Women in History: My Thoughts

A caring mother, a smart sister, a gorgeous wife, a loving daughter – Ask a man a hundred years ago what they thought a woman is and that’s likely the answer you’d get. What about history? Let’s put aside all these Lords and Misters for a minute and examine the real unsung heroes of history. In my humble opinion, women do not get the credit they deserve and (to put it quite eloquently) that is completely unacceptable, whether by today’s standards or then. Because of this rather Draconian practice of snubbing women from the pages of history, I thought that it would’ve been a good (ish) idea to launch a ‘Women’s History Month’ (yes, I know that’s in March) to coincide with InternationalBreast Cancer Awareness Month.  

Why? Because, if a woman was capable ofsaving France from an English conquest, if a woman could lay the foundation of a golden age in her country (the likes of which have never been seen again), then surely, I know women are more than tough enough to stand up and beat cancer to a pulp.

So what have women done in history, then?

Where do I start? It would be near suicide if I had to list it all purely because it would be near-infinite.  History has shown us time and time again that women are just as good as men and sometimes are (unsurprisingly) better than us! We need only to look at the Golden Ages under the reign of Catherine the Great of Russia in the late 18^th century and of Queen Elizabeth I of England. From Cleopatra, the iconic pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt to Margaret Thatcher (try not to cringe), first and only British Prime Minister; history once again proves that women can rule just as well as men do (isn’t that called marriage?)

Alright, what about brains?

You’re joking! Female inventors have contributed so much to modern day life –Think back to Marie Curie at the turn of the 20^thcentury. The “Mother of Modern Physics", she was a pioneer in research about radioactivity (a word she coined) and was the first woman to be awarded a Ph.D. in research science in Europe as well as the first female professor at the Sorbonne. She is famous for discovering and isolating polonium and radium, and established the nature of radiation and beta rays (so say thank you, physics students!) .

Bear in mind that was just one woman, women have also invented the vacuum ice cream freezer, computer’s compilers (and the “Mark” Computer series) and COBOL. Well actually, only two women made the stuff I just listed. There are literally thousands upon thousands of inventors, and this could all fit in a good 27-part volume series.

To conclude, I’d like to once again state that the fact that women are snubbed from the pages of history books (and restricted to concubines) is simply crap. These are the unsung heroes of history, every great man in history, from Alexander the Great to Ivan the Terrible, would be (literally) nothing without women. This post is dedicated to the brave women of the world, the true heroes.