'Historical Figures'💭

 I've been doing quite a lot of research on women's history. Reading up on famous figures and watching videos on how they got there. I have found it fascinating - some of these women are extremely inspiring. You forget the time periods when you are looking into these sorts of stories and are shocked by the information.

It has really helped me understand the basic foundations on feminism. What people had to fight against. The opposition and oppression they faced. There was an article I read online called 'Who are the famous women from history who changed the world?'. This was a collection of 100 women who made some sort of significant 'change'. It covered lots aspects, really highlighting how male-dominated society was, in so many countries.

There was 8 ladies who I personally found extremely memorable. I documented these in my sketchbook with a few notes. The pages are below. 

I wanted to just talk about each women and why they really resonated with me.

1. Marie Curie. This lady founded radioactivity and her discoveries lead to the chain of events regarding the 'cure' for cancer. She identified the two elements - radium and polonium, with her husband. After he died, she continued her work, meaning 'laboratories could develop cancer treatments'. In WW1, she helped 'equip ambulances with x-ray equipment, and actually drove them to the front line herself'. She got ill from her work, being around the radioactive materials, but did not let this stop her. This woman faced continuous discrimination and 'the odds were always stacked against her' - purely because of the fact she was a woman. These discoveries led to such important areas within the medicine field. Think of how many peoples lives have been touched by the disease. It would have been easy to keep quiet, listen to the people telling her to stop. That time period was extremely male-dominated, women having the sole purpose of carrying children. She challenged this, and worked in a very challenging situation. 
2. Rosa Parks. A very well known name. 'The lady who sat on the bus'. Segregation was in full swing. Whites had the majority of the bus to them, and the blacks were seated at the back. If the white section was full, anyone sat in the back section had to give up their seat. This lady refused to give up hers up, and from this the civil rights movement sparked. Eventually, after a very long period of time protesting and fighting, equal rights were finally put into place. Discrimination didn't magically stop after the legislation, but this act, this one lady, making a stand for something that was clearly inhumane, lead to so many other people feeling like they belong. That they matter.
3. Emmeline Pankhurst. Another very well known name. She was the founder of the WSPU - the Women's Social and Political Union. The 'hub' for the Suffragette movement. She campaigned for the parliamentary vote for women, empowered thousands of others to fight for their rights. This particular lady endured 13 imprisonments - for what? For fighting against clear discrimination. Without this leader, this one woman standing up and taking charge, would we have the vote today? Would anyone else become brave enough to do what she did? Her determination meant women were finally considered at the same level to men, and giving voting rights.
4. Margaret Thatcher. The first female prime minister. She started her role in 1979. I knew the date was in the 70's, but this shocked me. So late! How was the first woman prime minister only in the last 30 years?! Thatcher faced sexism regularly. Constant people telling her she shouldn't be in that position. Why? If someone is fit for the job, why should their gender matter? Despite all the discrimination, she led the country through a very 'unsettled time', becoming a figure so many women can look up too and realise what you want to do is possible. 
5. Junko Tabei. This lady was the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest. In comparison to the others, you may think this isn't as 'memorable'. One thing that I read in the article was that she faced a lot of criticism for leaving her young daughter at home whilst she braved the challenge. I think this is appalling. Put a man in this scenario. Would people be saying the same thing? I guarantee not. They would be celebrating the event, the milestone - not whether they were a father with children at home. She is a symbol for women's empowerment and challenged these stereotypes we have created in society.
6. Amelia Earhart. She was the first woman to fly from the Red Sea to India, and the first woman to fly solo. As well as this, she broke numerous records. Something when researching that surprised me was the lack of women in the military, in the air force, anything surrounding that realm. I think it's crazy that people who are willing to fight for their country, put their life at risk for the safety of others, have faced that judgement - just because they are a woman. Today, the men to woman comparison is stunning, but not as bad as the time period this woman was in. A commemoration for what she achieved.
7. Mary Seacole. A fairly well known name, but who do you remember first? Florence Nightingale or this woman? Mary offered her services as a nurse during the Crimean War but was turned down on two aspects - her gender and race. Despite the obvious discrimination, she refused to give up. Provided help and welfare to soldiers by opening up her 'British Hotel'. A lady, of similar capabilities as Nightingale, was not allowed to provide her service purely because of her sex and her skin colour. I love the idea that this women fought back. Did what she loved, regardless of the appalling behaviour on the people who refused her. Her story would have inspired hundreds and hundreds of women. 
8. Josephine Butler. Lastly, but not least, this lady here. A name you are probably are hearing for the first time. Her campaign against the Contagious Diseases Act was something I had to research on. This piece of legislation mean that anyone on 'suspicions' of being a prostitute had to register with the police and endure constant medical examinations. You can imagine what these were like. Wearing the 'wrong clothing', being in the 'wrong place', or just looking 'odd' - any of these meant that a police officer could strip you of your basic human rights, and practically do what he wanted to you. Without any opposition. I think this is astonishing and the idea that she stood up against this, in a period where she would have faced an immense amount of prejudice, is something to really admire. 

After all this research, it really opened up my eyes and made be question a lot of things. I sat down to think about what I actually want to focus on in this project. Looking at the history is helping me truly understand the basics of the movement. Why we have created 'feminism'. Why we have had to keep fighting. But I think I want to move it to more current times as I go on, and not solely focus on the idea 'How did we get here?'. See my more recent blog posts on my project proposal.