Ratings19
Average rating4.4
There are dozens of books dedicated to women (well-known and less so) who defined their field and couldn't care less about what society and established norms had dictated for them. Many of these books are successful, others are a bit problematic. Allow me to say that ... by Pénélope Bagieu is probably the best I've read.
Including widely diverge choices, Bagieu gives voice to women from every continent and presents their lives' work through a carefully crafted and extremely successful combination of humor, feistiness, sassiness and absolute respect. She is meticulous in her approach - she even includes thirty more rebel ladies as honourable mentions- and her illustrations are absolutely beautiful. Without further ado, let us meet women who refused to conform and became pioneers and idols in their fields.
Clémentine Delait from France: The Bearded Lady who rocked the world.
Nzinga from Ndongo (present-day Angola) and Matamba: Fierce enough to kill a few men who just didn't get her ideas of equality and social justice.
Margaret Hamilton from the USA: The Witch of Oz. Enough said.
Las Mariposas. Patria, Minerva and Maria Theresa Mirabal from the Dominican Republic: Three sisters who resisted Trujillo, the tyrant of the Dominican Republic, and gave a powerful boost to the fight for freedom.
Josephina Van Gorkum from the Netherlands: A woman who didn't succumb to the frivolous fights of different religious dogmas, her only religion being love.
Lozen, an Apache warrior and shaman: Fierce and loyal to her people's principles.
Annette Kellerman from Australia: The woman who changed swimming and liberated the world from ‘'swimsuits'' that were actually cages.
Delia Akeley from the USA: The first woman to cross the African Continent.
Josephine Baker from the USA: French Resistance Fighter, artist, philanthropist and all-around legend.
Tove Jansson from Finland: The mother of the Moomins and a brilliant artist and activist.
Agnodice from Greece: The first female gynecologist who showed the men in Athens how the job is actually done.
Leymah Gbowee from Liberia: A tireless activist who has been fighting against domestic violence. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011.
Giorgina Reid from the USA: The woman who saved the Montauk Point Lighthouse.
Christine Jorgensen from the USA: The first person to become widely known in the States for having sex reassignment surgery. She became an actress and a legend for the LGBTQ+ rights.
Wu Zetian from China: A legendary empress who put a stop to the ‘'rights'' of the corrupted aristocracy and provided equality and justice to her people. Ferocious and stormy.
Temple Grandin from the USA: Animal whisperer and one of the first who drew attention to the various aspects of autism, free from taboos and prejudices.
Sonita Alizadeh from Afghanistan: A young woman who uses music as a medium to speak of the injustices that have been plaguing her homeland, to speak against being sold as a ‘'bride'', against a society that lives in its own dirty bubble.
Cheryl Bridges from the USA: The woman who defied every stereotype in the world of athletics and became the first woman to finish a marathon in under 2h 50min.
Thérése Clerc from France: An activist for women's rights and dignity in old age.
Betty Davis from USA: An artist who wasn't afraid to honour sexuality and liberation.
Nellie Bly from the USA: An investigative journalist, war correspondent, explorer, etc. A pioneer in her field.
The Shaggs from the USA: Reluctant rock artists and extremely brave girls.
Katia Krafft from France: Volcanologist, explorer, scientist.
Jesselyn Radack from the USA: The lawyer who exposed Bush and his sequence of terrible lies following 9/11
Hedy Lamarr from Austria: Inventor, multi-linguist, fighter against fascism, legendary actress.
Naziq Al- Abid from Syria: An activist born in a privileged family that never forgot her roots. She fought against the Ottomans and the French conquerors. She campaigned for women's right to vote and the publication of feminist authors.
Frances Glessner Lee from the USA: Her miniatures changed Forensic Science forever.
Mae Jemison from the USA: The first black woman in space. Defying racial prejudices, she collected degrees and changed the perceptions towards environmental studies.
Peggy Guggenheim from the USA: The patron goddess of Modern Art.
It just doesn't get any better than that!
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I like the artwork and intention but the writing is awkward to troublesome. There's a white feminist implication that ‘of course' racism didn't exist in France. Two women incidental to a featured woman are called ‘jealous shrews'. Just a couple of examples.
Pénélope Bagieu shares the bold stories of thirty-two women from many different places and many different time periods who acted in ways that were true to their deepest desires and dreams. Some are stories I have heard many times, like those of Nellie Bly and Temple Grandin and Peggy Guggenheim, and all of these familiar stories are stories I never get tired of hearing and they are stories Bagieu manages to tell in fresh ways with fresh details. Many of the stories are stories that are completely unfamiliar to me (Raise your hand if you know the life of the most accomplished volcanologist Katia Krafft. I thought so.) You will want to read about the warrior Lozen and the crime miniaturist (who even knew that was a job?) Frances Glessner Lee and lighthouse keeper Giorgina Reid. Everyone will find someone to admire here, I think, though I would recommend parental perusal for younger readers (Take a look at the title again. It's a perfect description of the folks profiled here.)
I highly, HIGHLY encourage you to check out this beautifully illustrated, illuminatingly feminist, all around awesome graphic novel about women who made a difference (sometimes large sometimes small) in the world. I've read quite a few of these, compendiums, for lack of a better word and what I liked about this one is there were some very under the radar women I'd never heard of. Yes, there are your inclusions like Hedy Lammar (amazing, has a graphic novel bio of her own), Nellie Bly (what a legend), but also amazing women like Katia Krafft and Giorgina Reid who I had zero knowledge of.
Go read it. Go!
Beautiful and brilliant graphic novel I learned so many interesting stories about several different women.
Often when discussing women in history, it is the same few women, Joan of Arc, Marie Curie, Jane Austen, or Rosa Parks to name a few. The thing is that these women are amazing pioneers but often overshadow courageous women who stepped out of the norm and should also be recognized. That is the magic of this book. It celebrates women who should be praised but do not necessarily have a national holiday named after them or a roadway.
Do you want to learn about the first bearded lady or the first gynecologist? Or, Georgina Reid – the woman who set out over twenty years to save a long-abandoned but beautiful lighthouse? You do, you really do.
Georgina Reid was a little old lady who noticed that after finding her and her husbands dream coastal home, they were losing about a foot of erosion off of the cliff face the house perched on. Pretty soon Georgina's garden would literally fall by the wayside. With no engineering experience, Georgina started to study Japanese terracing techniques. Working tirelessly, sometimes by herself or sometimes with her husband, she remedied the erosion by building terraces of sand and plant. She stopped the erosion of her property while her neighbors eroded away. Next stop, The Montauk Lighthouse was established in 1795. The lighthouse is a longstanding and loved feature of the community that had been recently decommissioned due to erosion. Georgina began to tackle the problem, and it took her 17 years. She steadily worked for 17 years. She saved the landmark, and this woman is a brazen rebel lady.
We need role models like this for people to celebrate.
Joan of Arc was an amazing woman. She led a revolution. But she is far removed from mine and my daughter's comprehension. Georgina Reid is someone I can teach my daughter about and who we can relate to. She is one of many brazen women featured in this graphic novel and worth the celebration.
Each of the selected women has a few page spread giving background on her life and celebrating some big moments. The vignettes also discuss what has happened after they have passed away, if applicable, and the legacy they left. The graphics are simple, but effective and lovely. I read a little of it to my four-year-old, and she loved it, but I was into it also. It is stories and graphics for all ages.
Highly Recommend.