THE ARTS
ENTERTAINMENT
LEADERS
POLITICS
SCIENCES
SPORTS
Women in the Arts
Women have been creating incredible works of art since the beginning of time, but in the 21st century they’ve really come into their own. From the feminist/political work by Kara Walker, to the political fiction of Herta Müller, to the edgy, avant-garde sounds of Yoko Ono, today’s female artists are creating some of the most inspired works around.
Ann Demeulemeester
(1959— ); Belgian fashion designer whose label ('Ann Demeulemeester') explores gothic and deconstructed styles.Learn more.
Joan Didion
(1934— ); American novelist and writer of personalized, journalistic essays exploring the disintegration of American morals and cultural chaos; her overriding theme is individual and social fragmentation.Learn more.
Eve Ensler
(1953— ); American feminist playwright, performer, author, activist; winner of 1997 Obie Award for “The Vagina Monologues."Learn more.
Zaha Hadid
(1950— ); British Iraqi deconstructionist architect; first female recipient of the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2004.Learn more.
Maya Lin
(1959— ); Noted American artist and architect who designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.Learn more.
Toni Morrison
(1931— ); Nobel- and Pulitzer Prize-winning American author whose best-known works include “Beloved,” “The Bluest Eye,” and “Solomon."Learn more.
Herta Müller
(1953— ); Romanian-born German Nobel Prize-winning writer whose works have been translated into more than 20 languages.Learn more.
Yoko Ono
(1933— ); pioneering Japanese-American avant-garde artist, musician, author, and activist.Learn more.
Marjane Satrapi
(1969— ); Iranian-born French graphic novelist, author, illustrator, and Academy Award-nominated film director for “Persepolis."Learn more.
Kara Walker
(1969— ); American artist who explores race, gender, sexuality, violence and identity in her work; best known for her room-size tableaux of black cut-paper silhouettes.Learn more.
AN OVERVIEW OF THE ARTS
Women in Entertainment
Women entertainers have come a long way since the days of Shakespeare, when even female roles in theater productions were played by men. Today, women are not only acting in movies, in TV, and on the stage. Now they’re also getting behind the camera, in the director’s chair, and in the recording studio. Take a look at 10 of these women who’ve made their mark in film, music, TV, and theater.
Kathryn Bigelow
(1951— ); American film producer-director; She just became the first woman to earn an Oscar for "Best Director” for “The Hurt Locker” (which also won “Best Picture” Oscar).Learn more.
Margaret Cho
(1968— ); American comedian; was named the “Funniest Female Standup Comic” at the 1994 American Comedy Awards; her TV sitcom “All-American Girl” was the first to feature an all-Asian-American cast.Learn more.
Aretha Franklin
(1942— ); American “Queen of Soul” singer, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 and awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005.Learn more.
Miriam Makeba
(1932–2008); South African singer; in 1966 became first African to win a Grammy.Learn more.
Mira Nair
(1957— ); East Indian movie director, nominated for “Best Foreign Language Film” Oscar for “Salaam Bombay”; won “Best Feature” Independent Spirit Award for “Mississippi Masala”; nominated for “Best Foreign Language Film” Golden Globe for “Monsoon Wedding."Learn more.
Charlotte Rampling
(1946— ); English film actor; nominated for four “Best Actress” César Awards; won a “Best Actress” European Film Award for her performance in 2003’s “Swimming Pool”; honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at 2008’s Stockholm Film Festival.Learn more.
Sade
(1958— ); Nigerian-British singer-songwriter; was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 2002; released six multiplatinum albums over 20 years; won four Grammy Awards; named “Best New Artist” at 1985’s Grammy Awards.Learn more.
Patti Smith
(1946— ); American singer-songwriter; her debut album “Horses” was a pivotal part of New York City’s punk-rock movement in the mid-‘70s; nominated for two Grammys; inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.Learn more.
Meryl Streep
(1949— ); American movie actor, won “Best Supporting Actress” Oscar for “Kramer vs. Kramer” and “Best Actress” Oscar for “Sophie’s Choice”; has won seven Golden Globes, most recently for “Julie & Julia."Learn more.
Oprah Winfrey
(1954— ); American TV host-producer, and movie actor-producer; has won nine Daytime Emmys for “The Oprah Winfrey Show”; won a Primetime Emmy for “Tuesdays With Morrie”; nominated for a “Best Supporting Actress” Oscar for “The Color Purple."Learn more.
AN OVERVIEW OF ENTERTAINMENT
Women Leaders
While it’s a new century, we still consider these women to embody the pioneer spirit. They have broken new ground; put cracks in high, hard glass ceilings; and made waves, from the board room to the back room, from judging court cases to judging fashion shows.
Sheila C. Blair
(1954–– ); American Chairwoman of the US FDIC; Won the JFK “Courage Award for “sounding early warnings” of the financial crisis.Learn more.
Cynthia Carroll
(1957–– ); An American businesswoman; CEO of the Anglo American PLC; first woman to head the largest platinum mining producer.Learn more.
Ho Ching
(1953–– ); Chinese businesswoman; is the Chief Executive Officer of Temasek Holdings.Learn more.
Hillary Rodham Clinton
(1947–– ); United States Secretary of State. Thanks to her 2008 presidential run, she put “18 million cracks” …”in the that highest, hardest glass ceiling.”Learn more.
Lisa P. Jackson
(1962–– ); Chief administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; First African American to serve in this role.Learn more.
Chanda Kochar
(1961–– ); Indian CEO of Icici Bank, India; First woman boss of India’s second-largest bank.Learn more.
Christine Lagarde
(1956–– ); Minister of Economic Affairs, Industry and Employment of France; she was previously Minister of Agriculture and Fishing and Minister of Trade. She is the first woman ever to become minister of Economic Affairs of a G8 economy.Learn more.
Anne Lauvergeon
(1959–– ); French businesswoman and CEO of Areva; the 9th most affluent woman in the world; one of the most influential players in the global nuclear energy market.Learn more.
Sonia Sotomayor
(1954–– ); American Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the U.S. This “wise, Latina woman” is the first Hispanic to serve on the Supreme Court.Learn more.
Wu Yi
(1938–– ); One of four Vice Premiers of the State Council of the People's Republic of China; known as the "iron lady", Wu is one of the toughest negotiators in China's government.Learn more.
AN OVERVIEW OF LEADERS
Women in Politics
In 1960, the country of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) elected the world's first female head of government. Today, countries from Lithuania to Germany are lead by female politicians. Women are also flexing their power by opposing oppressive regimes and working for the environment, peace, and human rights.
Christiana Amanpour
(1958–– ); British born CNN chief international correspondent and anchor of Amanpour, a 30-minute interview show.Learn more.
Michelle Bachelet
(1951–– ); Chilean president; center-left politician and the first woman to hold this position in the country's history.Learn more.
Cherie Blair
(1954–– ); British human rights lawyer working in the legal system of England and Wales. She has described herself as a socialist and at times has appeared to have views further to the left than those of her husband, Tony Blair.Learn more.
Shirin Ebadi
(1947— ); Iranian lawyer, human rights activist, and winner of 2003 Nobel Peace Prize.Learn more.
Aung San Suu Kyi
(1945— ); Myanmar opposition politician, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize; currently under house arrest by the Myanmar government.Learn more.
Wangari Maathai
(1940–– ); Kenyan environmental activist, author, professor, women’s rights defender, and founder of Green Belt Movement that focuses on environmental reforestation and women’s rights. Her work was recognized with the Nobel Peace Prize.Learn more.
Angela Merkel
(1954–– ); The first female Chancellor of Germany. In 2008 Merkel received the Charlemagne Prize "for her work to reform the European Union".Learn more.
Sima Samar
(1957–– ); Chairperson of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) and, since 2005, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Sudan.Learn more.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
(1938–– ); 24th and current President of Liberia. Sirleaf is the first modern, and currently the only elected female head of state in Africa.Learn more.
Mu Sochua
(1954–– ); Sochua was one of 1,000 women nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her work against sex trafficking of women in Cambodia and Thailand. Also in 2005, Sochua was honoured with the Vital Voices Human Rights Global Leadership Award for her efforts to stem the tide of human trafficking.Learn more.
AN OVERVIEW OF POLITICS
Women in the Sciences
The view of science as a male-dominated arena is changing as women continue to achieve greatness as astronauts, chemists, computer scientists, and more. Today, more young women are studying the sciences, smashing old stereotypes like “boys are better at math” and opening up new possibilities for girls everywhere. Here are a few of the many incredible women scientists who inspire us.
Habiba Bouhamed Chaabouni
Geneticist; Prof. Medical Genetics Univ. Tunis; winner of 2006 L'Oreal-UNESCO International Prize for research on heriditary disorders.Learn more.
Jane Goodall
(1934–– ); British primatologist, ethologist, anthropologist, and United Nations Messengers of Peace. She is well-known for her 45-year study of chimpanzee social and family interactions in Gombe Stream National Park, Tanzania, and for founding the Jane Goodall Institute.Learn more.
Grace Murray Hopper
(1906––1992); Groundbreaking computer scientist; developed first compiler for a computer programming language; Hopper's research led to one of the first modern programming languages and coined the term "debugging."Learn more.
Shirley Ann Jackson
(1946–– ); American physicist, and the 18th president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She received her Ph.D. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1973, becoming the first African American woman to earn a doctorate from MIT. She is also the first woman and first African American to hold the position of president.Learn more.
Elinor Ostrom
(1933–– ); American political scientist and winner of the 2009 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. She is the first woman to win the prize in this category.Learn more.
Lisa Randall
(1962–– ); American theoretical physicist; Prof. Harvard; co-authored the Randall-Sundrum model in 1999, a major development in string theory; first tenured female professor in Princeton physics department, and first tenured female theoretical physicist at MIT and Harvard.Learn more.
Sally Ride
(1951––); American Astrophysicist and astronaut and first American woman in space; joined NASA in 1978, where she helped design the robot arm for the space shuttle; professor of physics and director of the California Space Institute at the Univ. of Calif., San Diego.Learn more.
Pardis Sabeti
(1975–– ); Iranian-American evolutionary geneticist, developed method for identifying influences of natural selection on the human genome; Asst. Prof. Harvard; Rhodes Scholar; Davos World Economic Forum Panelist.Learn more.
Katey Walter
University of Alaska at Fairbanks assistant professor who has won a conservation achievement award from the National Wildlife Federation and was named “One of the Best Brains Under 40” by Discover Magazine.Learn more.
Ada E. Yonath
(1939–– ); Israeli crystallographer known for her pioneering work on the structure of the ribosome. In 2009, she received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with Venkatraman Ramakrishnan and Thomas A. Steitz for her studies on the structure and function of the ribosome, becoming the first Israeli woman to win the Nobel Prize, the first woman from the Middle East to win a Nobel prize in the sciences, and the first woman in 45 years to win the Nobel Prize for Chemistry.Learn more.
AN OVERVIEW OF SCIENCE
Women in Sports
The recent Olympics in Vancouver calls to mind all the sports open to female competitors, from the long-standing tradition of figure skating to the breaking of gender barriers in ice hockey. The following female athletes come from a wide range of sports and nationalities, but they share one accomplishment: All were pivotal in defining—and in some cases, redefining—their sport, and how well it could be played.
Bonnie Blair
(1964— ); American speedskater; won five Olympic gold medals over three Games.Learn more.
Nadia Comaneci
(1961— ); Romanian gymnast; first gymnast to earn perfect score at Olympics; won nine Olympic medals.Learn more.
Lyubov Egorova
(1966— ); Russian cross-country skier; won nine Olympic medals.Learn more.
Mia Hamm
(1972— ); American soccer player; scored more international goals than any other soccer player (male or female).Learn more.
Lynn Hill
(1961— ); American climber, top sport climber of the 1980s; famous for making the first (male or female) free ascent of the Nose Route on Yosemite's El Capitan.Learn more.
Jackie Joyner-Kersee
(1962— ); American track-and-field athlete; won six Olympic medals during four consecutive Games.Learn more.
Janica Kostelić
(1982— ); Croatian alpine ski racer; considered one of the greatest female skiers of all time; only woman to win four gold medals in alpine skiing and three alpine skiing gold medals in one Olympics.Learn more.
Paula Newby-Fraser
(1962— ); South African triathlete; eight-time Ironman world champion.Learn more.
Hayley Wickenheiser
(1978— ); Canadian ice hockey player; first woman to play full-time professional hockey in a position other than goalie; won three gold and one silver medal, twice being named tournament MVP.Learn more.
Serena Williams
(1981— ); American professional tennis player current No.1-ranked female player in the world.Learn more.
AN OVERVIEW OF SPORTS