Thursday, March 5, 2009

Who would you add to the list of the Top 100 (and then some) Women in History?

A couple sites taking up this question:
- WritesLikeSheTalks.com Top 100 (and then some)
- About.com Top 100

16 comments:

K8 said...

Elizabeth Blackwell-first female doctor admitted to Geneva Medical College in my hometown now Hobart and William Smith Colleges.

John said...

How the fuck is Madonna number one on that list. She probably doesn't even belong on the list of top 100 women in history.

John said...

Also I think Meryl Streep belongs somewhere on this list. Best actor of the last 40 years, easily. Don't know where she belongs, sure as shit above fucking Madonna.

Jill said...

Thanks for linking and also - I agree w/the Meryl Streep addition!

Also re: Elizabeth Blackwell - that is cool - my father and brother both went to Hobart!

Scottie said...

Really hard for me to answer this question for two reasons:

1) I don't have the patience to read thru the list and see who's actually on it.

2) It's way too tempting to make a joke like "RuPaul" or "Bobby Trendy".

So, I'll attempt to be serious and say Kay Yow, former head coach of NC State Women's Basketball who recently lost her decades long battle with breast cancer, and spent those decades working tirelessly toward awareness and research toward finding a cure.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kay_Yow

Dan said...

Shitfire, what a stupid list! Marilyn Monroe and Madonna at the top, and practically no civil rights love? How about Diane Nash, Fannie Lou Hamer, Coretta Scott King, Viola Liuzzo.

Anonymous said...

Althea Gibson should be included. She was the first African-American (man or woman) to win a major tennis title, during a time of deep segregation and racism, laying the foundation for athletes as Serena and Venus Williams.

Jane Austen should be included (I don't think I saw her there.)

Janice Dickinson should be on there.

And of course Beenu's mom, because she had to put up with sooooooo much!

Anonymous said...

Golda Mier the first and only female Prime Minister of Israel.

I did notice that she was on the about list.

One person who is missing is Gloria Steinem.

beenu said...

shut up norris. madonna is a freakin gangster. she's smart, very successful, powerful and has staying power across generations - a freakin legend. she's like a mini oprah.

i would add: jeannette rankin (1st woman elected to congress before suffrage), frances perkins (hello! i work in a building named after her!), vikki gormley and my mom.

John said...

Eleanor Roosevelt help create the UN and she's only number 25. Madonna humped an MTV stage in a wedding dress and she's banged A-Rod and she gets the top slot.

That makes total sense.

I also want to add Jamie Lynn Sigler of the Sopranos fame. She's now doing the actor who plays Turtle from Entourage. Can't tell how much hope this act of her's has brought to schlumpy-looking men across America.

tamika said...

I totally agree with Andrew about Althea Gibson. In high school, I thought I could be the 1997 version of her until I realized that I'm really not coordinated.

Also, I agree that the recognition of actors is lacking. I'd add Helen Hayes and Hattie McDaniel.

PS--Why is Tina Turner not on this list? Have these people not seen What's Love Got to Do With It?

Unknown said...

That list is a joke. There are many people who deserve to be head of those pop icons. I will say that I'm glad Oprah's not there. She's phony and completely self-serving. There I said it.

I'd personally put my mom #1 on that list. But that's just me.

Anonymous said...

Alice Paul
Mary Tyler Moore
Hillary Clinton
my later grandmother
and many, many more

Cate said...

Ann Richards
Molly Ivins
Sophia Loren (for her 2009 Oscar dress alone)
Romaigne Lettuce
Beenu and her mom

Leslie said...

Rosa Parks
I agree with Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Margaret Sanger
* I love how much Cate loves Sophia Loren's yellow fairy dress.

Anonymous said...

I _hope_ readers note that the About.com list cited is one about the _most popular women in web searches_ -- a measure of interest by the general public. I, too, wish more people were in the list -- I checked about 300 names originally (including many of the suggestions here) and was not too happy to see that some of my favorites, women who made more of a difference in my opinion, didn't make the list or are farther down than others.

On the site, you'll also find plenty of other lists and hundreds of biographies, including many of those named in this thread (though not so many "current news" women, since it's a "history" site).

Some might be interested to vote in the "Most Overrated Women of the 20th Century" poll -- I added women about whom I've received complaining emails over the years, telling me they don't "deserve" to be recognized.

Jone Johnson Lewis
About.com Women's History Guide
http://womenshistory.about.com