"To be a bad girl is to break any socially accepted rule." ~ 1%
Women Rock! Bad Girls Do What They Want, Not What They're Told! Good Girls Gone Bad for the Culture! Behind Every Successful Man is a Woman! Who Run the World? Girls! All of these clichés are fitting to the nonfiction book, Bad Girls Throughout History: 100 Remarkable Women Who Changed the World. Just read the first lines!
Exactly 100 women are highlighted and illustrated. Not just any women but bad girls—in the best sense of the word. They challenged the status quo, influenced law and became leaders of society. They did amazing things despite personal flaws. Spanning through places all over the world and chronicled by eras, this book makes it easier to see progress and change. The best part is the author's watercolor portraits (as shown on the cover) that accompany each woman's essay.
To name a few:
- Sally Ride ~ first known LGBT astronaut
- Margaret Sanger ~ pioneer of birth control
- Marie Curie ~ first woman to win the Nobel Prize
- Dorothy Dandridge ~ redefined blacks in Hollywood
- Aphra Behn ~ wrote prose model for the English novel
- Madame C.J. Walker ~ first female self-made millionaire
- Empress Wu Zetian ~ first and only female Emperor of China
- Harriet Beecher Stowe ~ wrote book that started The Civil War
- Sojourner Truth ~ delivered famous "Ain't I a Woman?" speech
"Find a way." ~ 74%
Admittedly, I did not know half of the women listed in the book. I know, I know. 🤦🏽♀️ What a shame! But to my credit, the academic grade school I attended (Bates Academy for the Gifted and Talented) focused on minority figures of history. We learned about lesser-known yet impactful people of color. While there is a few Black, Asian and Latina women in Bad Girls Throughout History, there could have been more for balance and recognition purposes. Regardless, it is the perfect read for International Women's Month (March 1-31).
It is evident that Ann Shen did her research. I appreciate the brief profiles so the focus stayed on the bad girl without getting too wordy. Very inspiring! I hope the author has plans to publish a follow-up featuring fearless women of today, such as the iconic Beyoncé. In her words, "We run this mutha!"
I recommend Bad Girls Throughout History for every badass chick!
Title: Bad Girls Throughout History: 100 Remarkable Women Who Changed the World
Author: Ann Shen
Published: September 2016
Pages: 216
Edition: eBook
Rating: 🖤 🖤 🖤 🖤
This is on my tbr and I can't wait to get to it. I love learning about history especially when it's related to women and the roles we've played in shaping the world and our communities.
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