Recently, a feminist page I follow on Facebook released their nominees for the most inspirational woman of 2014. The list included Hollywood stars such as Jennifer Lawrence and Beyonce and although these women are undoubtedly talented I have an issue with them being nominees.
I believe there are many other women who have faced greater adversity and helped the advancement of women’s rights. Thus, I compiled a list of women who I believe to be the most inspirational women of 2014.
1) Malala Yousafzai
Malala Yousafzai is a seventeen year old from Pakistan and is the youngest person to be awarded the Noble Peace Prize.
Yousafzai wrote an anonymous diary detailing what it was like to live under the Taliban. She expressed her desire to remain in education and for other girls to have the opportunity to be educated.
Yousafzai came to the public’s attention when her diary was published online by BBC Urdu, but it was when she was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman that she captured the attention of the world.
2) Jada
Jada is a sixteen year old American girl who was allegedly raped in the summer. Jada attended a high school party with her friends where she says a male host spiked her drink. After she fell unconscious, she was undressed and then allegedly raped. Pictures of an unconscious Jada, after the attack, with her bottoms removed, were posted online.
The alleged attacker then posted tweets mocking her calling her a ‘’hoe’’ whilst denying the assault. Then other social media users began posting pictures of themselves in the same position as an unconscious Jada with the hashtag #JadaPose.
Jada reacted by posting a picture of herself online holding a picture with the hashtag #IAMJADA which went viral and gained many supporters which resulted in two males being charged with her rape.
3) Laura Bates
Laura Bates set up the blog ‘’Everyday Sexism’’ in April 2012 which invited people to share their experiences of sexism in their day to day life. By December 2013 it had gathered over 50,000 stories detailing everyday sexism.
Earlier this year Bates released the book Everyday Sexism which collated some of the stories in the online blog and also put them into a broader social and political context.
The book was a best seller and has not only raised awareness of everyday sexism but helped both genders understand it so we can tackle it together.
Written By Zoe Mumba
