woman who reached her country’s top position at a time when it was illegal for women to even venture outside their homes. The woman was Empress Wu, the only female ruler in the history of China and arguably the greatest women leader ever. During her reign (which was one of the longest), her title was actually “Emperor” instead of “Empress” to emphasize that she was a ruler and not someone’s subordinate.
Politically, Empress Wu was a ruthless leader. She was notorious for showing no mercy to those who opposed her, and she had plenty of them to contend with. Apparently, a lot of men were unhappy that the leader of their country was a woman and were engaged in numerous plots to dethrone her. In term of her management of the empire, Wu was a highly capable ruler. The Chinese people enjoyed a Golden Age during her reign. She did not hold grudges against legitimate critics of her policies. Instead, she often embraced the criticisms and even promoted her critics to high office. Wu’s biggest contribution to history was her insistence on meritocracy. As a consequence, many talented but underprivileged Chinese were given a chance to demonstrate his or her abilities.
Throughout history, women were often barred from activities of the brain. This was due to women being thought of as having inferior intelligence, in relative to the superior men. Consequently, there have not been many women scientists and engineers. Marie Curie was one of very few exceptions. Not only she was a capable scientist, Curie was actually one of the best. She was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in science; she won it twice in fact. What makes her achievement so remarkable is the fact that she won Nobel Prizes for accomplishments in two different fields of science-physics (1903) and chemistry (1911). This is truly one of the rarest feats in science. Marie Curie puts Aristotle and his views on women’s intelligence to shame.
When it comes to women and sports, female athletes have often viewed as frail and limited. The great Babe Zaharias certainly did not change public perceptions of women’s athletics, but she did prove them wrong. Babe was certainly not limited in her athletic sphere. She was a multiple gold medalist and record holder in track and field, a Hall of Fame golfer with 41 LPGA victories, and an All-American in basketball. More impressively, she often competed against men in various sports with laudable success. Babe Zaharias is without a doubt the greatest female athlete ever.
Honorable mentions: Margaret Thatcher (prime minister of Britain), Indira Gandhi (prime minister of India), Emily Dickinson (poet), Susan B. Anthony (activist), and Hillary Clinton (U.S. secretary of state).
