Resistant Women of History

Empowered, Educated and Evolved!

Over a span of thousands of generations Mother Earth has produced exceptional daughters that have catalyzed the evolution of humankind. Throughout history, women have advanced the worlds of science, politics, arts, and countless family unit foundations that propel the rotation of the world to this day. Here are a few groundbreaking and resistant women of history that have empowered, educated and evolved the world by way of education and social evolution.

Elizabeth I

Queen Elizabeth’s soulmate was none other than her country to which she was wed and owned her virginity through her lifetime. Her commitment to leading England was demonstrated in her effective unification of the country against foreign enemies. What’s most intriguing is that she was never actually meant to be Queen. She landed the role by what many consider sheer luck after a string of unfortunate deaths within her royal family led to her ownership of the crown. Her grace, charisma and success as a leader disproved the age-old notion that only men were fit to rule a people. As one of the resistant women of history, she defied norms of being a ‘gentlewoman’ that conformed to silence of opinion, childbearing and needlework. She managed to advance her struggling country financially with authentic morale among her people. Her love for the land overpowered any desire to wed a man, despite occasional love-lust affairs throughout her years.

Marie Curie

A two-time pioneer in the Nobel Prize world, Madame Curie, born Marie Skłodowska Curie was the first woman awarded the prestigious international award for her work in physics and chemistry in the early 1900s. The first, shared with her husband Pierre Curie, was for the collaborated discovery of the elements polonium and radium in 1903, though his tragic death followed soon thereafter. She assumed his post as a teacher and continued her research independently, regarding her a Nobel Prize recipient for a second time, being the first woman to hold the title twice. Thanks to their combined research, x-ray equipment was made available to victims during World War I. Madame Curie would even drive herself to the front lines as the head of the International Red Cross to ensure the equipment was delivered, despite the danger and occasional criticism from her peers that a woman was leading in science. Madame Curie’s daughter, Irene, would later go on to also win a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Thank you Marie Curie for being one of the resistant women of history and bringing so much to the world we know today.

Frida Kahlo

Known for her defiant feminist nature, Frida Kahlo was a famed artist from the outskirts of Mexico City riddled with tragedies expressed in her pieces. As a child she survived polio, and was encouraged by her father to play traditionally male sports of her time like soccer, boxing and wrestling to help the limited mobility in her legs caused by the disease, adding to her already rambunctious personality. Frida attended school during the Mexican Revolution, an influential time that would later show in her paintings. When she was teenager, she was left crippled after breaking several bones in a bus accident, and art became her catharsis as she recovered in a body cast. Up until her death at 47, about 25% of her 200 or so pieces were self-portraits telling the story of her internal pain and tumultuous love affair with two-time husband and artist Diego Rivera. As one of the resistant women of history, her work has heralded her as one of the highest-valued woman artists in art history.

Rosa Parks

By vehemently refusing move from her bus seat designated in an area for white passengers, Montgomery, Alabama’s Rosa Parks was a prominent starting domino in the Civil Rights Movement. Rebelling against the judgment of her skin color resulted in her arrest and a guilty verdict for violating segregation laws at her trial, catapulting a bus boycott movement that would unite people of color in their demand for respect and equal rights. She fought alongside a growing support group consisting of E.D. Nixon of the NAACP and Martin Luther King Jr. and other prominent rising African-American activists. The bus boycott rallied at least 40,000 commuters in its 381-day span, eventually resulting in the lifting of segregation in public transportation. This was a tipping point for equal rights among African-Americans throughout the country. As one of the resistant women of history, Rosa Parks would go on to stand up for her race and gender throughout her lifetime, a legacy that’s fiercely continued in today’s unbalanced society. These women, resistant women of history, possess the common denominators of heartfelt rebellion, bravery and drive to express passions within their souls in the face of violence, criticism and male-dominated cultures. They’ve inspired cycles of new (s)heroes today who continue to poetically and gracefully demand balanced respect as capable women. We thank you and honor you not just for Women's History Month but every day of the year!!

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