Today is Inspirational Women's Day

[Frezzato]

At least that's what the BBC says [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-21717434]. Take a few minutes out of your day to remember a woman who inspired you.

I'm going to skip the obvious choice of my own mother and list Julia Child. Wikipedia has her listed as a former member of the OSS, but a little-known book I read many years ago claims she was in an entirely different shadowy WWII organization called the Counter-Intelligence Corps. It was a group of intelligence experts who never wore rank or insignia on their uniforms. The book I read had a photo of both Julia Child and a non-grumpy J.D. Salinger. Salinger writes of hints at his time in the CIC in his short story To Esme With Love.

Here's to Julia Child: World War II Bad Ass. [sub]And also a famous cook.[/sub]

 

[BiscuitTrouser]

Its sad no one has posted in this thread!

My votes go to Marie Curie and Florence Nightingale.

The former for making, and sadly dying from, her great strides in the understanding and discovery of radioactivity. Her curiosity threw us forward in our understanding and sadly killed her. Its a tragic and glorious story.

Florence Nightingale pioneered the pie chart and the method of observation, calculation and response in the medical field. She broke down deaths into portions and studied why and how they occurred. She then took appropriate action thus showing the simplicity and effectiveness if applying the scientific method in addressing our medical problems. I often see her portrayed as a kind hearted and airy fairy nurse who did good through kindness alone. This is incorrect. She was a scholar, a logical rational woman and a champion of using basic understanding and analysis to better help patients under her care. COUPLED with a need to do good. She definitely inspires me. For sure.

 

[generals3]

Damn i wanted to take Marie Curie too

I do wonder though. If today is women's day, does that man the other 364 days are men's day?

 

[DevilWithaHalo]

I do wonder though. If today is women's day, does that man the other 364 days are men's day?

Sure, and White people get 11 months out of the year! /rollseyes

OP: My mother. I know, me being the progeny of a loving female who taught me to become the man I am today; pretty shocking.

 

[Calibanbutcher]

Well, for one I want to nominate my mother, which is me being reaaaly creative.

#2: Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Now she is certainly inspirational.

 

[Ryotknife]

cant really say any dead people inspire me. There were a few living women who had a profound affect on me. I had two elementary school female teachers who helped me get out of my slacker attitude towards school and not only apply myself, but actually find the material to be enjoyable.

 

[Total LOLige]

I do wonder though. If today is women's day, does that man the other 364 days are men's day?

It's international men day on November 19th according to Wikipedia.

I can't really think of any women(other than my mother) that have inspired me, I can't think of any men either.

 

[Darken12]

Marie Curie, a former professor of mine who became a biochemist 50 years ago and remains using complex technology well into her eighties, Florence Nightingale, Juana Azurduy, my grandmother (who raised two girls on her own, working all day in a factory), my mother (who inspired my proclivity for reading and writing), my aunt (who survived government abduction and torture, and through her life built schools from scratch, pulled schools out of terrible situations with nothing but a stern face and an iron will, continues being a beacon of ethics and compassion in a morally corrupt country, and never married or needed a man in her life), Susan B. Anthony, Amelia Earhart, Jeanne d'Arc, Helen Keller, Mother Theresa, Rosa Parks, Chimamanda Adichie and Eleanor Roosevelt.

I'd name more, but this'd get really long, so I'll just stick to the ones that have most directly inspired me.

 

[PsychicTaco115]

Let's see...

Lucem712, Vault101, Phasmal, Chemical Alia, Eclipse Dragon, Backstabber

They're all pretty inspirational to me XD

 

[Colour Scientist]

Let's see...

Lucem712, Vault101, Phasmal, Chemical Alia, Eclipse Dragon, Backstabber

They're all pretty inspirational to me XD

Oh, well, I never.

Fine! I guess I'm not inspirational enough,

That's fine!

 

[PsychicTaco115]

Oh, well, I never.

Fine! I guess I'm not inspirational enough,

That's fine!

You can be inspiring too

I have no means to leave anyone out!

And I don't think we've ever really talked before... my bad <.<

 

[Colour Scientist]

Oh, well, I never.

Fine! I guess I'm not inspirational enough,

That's fine!

You can be inspiring too

I have no means to leave anyone out!

And I don't think we've ever really talked before... my bad <.<

Well maybe I don't want to talk to you now!

No, no, you missed you chance!

 

[PsychicTaco115]

Well maybe I don't want to talk to you now!

No, no, you missed you chance!

I always have to go and goof something up ;__;

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

Lois McMaster Bujold - the woman who inspired me to write.
Jacqueline Carey - another woman writer I look up to.

There are others, but they are personal to me and not public figures.

If you haven't read the works of Lois McMaster Bujold and Jacqueline Carey, check them out. They're both amazing.

 

[an annoyed writer]

I find my biggest inspirations are in the world of film: Kathryn Bigelow and Lana Wachowski are two of my favorite directors, especially since they are such big trendsetters in the medium. It also shows that women can be directors of much more than just Lifetime Original movies and Oscar-bait. Another one I find especially inspiring is Wendy Carlos, who was a pioneer in electronic music, and an inspiration to many famous electronica artists to date, such as Daft Punk.

EDIT: Oh! one more! Karen Traviss: She is my favorite author, period, and had made some of my favorite Star Wars, Halo, and Gears of War books. Her characters are really well-rounded, and she's got some good pacing. She also gave a ton of character to the likes of Boba Fett and the Mandalorians, going so far as to develop an entire language for them.

 

[CriticalMiss]

Rosalind Franklin for being the largely unsung hero in the discovery of the DNA double helix. She died before the Nobel prize was awarded so wasn't recognised as much as Crick, Watson and that-other-guy-who-was-also-there-and-probably-did-stuff-too. I think it is a shame that Nobel prizes can't have posthumous nominations, but that's sadly the way they work.

 

[Aaron Sylvester]

Anita Sarkeesian - sparking 500-page debates and giving me enough "women's inspiration" to last a lifetime.

 

[Colour Scientist]

Well maybe I don't want to talk to you now!

No, no, you missed you chance!

I always have to go and goof something up ;__;

Don't worry, I won't hold it against you... Not for too long anyway.

 

[PsychicTaco115]

Don't worry, I won't hold it against you... Not for too long anyway.

Hurray for no grudge-holding!

Sorry again <.<

 

[Colour Scientist]

Don't worry, I won't hold it against you... Not for too long anyway.

Hurray for no grudge-holding!

Sorry again <.<

Don't worry about it.
Surely your not that afraid of people yelling at you on the Escapist.