ICONIC WOMEN PODCAST with Sarah Heeter
Sarah Heeter
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On this podcast, we'll talk about iconic women and women's movements both historic and contemporary.
Available episodes
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Mar 10, 2021
WOMEN OF HISTORY: Khutulun (1260 - 1306 AD)
Khutulun, the Mongol Princess of 10,000 horses, was born in 1260, during a period of high conflict within her father’s empire. She stood out from her 14 brothers as the most skilled rider, shooter, and strategic military leader and supported her father’s cause in several battles.
As she got older, her father was anxious for her to marry (strategically). But, Khutulun wasn’t stoked to get married. She made a bet with any potential suitors near and far that if they could defeat her in a wrestling match, she would marry them! But if they lost, they had to pay a debt of 100 horses.
Khutulun remained undefeated her whole life.
And, she obtained a herd of horses so large it rivaled the emperor’s herd!
Eventually, her AND her father’s reputations started to become tarnished by her refusal to marry, so… she gave in and married someone that history doesn’t even remember by name. However, whoever it was never beat her at wrestling.
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Mar 3, 2021
WOMEN UNDER 30: Scarlett Curtis (UK)
As a young teenager Scarlett Curtis @scarcurtis had what should have been a very standard operation for scoliosis… but it left her in crippling pain. For a year, she was in pain every day, used a wheelchair for long periods, and couldn’t stand the feeling of any fabric touching her back. She was depressed, lonely, and withdrawn. Doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong, and for a long time, many people even within the healthcare community made her feel like it was all in her head and she was making the whole thing up. Finally, after months of this, they gave her family the option for an “unnecessary” second surgery. It was during this procedure that they discovered there was a screw which had been pressing into her spine the entire time. As soon as they removed it, the pain went away. ...But the whole experience was traumatizing enough to a 14-15 year old girl that she then had what she describes as a complete breakdown, and didn’t leave the house for three years.
As a young adult, Scarlett decided to open up about her experiences with depression and anxiety, and started a lifestyle blog with a major focus on mental health. In addition to her own blog, Scarlett has written for The Guardian, Elle Magazine, The Times, and The Telegraph.
In 2017, Scarlett co-founded the feminist activist collective, @pinkprotest, seeking to redefine what activism means for young people, and to make activism accessible and fun.
Although the story of her adolescence is infuriating, it ultimately led to her remarkable ability to help others and be a catalyst for change. She helps inspire us to have conversations about mental health and to normalize that subject matter. Scarlett also represents that there is community available for all of us… and that through community, we can be and achieve anything we dream of.
Scarlett is on a mission to make the world a better, safer place. Make sure you follow her - and the Pink Protest - on social media to learn about how you can get involved!
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Feb 3, 2021
WOMEN OF HISTORY: Lady Godiva (990 - 1067 AD)
The legend of Lady Godiva (~990-1067) says that this aristocratic, land owning woman stood up to her husband about his over-taxation of the people of Coventry. And despite her continued assertions that he was oppressing his people, he saw her as a nag and basically tried to get her to leave him alone by Triple Dog Daring her to do something she would never actually follow through with… riding her horse naked through town.
Covered by nothing but her long hair, Lady Godiva allegedly rode through town. Rumor has it that she ordered everyone to stay inside with their doors and windows closed, but she did it nonetheless, to prove him wrong and to get her way.
The story is compelling, because it indicates that there should be more shame and embarrassment about a woman’s naked body than about over-taxing and oppressing people.
Historians dispute any evidence that this story actually happened, but Lady Godiva really was a philanthropic and charitable aristocrat who also happened to be the only documented woman to be a major landholder of her time. And regardless of whether the rest of her legend is true, her story has been immortalized in folklore, literature, pop culture references, and art for hundreds of years.
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Jan 27, 2021
WOMEN UNDER 30: Zarifa Ghafari (Afghanistan)
Today I would like to introduce to you: Zarifa Ghafari, an Afghan advocate, activist, politician, and entrepreneur. She’s known for her efforts to empower women in Afghanistan, and is currently one of the few female Afghan mayors and the youngest to be appointed when she was only 26.
Zarifa is from the remote, ultra Conservative, Taliban supporting province Wardak. She was the only female applicant to be mayor out of over 130 hopefuls, and though she did not have any political experience, she was selected!
On her first day in office, local men from her town were so outraged by her role that they harassed her and attacked her office. She was forced to flee that day, and her ability to actually take on her position was delayed by almost a year, but she was determined to return and stand up for herself.
When she did take on her position, the men in the office staged a walkout, and even after that they continue to mock and ignore her. Gender roles are deeply engrained in this part of Afghanistan. But Zarifa is determined to make a difference and pave the way for other girls and women.
Zarifa says she anticipates her own assassination… she’s been threatened by the Taliban, ISIL, and - even scarier - the land mafia, local criminal syndicates involved in the highly corrupt and lucrative land trade. She’s not yet even 30 years old.
In her capacity as a trail-blazer and door-opener for a new generation of young women, she has helped to empower the women of Afghanistan. Zarifa may not be able to change the culture of toxic masculinity in her region overnight, but she continues to make a difference. She pushes through every obstacle in front of her - facing discrimination, bias, and threats to her life.
Zarifa has experienced more threats, violence, and hate than most of us can ever imagine. But no matter who we are or what our life experience is, bullies and haters will often try to stand in our way. We should all look to Zarifa as a role model in standing strong and never giving up. Who we are, and what we do, matters. And we might just be able to inspire others along the way!
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Jan 20, 2021
WOMEN UNDER 30: Miley Cyrus (USA)
Today’s Iconic Woman is Miley Cyrus, who you probably know as a controversial public figure who broke out of her Disney Channel child-star mold as a sexually awakened, drug-using force to be reckoned with.
She’s made a huge splash on the music industry, topping the charts, earning a variety of industry awards, and even being named as one of Billboard’s Greatest Artists of All Time; producing music across several genres and incorporating a multitude of musical styles. And even though she’s under 30, she’s been taking the music industry by storm for more than a decade.
But even more important than all of that is Miley’s philanthropy and advocacy. She’s spent her entire career as a visible, transparent social justice warrior - supporting charitable causes including natural disaster relief efforts in Haiti and Japan, animal welfare, pediatric HIV & AIDS prevention and treatment, cancer research, Ronald McDonald Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, United Service Organizations, Youth Service America, Amnesty International, and more.
And most iconic of all? Miley refuses to live her life according to anybody else’s standards, categories, or labels. She came out as pansexual at 14 years old, and in Time Magazine as gender fluid. She’s been a fierce advocate for the trans and gender-expansive community, and founded the Happy Hippie Foundation which supports homeless and LGBTQ youth.
@mileycyrus is a role model to all of us. No matter who the world tells you to be or how to live your life, those decisions are yours alone. Miley has faced innumerable haters, trolls, and critics… but she’s never let that stand in her way. And all along, she’s made a point to dedicate her life to doing good and helping and supporting others.
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Follow Happy Hippie Foundation on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/happyhippiefdn/?hl=en
Follow Miley on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mileycyrus/?hl=en
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Jan 13, 2021
WOMEN OF HISTORY: Fatima al-Fihri (800 - 880 AD)
Do you ever think about what you are doing with the limited time and resources you have in this life? What will you leave behind when you are gone?
Meet Fatima al-Fihri, the founder of the world’s oldest university, which is still operating today! Al-Qarawiyyin was built as a mosque around 840 AD and when Fatima purchased it and rebuilt it into a university, she doubled it in size and opened it as the FIRST institution for higher learning that offered graduate and post-graduate degrees in Islamic Studies, mathematics, grammar, and medicine. This university is about 200 years older than the first European university, and as I mentioned, it’s still operating today and also holds the world’s oldest library!
It is INCREDIBLY powerful to think about how much of a permanent and lasting impact ONE woman (<3 Fatima al-Fihri <3) was able to make in her lifetime.
What legacy will YOU leave behind?
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Jan 6, 2021
WOMEN OF HISTORY: Wu Zetian (624 - 705 AD)
Meet Wu Zetian, the only female emperor in the history of China, who lived from about 624-705 AD.
Now listen, Wu Zetian doesn’t have a reputation for being Miss Congeniality or anything, in fact she’s known for her ruthless determination and brutal violence inflicted mostly by her secret police force, but she climbed the proverbial latter from being one of the lowest-ranking (teenage) concubines in the palace to literally claiming the position of emperor and holding that power for FIFTY YEARS.
How did she do it?
She was really smart and committed to learning, intensely ambitious, incredibly bold and courageous, and persuasively charismatic. Wu Zetian was fiercely determined to get on top, and stay there.
And, despite some of her more questionable and murder-y decisions, she also dramatically increased the size of China’s empire, improved the lives of peasants by cutting taxes and building new public works, improved farming techniques and literacy, and generally led her country during a time of power and prosperity.
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Dec 30, 2020
WOMEN UNDER 30: Lauren Singer (USA)
Today’s Iconic Woman Under 30 is Lauren Singer, an environmental activist, entrepreneur, and blogger in the zero-waste movement.
You’ve probably already heard of “waste management” - which is how waste is handled or redirected once it already exists. But Lauren is bringing awareness to “zero-waste” - which is all about preventing trash from existing in the first place. Or, as she likes to say, making the world less trashy!
Lauren is known for keeping all of her personal trash in one 16 oz mason jar since 2012. EIGHT YEARS of trash that can all be contained in ONE jar! Now that’s commitment.
But, it’s important to Lauren to inspire others to take small steps that lead to big changes, for human health, and the health of our planet!
So, her @trashisfortossers website offers tips for zero-waste fashion, home and living, and even diy & guides that make sustainability easy, accessible, and even fun!
If you spend even five minutes on her website, you are going to be IMMEDIATELY inspired and motivated, and I think you’ll find that your mindset has shifted - at least a little - for good.
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Follow Lauren on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trashisfortossers/
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Dec 23, 2020
WOMEN UNDER 30: Susan Fowler (USA)
Today’s Iconic Woman is Susan Fowler, who gained notoriety as a whistleblower against Uber, a company she worked for at the time.
Finally, she landed at Uber, as a Site Reliability Engineer, where she had finally had enough of the blatant sexism. Her manager propositioned her to partake in illicit, inappropriate activities, and she reported him to Human Resources. However, they refused to punish him because of his productivity. She ended up writing a 3,000 word blog post online about the hostile work environment toward female employees at Uber, including outlining her experience with her former manager. The story went viral, which led to public investigations of the company, and several people were fired. Even the CEO, Travis Kalanick, had to resign in the midst of the intense fallout.
Susan’s whistleblowing impacted not just Uber, but many start-up tech companies in Silicon Valley, and she became a business world celebrity.
With different levels of severity, danger, or harm, nearly every working woman in every industry has experienced something related to corporate sexism.
If you’ve experienced or are currently experiencing something comparable at school or work, you need to know that you are not alone, and it is not your fault, and you have the right to feel safe when you’re just taking up space and living your life. NO ONE has the right to make you physically uncomfortable or unsafe, and there is no appropriate way for those kinds of interactions and experiences to take place at work.
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Follow Susan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/susanthesquark/
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Dec 16, 2020
WOMEN OF HISTORY: Boudica (30 - 61 AD)
Today I’m excited to be highlighting Boudica, a Celtic queen of the Iceni tribe, who led one of the most destructive and deadly revolts against the Roman Empire almost 2000 years ago.
After her husband, the king, passed away, he left his kingdom to her and their two daughters in his will. But in the absence of a male heir, the Roman Empire ignored his will altogether and invaded and pillaged the Iceni tribe’s kingdom. To make matters even worse and even more personal, the Roman soldiers raped Boudica’s two daughters right in front of her.
Boudica was not about to let that fly. She vowed revenge and led a large army in revolt through the Roman Empire’s major cities, where they housed government and trade. They killed and destroyed several major cities, burning them to the ground, before they were finally defeated.
To avoid an even worse fate, Boudica and her daughters poisoned themselves when their armies were defeated. But even though they weren’t successful in permanently destroying Rome’s power, they made an unbelievable impact and left a permanent scar on the Roman Empire.
Boudica is a feminist role model representing standing up against oppression and authoritarian rule. She inspired and led others to follow her and to rise up for independence and the right to life. And, she teaches us that there is no such thing as failure. When you give it your best effort, you can make a tremendous impact.
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Dec 9, 2020
WOMEN UNDER 30: Hayley Kiyoko (USA)
Have you heard of “Lesbian Jesus” Hayley Kiyoko? She’s a singer, songwriter, actress, and music video producer… and in 2016, she came out to the public as gay!
She said she has known she was attracted to girls since she was just six years old, but had so much fear and intimidation about coming out and getting rejected. She came out to her family in middle school, and eventually she came out to the public. She uses her music and her videos to share her story with the world, and to normalize LGBT relationships.
Hayley is iconic because she has used her platform as a world famous artist to bring awareness to LGBT issues. She strategically collaborates with brands on campaigns about human rights and representation, has publicly participated in Pride parades, and dedicates her awards and accomplishments to queer women of color. She even produced one of her music videos all about violence against trans women.
Hayley helps all of us realize that our stories matter. We…
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Dec 2, 2020
TODAY'S WOMEN: Jameela Jamil (UK)
Today’s Iconic Woman is Jameela Jamil. She’s an incredible comedic actress, model, and radio presenter… but she’s also a writer and an activist! She’s particularly passionate about accessibility and women’s rights, especially regarding women’s value beyond their body shape or size.
One of the best parts of following Jameela on social media or listening to her interviews is how open and transparent she is about simultaneously not taking herself too seriously, but taking her time and her opportunity at life to do seriously good work.
She is comedic and vulnerable, making us laugh and easily relating to other women from all walks of life all over the world, not projecting a false image of perfection or a perfectly curated social media feed.
And, by exposing us to all of the ways she is normal and imperfect, it makes her even more lovable.
But despite this fun-loving, unserious personality, she takes “doing good” extremely seriously. She lives he…
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Nov 25, 2020
WOMEN OF HISTORY: Cleopatra (69 BC - 30 BC)
Today’s Iconic Woman is Cleopatra, the infamous Egyptian queen. She was born over 2000 years ago in 69 BC. At just 17, she became a co-regent alongside her father, and when he passed away a few years later, he left his kingdom to her and her younger brother in his will.
At 21, Cleopatra was bravely leading armies, practicing diplomacy, tackling economic challenges like famine and a massive inherited debt, and advocating her independence and autonomy.
Cleopatra is famous for her beauty, but it wasn’t physical attractiveness that made her so notorious. Instead, it was her charisma, intellect, wit, and general dynamo that led to (married) powerful men falling at her feet in passionate love affairs. She never married for love - only for strategy, but her life wasn’t lacking in love or romance… Caesar loved her so much he built a monument to her, despite being married to another woman, and Mark Antony literally abandoned his army before an invasion and spent a whole wint…
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Nov 18, 2020
TODAY'S WOMEN: Dominique Crenn (France/USA)
Today’s Iconic Woman is Dominique Crenn, a 3-star michelin rated chef. There are only 137 restaurants in the world that have 3 Michelin Stars, and only 15 in the USA - and Dominique Crenn’s flagship, Atelier Crenn, is the only one in America where the chef is a woman.
In 2011, she opened her own restaurant, Atelier Crenn, in San Francisco. The Michelin Guide awarded the restaurant a two-star rating - making Crenn the first ever female chef to receive two stars in the United States. Dominique went on to open Petit Crenn in 2015 and announced that she would be opening a third restaurant, a wine bar featuring small plates, shortly thereafter.
She was awarded the Best Female Chef in 2016 by World’s 50 Best Restaurant Awards, and in 2018, she opened her third restaurant Bar Crenn, which was awarded one Michelin star in its first year. She was then awarded her third Michelin Star for Atelier Crenn, meaning that she currently holds four total Michelin stars across her three re…
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Nov 11, 2020
TODAY'S WOMEN: Stacey Abrams (USA)
There are so many iconic stories of women who impacted this election but there’s one that arguably contributed more than maybe any other.
Stacey Abrams is an American politician, lawyer, author, and voting rights activist from Georgia. She served in the Georgia House of Representatives for 10 years before running for Governor in 2018 against Brian Kemp, who was then Georgia’s secretary of state. During that election, there was an unbelievable amount of corruption, interference, and massive voter suppression - orchestrated in part by Kemp himself, who ended up winning the election and defeating Stacey, preventing her from becoming the first Black female state Governor.
In 2018, over 53,000 voter registration applications were put on hold by Kemp’s office - with more than ¾ of those belonging to minorities. Furthermore, 75% of the polling places in majority poor, Black rural Georgia were closed prior to the 2018 election. Additionally, many voters who were able to regist…
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Nov 4, 2020
WOMEN UNDER 30: Kristine Davis (USA)
Did you know? Women make up only ¼ of workers in STEM-qualified industries and they made, on average, 20% less than men in STEM-qualified industries. And, less than 25% of students pursuing undergraduate engineering degrees are women.
27-year-old Kristine Davis graduated with an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from Kansas State University in 2015 and participated in four internships with NASA during her undergraduate education. Today, she works for NASA full time in Houston, Texas designing space suits!
She’s currently working on space suit design components for two upcoming missions - one to the Moon by 2024, and the other to Mars! Her work includes designing a space suit for the first woman astronaut to go to the moon. Her primary focus is to develop hardware that astronauts use on their spacesuit, such as the pressure garment system - the pressurized portion of the spacesuit, as well as working on components for the helmet and the visor - which is the…
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Oct 28, 2020
WOMEN OF HISTORY: Tomoe Gozen (1157 - 1247)
Today we’re talking about Tomoe Gozen, a warrior worth a thousand men. Tomoe is known as a leading commander and the first female general of 12th century Japan. She was extremely talented with bow and arrow, long sword, martial arts, and riding horses.
Legend has it that she was “ready to confront a demon or god, mounted or on foot” and that she “performed more deeds of valor than any other warriors.” She fearlessly beheaded the enemies and presented their heads to her commanding officers.
Tomoe Gozen was not just a fearless warrior, but she was also a cunning strategist and inspirational leader. Now in 12th century Japan, it was not entirely unusual for women of the samurai class to be trained in martial arts as well as to use various weapons, but their role was expected to be primarily defensive, protecting themselves and their households in the event of an enemy attack.
What made Tomoe stand out was her superior skill and ability to effectively command, as well as h…
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Oct 23, 2020
WOMEN UNDER 30: Nadia Murad (Iraq/Germany)
Today I bring to you the story of Nadia Murad, an Iraqi activist and Nobel Prize laureate working to help women and children victimized by genocide, mass atrocities, and human trafficking to heal and rebuild their lives and communities.
@nadia_murad was born in a village in Northern Iraq to a family of Yazidi farmers. When she was 19 years old, ISIL fighters rounded up the Yazidi community in the village and killed 600 people, including six of her brothers & stepbrothers. They then took women and girls into slavery - including Nadia herself. In 2014, Nadia was one of more than 6,700 Yazidi women & girls taken prisoner by ISIL in Iraq.
She was held as a slave almost 100 miles from her former home; beaten, burned with cigarettes, & raped. She escaped a couple of months later and a neighboring family helped smuggle her to a refugee camp about 50 miles away.
Through a German refugee relief program, she was able to leave the refugee camp & establish a new permanent home, where she then b…
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Oct 21, 2020
WOMEN UNDER 30: Kim Petras (Germany/USA)
Kim Petras is best known as an international singer & songwriter from Germany, currently living in Los Angeles. She has been releasing music as an independent artist under her own imprint, BunHead Records. She began recording and releasing music as a teenager and has topped the charts for several singles, as well as received many other awards and recognitions in the music industry.
In 2013, she ranked as number 19 on Billboard’s Artist Chart for developing artists. In 2017, her single “I Don’t Want It at All” reached the Spotify Global Viral chart. She was also selected by Spotify to be one of four artists named as a RISE artist, which is part of a program designed to identify and break the next wave of music superstars.
@kimpetras says “To me, pop music is an escape from my problems. I can put on my headphones and listen to it for three and a half minutes to forget about everything that's bothering me. It's always been that way for me. I feel like pop definitely sa…
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Oct 14, 2020
TODAY'S WOMEN: Ruth Bader Ginsburg (USA)
Ruth Bader Ginsburg was one of 9 female students in her class at Harvard Law School; tied for the top of her class at Columbia Law School; was the first woman to be on two major law reviews; co-founded the Women’s Rights Law Reporter, the first law journal in the US to focus exclusively on women’s rights; became the first tenured woman teaching at Columbia Law School; co-founded the Women’s Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU; became the second ever female US Supreme Court justice as well as the first Jewish woman; and generally made her entire life’s work about strategically dismantling gender inequality and discrimination.
Although she contributed to an astonishing number of relevant cases and statutes that help form the gender equality movement today and the state of things, here is a quick list of just some of the most notable laws that Ruth helped create or pass:
Employers cannot discriminate against employees based on gender or reprodu…
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Oct 7, 2020
WOMEN OF HISTORY: Olga of Kiev (? - 969 AD)
Have you heard of Olga of Kiev? She was the first woman to rule Ancient Russia and she’s famous for cleverly outsmarting and defeating her rivals (who are the ones who murdered her husband), as well as for her conversion and commitment to the spread of Christianity in eastern Europe. She’s got a reputation as both a “vengeful murder princess” as well as literal Sainthood in the Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches.
The story of Olga’s revenge against her husband’s murderers is colorful and kinda long, so check out the podcast wherever you like listening to podcasts in order to hear more. But, here’s a teaser: it includes burying a group of men alive, burning down a bathhouse full of another group of men, a year long war, and burning down an entire city to the ground, Khaleesi-style.
Olga was a feminist badass who wasn’t afraid to stand up to anyone, who knew her worth and value, and on top of all of it, she was a really good leader who made serious g…
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Sep 30, 2020
WOMEN UNDER 30: Amanda Nguyen (USA)
Today I want to share the story of Amanda Nguyen… back in 2013, as a senior at Harvard University, Amanda survived rape. She got a rape kit, but she knew as a young 20-something with limited time and resources that she was not well-positioned to handle a lengthy trial that could potentially last several years. Since the statute of limitations in Massachusetts for rape is 15 years, Amanda knew she had time to press charges when she might be better positioned to go to trial, allowing her to pursue her mental and emotional health and well-being in the wake of the assault.
But soon, Amanda received a completely uninformative notice that her rape kit would be destroyed after 6 months if she did not file an extension. The notice didn’t even tell her what she needed to do to file the extension, so she had to figure it out herself. She knew the system was broken and needed reform.
Amanda helped put the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Rights Act on the table and it passed through bo…
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Sep 23, 2020
TODAY'S WOMEN: Shonda Rhimes (USA)
Today I am excited to bring to you the story of the iconic screenwriter and producer, Shonda Rhimes. You probably know her best as the showrunner for Grey’s Anatomy and its spin-off Private Practice, as well as the creator of How to Get Away with Murder and Scandal.
Shonda herself and her shows have received innumerable awards, nominations, and other recognition. She also started her own production company, Shondaland, and is a published author with her book, “Year of Yes: How to Dance it Out, Stand in the Sun, and Be Your Own Person.”
Just those accomplishments alone make her iconic, but it’s bigger than that: Shonda is the first African American woman to create and executive produce a Top 10 Network Series and she has made and continues to make a HUGE impact on the television industry by casting her roles in inclusive, fit and relatable ways.
Shonda has always made it a priority to tell women-centric stories, with diversity in race, religion, physical ability, and more.…
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Sep 16, 2020
WOMEN OF HISTORY: Hypatia (? - 415 AD)
Meet Hypatia, the world’s first known female mathematician AND the world’s first known female philosopher. She was also the greatest mathematician and greatest philosopher of her time, which is a title that no other woman in history can claim.
Hypatia was an extraordinarily talented and accomplished scholar in Alexandria at an extremely tense time. Scholars of all faiths came from far and wide just for the opportunity to learn from her. She traveled around town in dark philosopher’s robes and was known for giving spontaneous philosophic speeches. Hypatia never married, instead prioritizing her studies and teachings.
Unfortunately, the Christian faction that rose to power during the height of Hypatia’s lifetime was brutally violent and intolerant of other religions. Hypatia was Pagan, though she taught to many Christians, Jews, and Pagans alike. Due to both her gender and religion, she was a targeted victim of a disturbingly violent murder.
Today, Hypatia is h…
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Sep 9, 2020
TODAY'S WOMEN: Tammy Duckworth (USA)
Today’s Iconic Woman is a modern-day warrior woman… Tammy Duckworth, survivor of a series of war injuries that occurred when she was co-piloting a helicopter in combat during the Iraq War!
Tammy is a woman of many firsts - she was the first female American double amputee of the Iraq war, the first person born in Thailand elected to Congress, the first Thai American woman elected to Congress, the first woman with a disability elected to congress, and the first Asian-American from Illinois in Congress, the first female double amputee in the Senate, the first senator to give birth while holding office, and the first senator to vote while holding a baby on the Senate floor…
She’s a champion for the Americans with Disabilities Act, veterans’ rights, and women’s rights. She introduced and led a resolution to change the rules to allow Senators to bring children under one year old onto the Senate floor in order to breastfeed. And, she was awarded a Purple Heart for her…
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Sep 1, 2020
WOMEN UNDER 30: Nice Nailantei Leng’ete (Kenya)
Nice Nailantei Leng’ete was born in a village in Kenya in 1991. She was terrified of the cultural tradition of FGM, or female genital mutilation, in her village. At just 8 years old, she was expected to go through the procedure and to get married to an old man. She had seen so many other girls go through the painful procedure, and then they were forced to drop out of school and give their whole lives to marriage and childbirth. But Nice wanted to keep going to school, and she didn’t want FGM!
She ran away to avoid the procedure two years in a row, and was beaten and threatened by the men in her village - including her own uncle! - both times. She advocated for herself to her grandfather, stating that she would rather run away forever and live on the road rather than partake in the tradition. He agreed! And she was the first girl in her village to ever attend high school, even though she was ostracized in her village and painted as a bad influence for refusing “the cut.”…
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