At some point, I’ll write about men who molded my life like Edgar Rice Boroughs, Rudyard Kipling, Tolkien, Heinlein, Stuart, Lee, Forest, Shelby, Reynolds, Buford, and Jackson. But today I want to talk about the women leaders, heroines, and actresses that I grew up honoring over my life. I am over half a century old and I am tired of actresses and public figures acting like there were no women who ever kicked butt until they came along. Not all of us are so ignorant of history or cinematic legends that we believe them and by making such claims they show their own ignorance and hubris.
I have heard all sorts of stupid statements by actresses and people in the news in the past few years to the effect: “Finally! Little girls have a woman they can look up to in life and movies.” As if they are the first woman who played a kick-ass role or as if Hilary Clinton was the first woman to do anything significant. Contrary to popular belief heroes of both sexes sacrificed their lives to build the world that we have today and 2010 didn’t see the beginning of female leads. Mila Jovovich (Alice of Resident Evil and other great roles), Carrie Fischer (Princess Leia in Star Wars and let’s not forget those who played Mon Mothma over the years), Natalie Portman (Queen Padme Amidala Nabierre, Jane Foster/Thor, and other roles,) Sigourney Weaver (Ripley in Aliens and others) Katharine Hepburn, Rita Hayward, Rita Moreno, and Lucille Ball without whom Star Trek would never have been made because it was Desilu Studios that allowed the original series to thrive.
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I grew up watching shows with powerful women and every day after school I would watch Big Valley where Victoria Barkley (Barbara Stanwyck) ran the biggest ranch in the land – a powerful woman (based on a real person). I also watched Gunsmoke which had Miss Kitty as the businesswoman running the saloon and staring down many a drunk and cowpoke. And Elizabeth Taylor also played some strong female roles based on Historical women. And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the women of the old Battlestar Galactica series, Star Trek, and the Bene Gesserit of Dune.
But it’s not just a matter of actresses and some kick-ass female leads. When I went to school we were taught real history along with people like Amelia Earhart, Eleanor Roosevelt, Naomi Parker (better known as Rosie the Riveter), Anne Lindbergh, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Bonnie Parker (of Bonnie and Clyde,) Annie Oakley, Clara Barton, and 16-year-old Sybil Ludington who rode 40 miles in 1776 to warn 400 militia that the British were coming. She didn’t need a safe space to hide in. Like a real man or woman, she tackled life head-on and did what she felt was right as did her father the militia captain. The fruit didn’t fall far from the tree there. Maybe that is the problem. The fruit of today’s youth reflects trees that are not grounded in the foundations of the past, the natural laws that govern relationships and nature or rooted in the Divine Presence.
The British Isles had Queen Elizabeth the I and the II, Queen Victoria, Jane Goodall, Jane Austen, Florence Nightingale, and the vengeful Queen of the Iceni, Boudicea, not to mention all the women who served in all armed forces of the countries during the World Wars. There are so many other figures we would need the encyclopedia to list them.
Hypatia of Alexandria was a renowned teacher of the Mouseion in Alexandria and an intellectual leader known throughout the Roman Empire who lived 350-370 AD. She was tortured and literally flayed alive by a Christian mob that was rioting and looting that also burned “pagan” and “heretical” science in the Library at Alexandria. Like all mobs the excesses went far beyond what most individuals would dare to do. She is considered to have been a martyr of philosophy and knowledge. Hypatia’s death sent shock waves through the Empire as she was much loved and revered by pagans and Christians alike for her brilliant teaching, writings, and sparkling personality. Another ancient figure comes from the city of Sumer, the High Priestess of Inanna Enheduanna who wrote many hymns to the goddess that we still have today and can be found in the book “Inanna, Lady of Largest Heart” which are some of the oldest religious hymns that have been preserved. So many today pretend that women were all crushed but, like all over-simplistic views, it causes people to ignore the great successes of the extraordinary women of history. And then we also have the Biblical Deborah who was a Judge over Israel (“Judges” were like Kings or chiefs in a time of the Old Testament>) Deborah was revered in her time and is still remembered today.
On the continent, they had Joan of Arc (a heroine of mine since grade school), the powerful and feared Catharine De Medici and Eleanor of Aquitaine, Catharine the Great of Russia, and Valentina Tereshkova. There was Amalasanthe Queen of the Ostrogoths, Catharine of Siena, Catharine of Valois, Clare of Assisi and Hildegard of Bingen (another of my favorites,) Teresa of Avila, Isabella of France, Matilda of Tuscany and Theodora Empress of Byzantium. And later figures like the WWII extraordinary women Heady Lamarr, and Leni Riefenstahl. While farther east we have Indira Gandhi and the valiant women of Iran who died for the freedom that, somehow, American Feminism never seems to talk about.
And I have just barely touched the surface of the women of history. For instance, one of my favorite periods is the American Southern War for Independence (besides the women who wrapped their breasts tight, dressed as men, and rode and fought with the Confederate Army – often to avenge their loved one’s death,) there were the female spies of the Civil War: Harriet Tubman, Mary Elizabeth Bower, Sarah Edmonds, Hattie Lawton, Rose Greenhow, Belle Boyd, Antonia Ford, Annie Jones, and many many others.
In short, I am not impressed when some Hollywood figures, utterly ignorant of the women leaders of history, hold themselves up as an example to young girls everywhere. Nor am I impressed when people are so hungry for attention that they have to make a public statement about everything to stay in the national spotlight.
I always told my sons, “A man doesn’t have to say, ‘I’m in charge!’ or ‘Look at how great I am! I am the best (fill in the blank) ever!’ If you’re good people will see it. If they don’t then they are too stupid to worry about anyway.” I think that holds for both men and women. It’s the ones who feel they have to make a big deal out of who they are or what they are doing that are beneath our notice. Real men and women, face their fears, do their duty, and do what’s right and just and don’t need to be photographed doing it. As the saying goes, you are who you are when nobody is looking.
Those who yearn for attention are insecure and try to draw validation from outside themselves. They will never be fulfilled because there is a God-shaped hole in their soul that no other force can fill. Instead, they need a constant hit of attention to convince them they have a right to live. But we are all children of the Living God; the Living Force. Almost two thousand years ago Saint Paul said “Do you not know that you are the Temple of the Holy Spirit and that God’s Spirit dwells in you.” And speaking of Saint Paul it was he who identified Junia as an Apostle of Christ (the highest position in the church,) and entrusted his greatest work (the Letter to the Church at Rome) to Phoebe, a Minister of the Church at Cenchrae to carry to them.
Whether you are a man or a woman, there are plenty of figures in History to look up to. But more than that, you are of intrinsic value as a child of God. You are a child of the universe, you have a right to be here – as the Desiderata says:
Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
The Desiderata, by Max Ehrmann ( I first heard this on a record read by Leonard Nimoy.)
What other women in history or characters in movies have made a difference in your life? Are there any writings or sayings that formed you?
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