7 Women Empowering Stories of the 21st Century, Who Inspired us For the Better.
Since times immemorial, the world has looked down upon women. The male who would earn for the family and take important decisions. The only jobs left for a woman to do was reproduce or do some menial jobs. Nobody thought of empowering the women with what they deserved. Women empowerment is the process that gives power to the woman to lead a happy and respectable life much like her male counterpart. Women inspiration is a must for those women who are going through difficult times. Some of the women who have given the world empowering stories are given below:
Humayra Abedin: Dr, Abedin from Bangladesh fought for women’s right in the 21st century while she was working for NHS in London. She was tricked by her muslim family to return to Bangladesh claiming her mother was serious. Once there she was forcibly married to a man chosen by her parents. She managed to get a message across to her friends in London. The UK High Court in London ordered her release and later she got her marriage annulled. Since then she has helped many women come out of forced marriages and provided others with a glitter of hope.
Annie Jump Cannon: Ms. Cannon was hired as a “female computer” (one who could perform calculations) in the late 19th century. Cannon is best known as an astronomer who devised a system for ranking stars as O,B,A,F,G,K, or M with O being the hottest and M the coolest. Within 3 seconds she could classify any stellar spectra. But it was her University – The Harvard College Observatory- that got the credits and not Cannon herself. However, she stands for all those women in history who came out and performed miracles in a male-dominated society.
Bessie Coleman: She is one who should have been given the highest honour of her country for becoming the first African-American to earn a pilot’s license in 1921. This feat was achieved when she moved to France as the United States did not allow coloured people any such privilege at that time. She gave speeches and also showed her skills before the public. But she unfortunately died in a plane crash before she could open her own flying school.
Viji Penkoottu: Women working in shops and malls in the SM Street, Kerala were not allowed basic facilities such as using the toilet even. Greatly disturbed by this situation, Viji Penkoottu, a 50-year old lady decided to raise her voice. On approaching the trade unions they found them to be once again male dominated. So the women together formed Penkoottu – a complete Women’s Trade Union that fought for women’s rights. An act protecting the rights, demanded by Vijji and her trade union, was recently passed in the state owing to her incessant efforts.
Ada Lovelace: We wouldn’t have been communicating if it was not for Ada Lovelace. Daughter of Lord Byron, the famous poet, Ada passed her Analytical Theories that were based on Charles Babbage;s Analytical Engine. She was the world’s first programmer who gave instructions through her algorithm to make a machine work. Not only this, it was Ada Lovelace who suggested that anything that could be manipulated with the help of numbers could be entrusted to computers including images and music.
Lucy Stone: Something out of the blue for men. Lucy Stone was the first woman on the planet who decided to keep her surname rather than change it to her husband's surname. She believed that a wife has as much right to keep her surname as does the husband. The belief was also seconded by none other than her husband. Besides this, she was a member of the American Equal Rights Association and also fought to abolish slavery.
Trisha Shetty: In 2017, Trisha Shetty started a campaign called Lahu Ka Laggan to abolish tax on sanitary napkins. AS the campaign picked up the 12% tax on sanitary napkins was abolished. Trisha has been a staunch advocate of women’s right at platforms such as the United Nations even. Since its foundation in 2014, Trisha Setty’s SheSays is a value-led organization.
Let’s Conclude
At the end of the day, it is not the names that matter, it is the courage these women provide to others. It is from them that others learn to survive in this world despite various odds.
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