5 Pioneering Women You Might Not Have Heard Of
Whilst the world still has a long way to go towards reaching gender equality, it’s often inspiring to remember the brilliant, challenging, trail-blazing women of the past who got us at least this far. Instead of more well-known women such as Frida Kahlo, Rosamund Franklin and Emmeline Pankhurst, we want to highlight some less famous women who have also achieved great things. Their stories act as a reminder that, no matter how bad things look, we can change the status quo for the better.
Huda Sharawi (1879 – 1947): Pioneer of the Arab Feminist Movement.
As an upper-class Egyptian woman, Huda grew up in a harem system. This meant that women had to wear a face veil when outside and live in separate apartments in the home. Nevertheless, she went on to form the first non-religious philanthropic organisation run by Egyptian women in 1908, to found the Egyptian Feminist Union in 1923 (causing a commotion in that year as she removed her veil in a bustling Cairo train station) and the Arab Feminist Union in 1945. She and her husband also actively supported Egypt’s independence from Britain.
Christine Goodwin (1937 – 2014): British Transgender Rights Activist.
In her early 50s, Christine Goodwin, a former bus driver underwent gender reassignment surgery. After going through this extremely difficult process, Christine remained in the eyes of the law, a man. She therefore couldn’t receive a pension at 60, couldn’t marry another man, and felt uncomfortable doing anything which required presenting her birth certificate (such as getting a winter fuel allowance) as this still stated that she was a man. Christine decided to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, which ruled that the UK law stood as a barrier to Christine’s identity, and impacted her right to a private life, as well as her right to marry. Christine’s case was one of the key reasons for the UK government in passing the Gender Recognition Act (2004), allowing transgender people to be legally recognised as members of their new gender. A massive step forward in helping with transgender rights!
Shirley Chisholm (1924 – 2005): The first black woman to run for president.
Even though the Civil Rights Act (prohibiting racially segregated public spaces and racial discrimination in the workplace) had only been passed four years earlier, Shirley managed to secure her spot as the first black woman in Congress in 1968. What’s more, she became the first African-American and woman to run for the Democrats’ presidential nomination in 1972. Despite facing numerous obstacles to her career on the basis of her sex and race, Shirley tirelessly continued to operate by the principle of ‘if they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair’.
Wilma Mankiller (1945 – 2010): Activist for Native-American rights.
Wilma was the first woman elected chief of a major native American tribe and committed her life to campaigning for native American rights. For example, she aided the Pit River Tribe in their legal feud against Pacific Gas and Electric over millions of acres of ancestral land. She also acted as director of Oakland’s Native American Youth Centre, working to empower and reduce the growing poverty levels among native American young people. In her time as Chief, she made significant improvements in housing, education, and health care, and managed to craft a self-government agreement for the Cherokee Nation with the US government and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Wangari Maathai - (1940-2011): The first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Born in Kenya and chosen as one of 300 to receive an education in America, Wangari achieved many firsts, including becoming the first East African woman to obtain a PhD. Her extremely varied career helped greatly to develop thinking around African culture, ecology and gender, and she was pivotal in the campaign for democracy against the increasingly autocratic Kenyan president, Daniel Arap Moi, even engaging in a hunger strike. When democracy finally arrived, Wangari had the bravery to travel to areas where there were ethnic clashes and push for peace. Wangari is, however, most well-known for founding the Green Belt Movement, which aimed to combat rural hunger and environmental degradation by encouraging African women in particular to plant trees. 30 million trees were planted as part of the project in 15 African countries. Given all these amazing achievements, it’s not hard to see why in 2004 Wangari became the first African woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize.