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Who are Today's Female Heroes?

scottydog

scottydog

Admiral
Admiral
I'm studying heroes and I'd like to write about women who are considered heroes to many people. Can you help me generate names of female heroes?

The women we've thought of so far are: Oprah Winfrey, Florence Nightingale, Althea Gibson, Lady Gaga, Toni Morrison, Rosa Parks, Amelia Earhart, Gabrielle Giffords, Ellen DeGeneres, Mother Teresa, Michelle Obama, Monica Seles, Drew Barrymore, Mae Jemison, Lucille Ball, Tina Fey, Betsy Ross, and Dana Reeve.

Who else can you add to this list? Many thanks in advance for your suggestions!
 
There are still plenty of people who would put Hilary Clinton on the list. There are even those who would put Sarah Palin on the list.
 
^Thanks for those 2 suggestions. I'm still waiting for one of them to do something heroic! But I agree, some people do consider them heroes.
 
Lady Gaga? Seriously? What on Earth has she done except self-promotion? Discovered an amazing new treatment for burns victims? New therapies for genetic diseases? Set up and run clinics to improve the lot of 3rd World women suffering from conditions like obstetric related fistulas? New vaccines? If she's on the list, why not the original, Madonna? Dr Fiona Wood? What about Dr Catherine Hamlin? Marie Curie didn't make your list. Mary Mackillop?

The majority of the list seem drawn from politics, sport or entertainment. Less that 25% from the world of science & medicine. What does that say?
 
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Do you have a working definition of 'hero' in the context you'll be using it, scottydog? I have about seventy bajillion heroes who are women, but for lots of different reasons.

I'm guessing from the list that it's women throughout history, not just living today. Are you looking for women who achieved things in the face of adversity? Or women who had a big impact on fields like science, industry, the arts etc? Or women people from certain demographics are likely to be inspired by? Women of note whom the average Jill or Joe on the street is likely to have heard of?

Otherwise I can see the list getting unmanageably long.
 
Elizabeth Warren.

Also, Time Magazine's Persons of the Year 2002: three corporate whistleblowers, all women.
 
SiorX said:
Do you have a working definition of 'hero' in the context you'll be using it, scottydog? I have about seventy bajillion heroes who are women, but for lots of different reasons.
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I'm working from the perspective that heroism is in the eye of the beholder. This addresses Trilliam's concern that Lady Gaga doesn't belong on our list. While I personally don't view Gaga as a hero, many people do.
 
I have troubles understanding the pattern behind your list. I fail to see how Oprah or Lady Gaga could be on the same line as Rosa Parks and Amelia Earhart. Are you talking about "heroes" or just "famous people"?
 
A better term may be "inspirational or strong female leaders/trailblazers".
 
J. Allen said:
Trilliam said:
J. Allen said:
A better term may be "inspirational or strong female leaders/trailblazers".
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In which case, Lady Gaga does not belong there as what she does is so "Madonna 85-95", she is not original or trail-blazing.
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That is your opinion. To some, she is a trailblazer, particularly toward the gay community.
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I'm on the other side of the world, in the city that has the Annual Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras for the last 30 years. How is she "trailblazing" in any regard? What is/has she actually done (apart from release video clips that are quite questionable)? And dress like a demented thing?

Or do you mean "heroic" but only within their own country/ culture/society? Not, say, the English speaking world at large? Or only to a particular age/ ethnic/ gender demographic?
 
Trilliam said:
I'm on the other side of the world, in the city that has the Annual Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras for the last 30 years. How is she "trailblazing" in any regard? What is/has she actually done (apart from release video clips that are quite questionable)? And dress like a demented thing?
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I don't know whether it's trailblazing or not, but she's written and performed a song, in the pop mainstream, directly advocating that it's perfectly natural and acceptable to be gay. May not seem like much, but here in the United States where being gay is still a stigma in many places, where gay marriage is seen as an abomination to family values, it's a real risk.

As for her music and style choice, you're quite clearly not a fan, and that's fine, but that's her music and style choice, and it appears to be rather well accepted and expected. Personally, I much prefer listening to her music rather than appraising her costume choices, but to each their own.
 
Written & performed 1 song on a hot button controversial topic - good for sales & self-promotion. Sounds pretty self-serving to me. My problem with her style and music is that it's like I've heard and seen it all before (the afore-mentioned Madonna & Kylie Minogue etc) in the 80s & 90s.
 
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