Female Inspirations...

[Raynewitch]

:sunny:

Which female (past or present) do admire the most? I dont mean Deities or family (who can all be brilliant), more like famous women who break the mould or whatever...

Personally mine is Mae West....I love her! She was fantastic in that she was confident and funny and knew how to get what she wanted. She even got sued for using the word "sex" in a movie, which was taboo at the time, but that helped make the movies produced later a bit braver so to speak when they were made/written.

:elf: Rayne :elf:

[Danustouch]

What a great question. It's not always easy, when looking at history, to find inspirational role model types in women. Too often, they simply weren't written enough about :( . Hmmmmm...I really need to think about this.....

Okay..just a few I can rattle off....Maya Angelou...i think her life is sooooooo powerful, and her contribution to the arts so vast. I also really appreciate the writings of Anais Nin. What a revolutionary!!! To think of a woman, in her day and age, being so incredibly FREE from previous moral constraints! And being brave enought to WRITE about it. I find her truly inspiring. Not simply because of the erotic nature of her writings..but because she followed her heart, and made people examine the traditional roles for women in society.

I'm also very influenced by musicians. I think The Indigo Girls, and Melissa Etheridge, as well as Nanci Griffith, and Stevie Nicks helped influence my musical tastes..and some of my opinions. I started liking Melissa back when "Bring me some water" first began being played. I thought her music was ABSOLUTELY awesome. At the time, I was...hmmmm..ignorant. I was VERY young, and was just starting to come into contact with the whole IDEA that there are OTHER types of love, than that of a man for a woman, woman for man. So..I think Melissa helped shake me out of that narrow little world that I'd lived in. The things she spoke about, were exactly the same as every other singer..except..she was feeling them for a woman. And oddly..I kinda knew from her first album..that she was Lesbian. I don't know HOW i knew..i just "DID". So..it helped bring me out of my narrowmindedness. Etc.

Indigo Girls helped raise my conciousness on the same subject, but also introduced other subjects to me, I think listening to their music helped me to expand my mind. It was through their song, that I began an interest in Virginia Woolfe. Etc.

Nanci Griffith...well...for a sweet little southern bell..she sureeeeeeeee has an opinion for just about everything! she's an amazing folk artist. And I admire her so much. She's this tiny little woman, who has the tiniest little speaking voice. BUT MAN!!!! When she opens her mouth to sing..it's a WHOLE nother story. This woman has opinions, has strength, has integrity..but under all this strength, there is still a softness..and a sweetness..a certain..femininity. I don't know how to explain it. I guess she made me a)realize the power of music ...and b)realize that you can be strong, and sweet at the same time.

[Emerald Sky]

Lucille Ball
Jodie Foster

[Tigerwallah]

Indira Ghandi, she faught the status quo for women in India as well as fighting for the survival of the tiger.

Hillary Clinton. She went to China with Bill and laid them flat at a state dinner for China's infantacide of female babies. I can't imagine another first lady, other than perhaps Eleanor Roosevelt, who had/has such big balls and amazing grace.

Princess Diana.

Cleopatra and Hatshepsut, woman Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt.

Oprah - Wow!!! desperate meager beginnings to one of the wealthiest and most influential women of our time, and she's been nothing but a positive roll model.

Well, there are many more, but that's all for now.

[loopy]

Joan of Arc, Xena... hmm, can't think of any more right now..

[Amethyst Rose]

Xena?? ;)

Apparently there's a college somewhere that teaches a history class on Oprah....what will they think of next??

Anyway....

I would have to say Audrey Hepburn and Julie Andrews mostly for their talent and their "clasicness" :) And Madonna for being famous for so long and for always maintaining an image that the public wants -- and for not losing herself to that image. She's got guts, is what I'm trying to say.

:D

[Earth Walker]

Julie Newmar

Libby Davies

Vadanna Shiva


Only my Cat understands me.
************************
There are only two times I feel stress.
Day :D and Night :D

[flar7]

Joan of Arc, definitely broke the mold, she led an army and put a King on the throne of France. Bravo!

also,
Rosa Parks-bravery
Mother Teresa-dedication
Florence Nightinggale(sp?)-for the care
Jackie Kennedy-(took the short spelling)-for grace and ability
Princess Diana-grace, love and a towering image even though she was shredded by the newsies crap.

[Danustouch]

Yep..princess Diana, and Mother Threresa were big impacts on me too:)

[Rævyn Cigány]

Diana, Princess of Wales (Goddess rest her)

Mother Theresa, a truly brilliant, wonderful, kind and loving woman....a true Christian and deserving of canonization

Karen Kain

BB

Rae )0(

[loopy]

You don't think Xena deserves to be here? She set a standard that thousands of young girls could look up to, that they could be proud of being strong.

And she kicked major butt. :D

[Illuminatus]

Originally posted by loopy
You don't think Xena deserves to be here? She set a standard that thousands of young girls could look up to, that they could be proud of being strong.

And she kicked major butt. :D

Xena? No way. Maybe if the writers and producers for her show didn't suck so much. Besides, she's fictional.

My favorite female role model is mommy. She's the best!!

[Lavender]

Tina Turner!! She's 66, she's strong, she's sexy, she's in control! She's my idea of a crone.

[Myst]

Originally posted by loopy
You don't think Xena deserves to be here? She set a standard that thousands of young girls could look up to, that they could be proud of being strong.

And she kicked major butt. :D

I'm with you. Enough of that "damsel in distress" crap on tv. Consider the audience. Do you think young girls watch that show and critique the plot or the writers? Heck no, all they see is a strong, independent woman kicking butt. How many 2-10 year old girls do you see walking around going "oh the choreography and direction in that show is pathetic".... yet I can think of several 2-10 year old girls who would shout "I'm a warrior princess!"...

(I've spent way too much time with kids the past few days)

Uhm, the rest you guys have mentioned have all been good too. I especially like the Tina Turner suggestion - so true!

I'd say buffy but I'm sure I'd get shafted on that one too - but she shows teen girls that it's cool to be the hero, to be strong and to share her opinion even if it's not popular. And well, she might be a little uhm "like ohmigod", I think a lot of teenaged and younger girls can at least relate to that and that works well. Maybe Dark Angel too.. Again, regardless of the director or writing.

[slvr_phoenix]

I'm so frustrated. I can't think of any female role models that have inspired me to do anything. (At least not real-life human ones.)

Well, except maybe my wife. :) She inspires me.

My only consolation is that I can't think of any male role models that have inspired me to do anything either.

I guess I'm mostly my own source of inspiration. :rolleyes:

However, I do have to say that Tina Turner is one heck of a cool role model in my books. To stand up for herself is cool. To be a strong independent woman is cool. To think for herself is cool. And to flaunt it like that with no shame, that's just cool too.

[loopy]

Oh, definitely put Buffy and Dark Angel's Max up there too. I love that TV seems to be building the shows with confident, strong women nowadays. Buffy's less valley-girl these days anyway, and she does all she can to protect the world. And Max... well, she's just cool. :)

[Tigerwallah]

Strong, confident women are not new to t.v. In the 70's there was Charlie's Angels, Wonder Woman, Electra Woman and Dina Girl, Isis, the Bionic Woman, Police Woman, and many others.

In the 80's and 90's there was a male resurgence with shows like the A team, Walker Texas Ranger, etc, but there was still Dr. Quinn, Medicine woman, and a few others.

The original question was however pertaining to actual women alive or dead. Are you guys saying that no woman in history has had much of an impact on your lives? How about Gloria Steinam, Golda Meyer, Margaret Thatcher, Eva Parone, Susan B. Anthony, Janet Reno, Hariett Tubman, Madeline Albright, Sandra Day O'connor, Amelia Earhart, Margaret Meade, Catherine the Great, Queen Elizabeth I, Ayn Rand, George Sands, Georgia O'keefe, Mary Cassatt, Eleanor Roosevelt, Mary Queen of Scotts, the Bronte sisters, Mary Shelley, Margaret Mitchell, Billy Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Cocco Channel, the list goes on and on. These women influenced us all. They influenced the laws, foreign policy, the music we listen to, the clothes we wear, the art we admire, the novels we read, modern day science and medicine and our basic rights to vote and be free.