The Body Blog

Happy New Year! Back to business. I thought I’d bring in the new year with the next installment of Amazing and Admirable Women. As ever, feel free to love or despise the women I’ve chosen for this post, and if you like, leave a comment with suggestions on who to add to the next list, or who you think I should have scratched from this one. I hope that you, as I, find inspiration here. Enjoy…

6. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (1929-1994)

Simply one of the most iconic, stylish and elegant American women, Jackie Kennedy served as the First Lady of the United States during her husband John F. Kennedy’s presidency from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. A voracious reader and literature expert, she became an editor for Doubleday Publishing in later life. Jackie’s poise, position, intellect, commitment to family, discerning style, and social graces made her an American treasure.

What is sad for women of my generation is that they weren’t supposed to work if they had families. What were they going to do when the children are grown – watch the raindrops coming down the window pane?
- Jackie Kennedy Onassis

7. Oprah Winfrey (1954-Present)

Philanthropist, media mogul, tycoon, actress, writer, book critic, producer, superwoman, you can rattle off most any title and Oprah has done it, and has been successful at it. Born in rural Mississippi, to an unwed teenage mother, Oprah’s worldwide reach in various outlets is so grand in scope that she is arguably the most influential person on the planet. Yeah, Oprah is the cat’s pajamas.

Do the one thing you think you cannot do. Fail at it. Try again. Do better the second time. The only people who never tumble are those who never mount the high wire. This is your moment. Own it.
- Oprah Winfrey

8. Joan of Arc (1412-1431)

Visionary soldier Joan of Arc was born a peasant in France. Guided by her visions of divine influence, she was granted audience to King Charles VII, and led the French army to several victories over the English while she was still a teenager. She was captured, tried, and burned at the stake, at 19 years old, in 1431. Joan was beautified in 1909 and canonized a Catholic saint in 1920.

I am not afraid…I was born to do this.
- Joan of Arc

9. Ida B. Wells-Barnett (1862-1931)

A crusader for justice, Ida B. Wells was an influential socialist, anti-lynching activist, journalist, newspaper editor, suffragist, and civil rights leader. In a pre-cursor to Rosa Parks’ demonstration of civil disobedience, in 1884, Ida refused to be removed from a railcar on the basis of her color, biting a hand that attempted to move her, and had to be dragged bodily from the car. Born into slavery, Ida was a willing fighter for liberty in post-reconstruction America.

One had better die fighting against injustice than die like a dog or a rat in a trap.
- Ida B. Wells-Barnett

10. Clara Barton (1821-1912)

A strong sense of responsibility and empathy for humanity inspired Clara Barton to found the American Red Cross following the Civil War. She also championed other humanitarian efforts as a nurse, an activist for the women’s suffrage movement, an abolitionist, and speaker for African-American civil rights.

I have an almost complete disregard of precedent, and a faith in the possibility of something better. It irritates me to be told how things have always been done. I defy the tyranny of precedent. I go for anything new that might improve the past.
- Clara Barton