Inspirational Women Inspiring Women
Leave a response to be part of the first-ever #IWIW celebration
National Women’s History Month means a lot to us here at The Sex-Positive Blog, and in honor of the close of the 31-day celebration, we asked our writing staff: what women most inspired them, whether personal acquaintances or public figures, and what impact did these women ultimately have on them?
We would love to know about the inspirational women that have impacted YOU — tell us in a response what woman or women inspired you, and how she or they impacted your life!
Audre Lorde — American poet, feminist & civil rights activist
Sexology Bae | Senior Staff Writer
I didn’t think writing about a woman that inspires me would be so difficult, but I’ve been fortunate to be surrounded by amazing women throughout my life. It’s an embarrassment of riches, and I doubt whether I could choose just one or just a couple to single out for appreciation. I was raised exclusively by women, and that upbringing informed every facet of the womanhood I embody today.
Aside from the long list of incredible, strong, nurturing women I personally know, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of women I learned about through their work as activists, writers, artists, musicians, scientists, or whatever who guide my steps as a I learn and grow as a person.
One woman whose work makes itself part of my life every day is Audre Lorde, the Black Lesbian Warrior Poet. I first learned about Audre Lorde during Tulane’s annual Audre Lorde Week. I was a freshman and didn’t know who this woman was or why her work was so important that it warranted a week of programming. I went to the first program, the screening of a documentary about her life, and I fell in love. So much of her work revolves around surviving in a world that actively tries to eliminate you, and as an 18-year-old just stepping into the world and gaining social consciousness at the time, it resonated with me.
At this point in my life, Lorde’s work speaks to me as validation of the dehumanization and oppression I deal with every day. Her work grounds me and reminds me not to lose myself in fighting for what I think is important. She lived openly and honestly, and her life is a reminder to me that freedom, in part, comes through embracing your truth.
Angela Davis — American Civil Rights activist & co-founder of Critical Resistance
Kwana Adams | Staff Writer
Angela Davis is, to me personally, the epitome of ‘inspirational woman,’ someone that springs to mind immediately when I think about the question.
She is a black woman who has influenced national events and the course of American history. I point out the fact that she’s black because black women are often left out of history or given very little recognition for the work that they’ve done. Angela Davis became a prominent activist in the 60s, and is still active today. She was also part of the Black Panther party and the Civil Rights Movement.
Like a lot of Americans my age, I learned considerably more about Angela Davis than I knew beforehand when I watched the documentary 13th, which depicts the ways in which 2018 America is still dealing with the fallout (toxic, radioactive, lethal) from the forced migration and chattel enslavement of (by one estimate) 12.5 million African people: police brutality, the prison industrial complex and the other myriad visible signs we have that all is not well in the way our country conceives of and treats people of color.
In 13th, Davis appears frequently, narrating the events of her life as grainy, B-reel footage provides a stark, concurrent visual account. She told of hearing that some of her closest friends had died in a bombing in Alabama, and that part particularly stood out to me because it’s hard to imagine something like that happening and knowing that there’s a good chance they and their families were never given justice. Angela Davis is inspiring to me because out of all the injustices and pain she suffered, she let none of them stop her. She fought every day so that young girls like me wouldn’t have to fight quite so hard today, and someday maybe our daughters and nieces might have to struggle even just a little bit less.
We’re still fighting today, of course, but I could never imagine the fighting she and other activists of her time had to go through. She is so important, not just to me, but to America’s story, yet not once was she mentioned in my history classes at school.
Angela Davis is an inspiration to me and other black women and I hope that one day, I become half the woman she is.
Joan Rivers — American comedienne & first woman to host a late-night network TV talk show
Mz. Whipps & Chains | Staff Writer
The woman who had THE biggest impact on my views on women and femininity is (don’t laugh) the late Joan Rivers. This fabulous ‘lady’ (ha!) taught me that it was okay to not be ladylike. She wasn’t afraid to speak openly about things like sex — even bad sex — and facelifts, things that have historically been frowned on as topics of ‘proper’ discussions. Through words and deeds, Rivers was perpetually stirring up controversy, running roughshod over the remnants of the Leave-it-to-Beaver-Culture that pervaded in the 1950’s as her star rose steadily throughout the 60s and into the 70s. She has since become an icon for women everywhere, a reminder that we can be ourselves and voice our opinions, decorum be damned.
Sister said whatever was on her mind, and could read you like a book in a split second. She was loved by so many of us and hated by many others but a legend nonetheless. May the queen of comedy forever rest in peace.
Mom, Sigourney Weaver & Carrie Fisher
Mr. Promiscuous | Staff Writer
When I think of ‘inspirational women,’ I think strong women that did what they wanted and said what needed to be said. The first I encountered in my own life would be my mom, who was usually the first to make a point of encouraging me to contemplate and advocate for what I wanted.
She taught me that I was a ‘people pleaser’ and that, while fine in moderation, that trait had to be mitigated by taking care of me and mine. She taught me that I could be polite, even while telling someone that they’re wrong. She continually inspires me to be more of myself, regardless of what anyone else thinks. Thanks to my mom, I believe that, as long as I made decisions in line with who I am trying to be, I can’t go wrong.
Because of the example my mother set, it’s no surprise that other, similar women also inspire me. Seeing women like Sigourney Weaver and Carrie Fisher play characters that were surprising, and definitely outside of the status-quo mold, backed up the idea that the ‘mold’ was stupid to begin with. Carrie Fisher, in particular, was loud about her opinions, and refused playing to type. Sigourney Weaver was one of the first movie stars that I consciously started recognizing by the characters they played, and hers always stood out as powerful characters that just did and said what was needed without worrying if it was nice or polite.
No one has to fit into these preprogrammed slots. You can still be different, unexpected and loved for the fact that you ARE unique.
Emily Barwick — animal-liberation activist; Creator, Bite Size Vegan
A Slutty Vegan | Managing Editor
Emily Moran Barwick is an Animal-liberation Activist, international speaker, artist, writer, educator and the creator of the educational nonprofit Bite Size Vegan.
Her nonprofit offers free, open-access to solid information through videos, articles/reports, and in-person speeches. Bite Size Vegan is a fantastic video-based free educational resource for information on all aspects of veganism.
When I first became vegan, I was faced with a deluge of both information and misinformation about veganism, and navigating it seemed extremely daunting at the time. I desperately wanted to know more about veganism but I felt hopelessly overwhelmed by my Googling. I had so many questions and kept finding incompatible, contradictory answers. I wanted to find some clarity for both health and ethical reasons.
Some questions I had:
- Are humans carnivores? Are we meant to eat meat?
- What is the difference between vegan and vegetarian?
- Can you love animals and eat them?
- Do fish feel pain?
- What is animal testing and does it save lives?
- What is free range?
- Are eggs, dairy, meat, or honey healthy? humane?
Luckily, I stumbled across Emily’s Youtube channel, Bite Size Vegan. Her channel embodies something unique that I immediately appreciated as I learned more and more about the “why” and “how” of being vegan through channels and mediums both on and offline. Emily’s videos explained topics in an engaging and entertaining way, all while being backed by research and data. Plus the videos were bite sized nuggets, aka the information she presented to me was nicely packaged in a short video less than five to ten minutes long a piece. Perfect for my short attention span!
Her work helps me and so many other people who are just starting to look into veganism or transition towards that lifestyle. Currently, Bite Size Vegan is going through a painful growth period and Emily is unable to create new video content. Of course growth is a good thing — that’s the whole point, after all: to reach as many people as possible with free, accessible information!
But the workload has long outgrown Emily’s capabilities, to the point of hindering the reach of the resources. This is no longer just some woman making videos on YouTube. She is now focusing full-time on building the necessary foundation for a functioning team, upon which the long-term sustainability of Bite Size Vegan depends.
I aspire to be a strong and empowered woman like Emily. She’s a role model, and an inspiration to both me and many others, irrespective of gender.
Christiane Amanpour — British-Iranian journalist and television host
Summer Lovin’, Senior Staff Writer
Bold. Fearless. Intelligent. Blunt.
Those are the words I would use to describe one of the many women who inspired me as a young girl: Christiane Amanpour.
For those of you who don’t know, Amanpour is the Chief International Correspondent for CNN, traveling the world to bring us the latest stories from the most fascinating and often most dangerous places around the globe. As a young, aspiring journalist, I saw myself in Christiane Amanpour. She has a Middle Eastern father and a white, Western mother, just like me. She sought to raise awareness about global issues and presented stories that were multi-dimensional, representing a change of pace from the stereotypes that usually predominated. She spoke clearly and authoritatively; I always wanted to know more about what she had to say. Amanpour convinced me that stories were important; if you wanted to build bridges between countries and cultures, you needed to talk to people about their histories, their beliefs and their traditions. Stories are about letting people know that they are not alone, that other people are experiencing the same doubts and hardships. My admiration for, and connection with, Amanpour grew recently when I learned about her new show: Sex and Love Around the World. In this new special, Amanpour explores global sexual attitudes and customs. Her first episode takes place in Tokyo, and I can’t wait to watch this powerhouse journalist explore new territory and bring the sex-positivity conversation to mainstream TV!
Color me inspired.
Sam — roommate, creator, friend
Wind Tunnel | Staff Writer
My girlfriends have always been a huge part of my life; they’ve shaped my ideas of what a woman can and should be like. At the moment, my roommate Sam inspires me more than anyone else in the world. She is the most ambitious, hardworking person I think I’ve ever met. She is constantly creating things: films, sets, scripts, photographs, plays, and on and on and on. She doesn’t stop; she doesn’t know how to stop.
Because of Sam, I can now proudly claim to finally be on the path to becoming the writer I’ve wanted to be for years. Because of Sam, I have found the courage and gumption to start creating more myself. Because of Sam, I have written more scripts and stories and blog posts in the few years I’ve known her than I have in my entire life. I’m so very proud to know a woman who overcomes adversity with such vivacity. She isn’t perfect — her workload gets to her, of course, and she makes mistakes as we all do; but what sets Sam apart from my other friends is how, despite any shit life hands her, she always hands back diamonds. The more I get to know and love Sam, the more I get to know and love the person she’s helped shape me into.
Kevin, Editor-in-chief:
I really celebrate Women’s History Month, International Women’s Day, etc., (to the extent of annoying my less-feminist acquaintances), and the reason I do has a lot to do with my mother.
Early in life, I learned that my mom, Claire, was a NASA mathematician for a number of years before I was born (Rockwell International, actually, but she worked at the Lyndon B. Johnson Center on space flight missions and shuttles, so… NASA). On their lunch breaks, my mom and her NASA coworker buddies would map out early text-based RPGs using the Space Center’s computers and printers, spreading their patchwork sketch-maps out over two, three, sometimes six cafeteria tables, sending a runner back and forth from the cafeteria tables to the terminal with the text-based game. In 2017, a half-dozen comic book film adaptations combined to top $4b in box-office sales, which can make you forget that nerds/geeks/dorks were actual outcasts for many, many years. The way I have heard it told, NASA/Rockwell/LBJSC was an oasis, where everyone was a nerd — therefore no one was.
After NASA, she attended law school at the University of Houston, graduating near the top of her class (while defraying the cost of tuition by editing other students’ papers at 5 cents a page), and she practiced family law for a number of years until she left to expand her own family when she ‘fell pregnant’ (isn’t that an awful idiom?) with me.
My mother is probably the smartest human being I’ve ever met, and I’ve made it a point in my life to seek out smart people.
She recently left the PCA church she helped to found 15 years ago when it became clear that it would never ordain women or elevate them to teaching positions (such as Pastor or Elder — women were unsurprisingly encouraged to seek service-based positions like Deacon). She homeschooled my middle sister (who, apropos of nothing, is currently studying medicine at Johns Hopkins) and me, providing us with one of the most rigorous, valuable educations I could have received.
She’s funny, confident, aggressive, insightful, articulate and — in a sense — a tough act to follow. We have our differences, but growing up around a woman like my mother (who is, to her credit, pretty demure about her own intellect and capabilities) taught me all kinds of things about what women are or are not. In some ways, mom’s example was a lens through which I could look critically at the depictions of women that pop culture and the media traded in and think, ‘hm, that seems off.’
I have two little sisters. They’re two of the smartest, funniest, most delightful people on the planet, a testament both to their own wonderful natures and my parents’ influence, particularly Mom’s. One result for me, of growing up in a ‘house full of girls,’ as my father often (good-naturedly) said, was that I learned that periods are normal and talking about them is normal, too.
That might seem like a trivial thing, but I don’t think that it is. I didn’t even realize that boys/men were resistant to menstrual talk until I went to college and discovered that I would frequently be the only nominally-male person (see: non-binary) involved in a conversation to not freak out and transform into an absolute child when menstruation was brought up (or, slightly better but originating from the same misogynistic discomfort, go dead silent and awkwardly avoid eye contact).
I have all kinds of ideas about women, and I’m constantly learning about how accurate, useful and valuable those ideas are, and refining them accordingly. I have plenty still to learn about what it means, and has meant, to be a woman in America, but I’m very open to learning and I’m genuinely curious and happy to listen. I’m interested in women — not just sexually, or even primarily sexually — and I believe I can trace that directly back to being raised by an interesting woman.
Thanks, Mom! I cannot imagine a more valuable gift than being able to — if not understand and perfectly relate to — at least empathize with half of the world’s population.
- Kevin M. Cook (Content Strategist | Mystiq)
Happy National Women’s History Month from all of us at The Sex-Positive Blog!
Just because the officially-sanctioned ‘National ____ Month’ is over doesn’t mean you can’t still celebrate the strong, impactful women that have aided in your development and growth. Leave us a response, telling us what woman or women inspired you as a kid, and we’ll collect our favorite responses in a totally user-generated story here on the publication!
