In a world where white men are still making decisions for women, it’s important to remember not only what BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS women have fought hard to reclaim, but also the women who did the fighting! Today, on International Women’s Day, I’m all about remembering women who have made history and honoring all of their memories by sharing some of their stories.

Remembering Women Who Have Made History

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not a man hater – hell, I birthed one and I’m raising him to be a far better man than some of the ones I grew knowing. I’m hoping newer generations of men finally learn human rights are meant for ALL humans, even us women. However, when you sit down and think about all the women who have been involved in fighting the entire world for rights we should have just because we are, I don’t know, HUMAN, it’s disheartening. Ladies, it’s sad men are still allowed to have an opinion, let alone make laws about women’s bodies. It’s disturbing we are still considered “less than” men, and we’re all walking around allowing it to happen because we’ve been conditioned to accept this shit as NORMAL. It’s madness!

Susan B Anthony

Her laser focus improved the lives of everyone around her. Not only did she work herself to the bone for African Americans’ rights, but her dedication to women’s right to own property and vote was her ultimate passion. Nothing stopped her – not her arrest, not threats, and certainly not any man. Although she passed away before women were granted the right to vote, she is absolutely credited with making it happen.

Lucille Ball

Television once provided not just entertainment, but also opportunities to highlight real issues. Lucille Ball created the I Love Lucy sitcom and put important storylines in front of the world without people even realizing it, until yes, butt hurt men started bitching about it. They didn’t enjoy seeing topics about marital issues, or women shown in the workforce. It scared them. Ball didn’t allow them to shut her down and made sure the stories were still told!

Sally Ride

First woman in space. Sad it didn’t happen until 1983, but man, it doesn’t get any better than knowing she beat out 1000 applicants for a spot in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s astronaut program. In a time when men dominated in math and science, Ride earned her PhD in Physics from Stanford and then went to space. WHAT???? Yeah, that’s badass. Even better, she became a professor followed by creating her own company, Sally Ride Science, focused on inspiring girls to follow their science and math passions.

Katharine Hepburn

Women wear pants these days and never think twice about it. A little bit of that is because Katharine Hepburn chose to show women wearing pants was not just okay, but that women could wear anything that made them feel comfortable. People might think that’s a small thing, but up until then, men had women believing uncomfortable corsets, dresses, and high heels were mandatory. She opened a lot of eyes, and gave women the confidence to challenge social norms.

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

Jackie-O spoke multiple languages, and had a knack for putting others at ease regardless of their background. She immersed herself in various cultures, in history, and had a true love for knowledge, and was a patron of the arts.

What stands out the most about Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis: her ability to watch her husband’s assassination right in front of her and still showed grace, strength, and loyalty through it all whilst in the public eye.

What I admire most about her was her ability to be President Kennedy’s partner, but never lost herself in the process. She always stood out, made her presence known, and was genuinely admired and liked by many powerful leaders around the world.

Ada Lovelace

It may shock many men (and women) to learn this, but computer programming, a male dominated field, got its start by Ada Lovelace. Yep, a woman. A whole day in October is dedicated to her. It pays homage to not just her, but other women in STEM. Girls is play-ahs, too.

Nellie Bly

Want to know why there used to be actual standards in investigative journalism? Journalists don’t even fact check anymore. In any event, there were standards. You can thank Nellie Bly for those standards. This kick ass journalist went undercover at an insane asylum. After writing her expose, patient care changed dramatically.

Oh, and she also set a world record taking just 72 days to circumnavigate the world. Yes, that’s right, a woman did that in 1890 by ship, horse, burro, and other vehicles.

Grace Hopper

Let’s head back to 1934. Grace Hopper earned a PhD in mathematics. Unheard of during the 1930s. And guess what? She developed the first compiler and then co-created a programming language still used to this day at banks, and financial institutions. Ever use the term “debugging”? Thank Grace for that one, she coined the term describing fixing a computer problem.

Oh, and she also became an admiral in the US Navy.

Althea Gibson

Playing a professional sport wasn’t easy for women, let alone a woman who happened to have more melatonin in her skin than another woman. Althea Gibson changed all of that nonsense at International championships over in England and France! She managed to not just play in both the French Open and Wimbledon, but she also WON them more than once. She believed, as a human being, she had every right any other human had to play sports. If men could do it, she could.  If white women were allowed to do it, well, she had every right to do it, too.

She never backed down. And damn, she blew that shit out of the water!!!!!

Gloria Steinem

Women in the workplace. Even in the 60s women were treated like garbage. Paid shit money. Sexually harassed. Gloria Steinem was a journalist who shook things up, is known for going undercover as a Playboy Bunny for a groundbreaking expose that shined light on how nonexistent workplace equity was for women. The craziest part is, women are still paid less than their male counterparts, and are all expected to work like they don’t have kids, and mother like they don’t have a job or career. Steihem’s turning 91 later this month and not much has changed for women in the workplace, and our reproductive rights have retreated back to how it was in the 1960s when Steinem was actively fighting for our rights!

WTF ladies????? How is this possible? It’s sick. Let’s get our shit together. You don’t have to believe in the same things, but we all deserve the right to make our OWN choices about our bodies and medical care AND we all deserve workplace equity!

Let’s Make Some MASSIVE Changes

Perhaps remembering women who have made history – the ones who pushed back against the conditioning, overcame it, and never accepted the tiny privileges men tossed their way – will light a bigger under ALL women. Perhaps we’ll all believe we deserve better than the shit we’ve been handed. And maybe, just. maybe, the boys we’re raising will turn into men who want to help right the wrongs throughout history.