Top 10 Feminist Icons

Author, poet, essayist, activist, actress and dancer, Maya Angelou is widely considered one of the most influential people of the 20th century. A prominent voice in the Civil Rights Movement, she worked closely with Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. – the latter of which was assassinated on her 40th birthday. A figurehead for women of all races, though especially for the African-American community, she forced the world to listen to the female voice. Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011, she was well-respected, well-loved, well-experienced and, well, simply inspiring.

The first woman to really make the newsroom her own, Barbara Walters took TV journalism into a new era in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Before Barbara, the newsroom was very much a male-dominated environment, and Walters herself was consistently patronized and undercut during her early career. However, she stood firm, and eventually established herself as a leading news anchor, interviewer and wage earner for ABC. Barbara Walters’ legacy largely centers on the various high profile, ‘first exclusive’ interviews that she landed; from politicians to pop stars and actors, she never shies away from the big story.

First Lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001; Senator for New York from 2001 to 2009; Secretary of State in the Obama Administration from 2009 to 2013 - Hillary Clinton’s political background is unprecedented. A female personality who has managed to eclipse even her ex-Presidential husband in terms of modern-day power, popularity and influence, she has eyes on becoming the USA’s first ever female President in 2016. Regardless of whether or not she makes it to the White House though, Hillary has broken new ground for women in US politics, and has inspired others to follow in her footsteps.

A leader in every sense, Benazir Bhutto lived her life at the forefront of Pakistani politics and international affairs. When the Pakistan People’s Party took control at the beginning of December 1988, she became the first ever elected female Prime Minister in a Muslim country. She oversaw two non-consecutive terms, before a period in exile, spent largely in Dubai. Never wavering from what she believed in, she became both a master of political rhetoric, and a feminist icon. Her 2007 assassination shortly after returning to Pakistan was both tragic and brutal. Bhutto was a ‘woman of the people’.

In the world of sport, few can claim half the impact that Billie Jean King had on tennis. When she first took up a racket in the mid-50s, the sport had a ‘country-club image’ and was sometimes branded as chauvinistic. But Billie Jean was a gifted player who won enough tournaments to get noticed, and to get things changed. Her unceasing campaign for equal prize money is especially memorable, as is her performance in the ‘Battle of the Sexes’ spectacle against Bobby Riggs. A leading LGBT activist as well, she’s a champion both on and off court.

A hugely influential and forward-thinking writer, Virginia Woolf made her literary mark between the Wars with the releases of “Mrs. Dalloway”, “To the Lighthouse”, “Orlando” and “The Waves” between the years of 1925 and 1931. Her reputation as a feminist largely stems from another work though, the lecture-inspired essay, “A Room of One’s Own”. Published in 1929, it targeted the intellectual woman, with Woolf highlighting the privileges afforded to male writers. A rallying call for creative women everywhere, it encouraged others to seek a room, wealth, an education, and a general existence over which they had total control.

Born in 1820, Susan B. Anthony lived in an earlier era than anyone else on today’s countdown; in terms of the sheer politics of women’s rights, she paved the way for modern feminists. Her attempts to vote in the 1872 presidential election, and the criminal trial that followed, got Anthony noticed. Meanwhile, her alliance with Elizabeth Cady Stanton helped further her campaign for equality. The original American suffragist, Anthony never stopped fighting for women’s voting rights. Sadly, she died 14 years before that right was realized, but the 19th Amendment is largely the result of this woman’s exceptional work.

The youngest ever recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize and a continual campaigner for education rights in Pakistan and worldwide, Malala Yousafzai is probably the most prominent feminist of the twenty-first century. In October 2012, aged 15 years old, Malala was near-fatally shot by the Taliban on her way home from an exam. The assassination attempt was a reaction to her growing online influence as an activist for equality. Since her recovery, though, Malala’s public appearances have received huge attention, and her opinions are widely admired. Listening to her, it’s quite incredible to think she was born in 1997.

Founder of the Women’s Social and Political Union in the UK, Emmeline Pankhurst led a more militant campaign than other suffrage movements in the country. Amid hunger strikes, window smashing and vandalism, she and her followers became known as the Suffragettes, a group galvanized by the motto ‘Deeds Not Words’. Pankhurst’s especially forceful methods, combined with her influence on the Home Front in World War One, ensured that limited voting rights were granted to women in 1918. A fundamental first step toward voting equality in Great Britain, Pankhurst unfortunately died two weeks before universal suffrage was granted, in 1928.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Florence Nightingale
1820 - 1910

Emma Watson
1990 -

Eva Perón
1919 - 1952

Bell Hooks
1952 -

Simone de Beauvoir
1908 - 1986

Our winner has been a women’s rights campaigner since the 1960s, and has consistently brought on-going social issues into living rooms, onto coffee tables, and into conversations. Gloria Steinem launched her career with a 1963 expose on sexism in “Playboy,” before getting involved with “New York Magazine”, and then co-founding the feminist publication, “Ms.” magazine. By tirelessly working towards ‘women’s liberation’, she’s now synonymous with the modern-day movement. An example for all young women, and an inspiration for everyone who values personal freedom and fairness, MsMojo salutes you, Gloria Steinem!

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