March Women’s History Madness: Thanks for a Month of Inspiring Guest Posts
I’ve been delighting as I’ve reviewed the rich and inspiring Women’s History Month guest posts here on 9 Ways and want to invite all 9 Ways readers to read or reread them to get the full spectrum.
A huge “thank you” shout out to each generous contributor–you know who you are, so please take a virtual bow.
Some of the guest posts give new insights about women you’ve heard of, while others tell stories of women neither famous nor infamous, but whose lives touched the writers in profound ways. Enjoy each tasty morsel of women’s history! And as always, please share your thoughts in the comments section below. Or just check in to say “thanks” for a story that moved, inspired, or surprised you.
S portswomen—How Alice Marble Led the Way for Althea Gibson
Contributed by Beverly Wettenstein, who often writes and speaks on women in sports as well as women’s representation in the media.
INTENTIONING
Sex, Power, Pandemics, and How Women
Will Take The Lead for (Everyone’s) Good
The new book from Gloria Feldt about the future, taking the leadership lessons learned from this disruption and creating a better world for all through the power of intention.
Breaking Barriers—Kentucky’s first female African American Senator Georgia Davis Powers.
Political consultant and publisher of ElectWomen Magazine Kathy Groob’s tribute to the first woman and first African American elected to the Kentucky state senate.
We Need a Million for a Billion
In case you haven’t had a chance to sign The Population Institute’s petition in support of international family planning, you can do it now!
Best of International Women’s Day: Be a Front Porch Lady
Chief Hot Mama Kathy Korman Frey profiles one of her heroes, Esther SilverParker, and urges women to support one another’s aspirations.
Octavia Butler, A Pioneer in Science Fiction
Jezebel’s Anna North shares this engaging story of a MacArthur genius from humble beginnings who followed her passion.
Beyond the Headlines: How to Find Role Models with Expertise
Writer Emily Jasper discusses her realization that the women who are her most cherished role models are leaders because of what they do with their talents.
Lois Rabinowitz: Now You Can Wear Slacks
Executive coach Bonnie Marcus takes a candid look at how attitudes toward women’s attire have often had serious consequences.
Inspiration from Sin City 
Emmily Bristol, who blogs at The Sin City Siren and The Tired Feminist highlights The Westside Mothers of Las Vegas and the power of women who organize.
Violence Against Women: Not in MY Backyard—Er, subway car?
Everyone on the subway with author and co-founder of SheWrites.com, Deborah Siegel, will forever think twice before looking away from a violent act.
Would You Expect a Circus Elephant to Work this Hard?
Suzan St. Maur thinks Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor, aka Queen Elizabeth of England, is an inspiration to working women everywhere.
Indira Gandhi: World Leader or Witch?
The Daily Femme writer Sara Messelaar asks important questions about how women leaders–or any historical figures–should be judged.
Ma McDonough Was No Ordinary Woman
Liz O’Donnell a writer who blogs at Hello Ladies pays a touching tribute to her grandmother.
There is no Future in History
Linda Brodsky M.D. challenges us to question whether history is all it’s cracked up to be and to look instead to the future.
GLORIA FELDT is the New York Times bestselling author of several books including No Excuses: 9 Ways Women Can Change How We Think About Power, a sought-after speaker and frequent contributor to major news outlets, and the Co-Founder and President of Take The Lead. People has called her “the voice of experience,” and among the many honors she has been given, Vanity Fair called her one of America’s “Top 200 Women Legends, Leaders, and Trailblazers,” and Glamour chose her as a “Woman of the Year.”
As co-founder and president of Take The Lead, a leading women’s leadership nonprofit, her mission is to achieve gender parity by 2025 through innovative training programs, workshops, a groundbreaking 50 Women Can Change The World immersive, online courses, a free weekly newsletter, and events including a monthly Virtual Happy Hour program and a Take The Lead Day symposium that reached over 400,000 women globally in 2017.
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I know what I’m reading this weekend! 😉
This year, the U.S. Air Force saluted Women’s History Month by making history of it’s own. On March 30, the FIRST all-female Air Force team took to the skies for a combat mission in Afghanistan. Although the mission has symbolic importance, its purpose was anything but – the women soared in to give much needed aid to the ground troops who were engaged in heavy fighting in the Kunar Valley.
Women pilots have been flying combat missions for the Air Force for 18 years now. However, it is gravely concerning to find out that they might not be as well protected as their male counterparts.
The Air Force is preparing to buy a new fleet of Light Attack and Armed Reconnaissance fighters, and competition is fierce between the American company Hawker Beechcraft and the Brazilian company Embraer. Although people are beginning to talk about the potential danger of exporting our defense contracts, what people are not talking about is the safety threat that will be posed if Embraer is awarded the contract.
The ejection seat in the Embraer aircraft yields an extremely high impact, which poses a significant safety concern for pilots of lower height and weight. This disproportionately threatens the safety of female pilots, as they are typically of smaller stature than male pilots.
The idea that the USAF would even consider an aircraft that posed such a safety threat should outrage Americans. And that outrage needs to be heard – we must not stand idly by while crucial safety concerns are passed over by the Pentagon. We need women (and men!) to speak up on this issue and make it clear that they will not tolerate the women who serve to be any less protected than their male counterparts.
Please consider writing to your representatives, or expanding the online conversation by taking the issue to new forums. The brave women in our Air Force take to the skies to protect us; don’t we owe it to them to make sure they are protected?
Emily,
thank you for reminding us about the way women in the military are making history today. So many firsts raise so many new issues.
In No Excuses, I talk about how different the world might be if women had been in charge for the last few millennia. You have provided an interesting concrete example of why we need to have a woman’s eye as well as a man’s on everything. This is reminiscent of the time when medical research was only done on men. It look federal legislation to start to get research that included female subjects in order to get valid results that work for a woman’s body.