To ask, who is your female role model?

[Ethelfleda]

Preferably a famous personality so we can gain some context but doesn’t have to be.

So if you could be like another person, who would you choose? And why?
And if there is nobody you’d like to emulate, why?

Mary Beard is sticking out to me at the moment - I have no major knowledge of her but I watched her beautifully wipe the floor with Boris Johnson in an Intelligence squared debate about Ancient Greece vs Ancient Rome. Intellect won over the orator.

Any thoughts?

Germaine Greer - I’ve always loved her toughness, quick wit, grumpiness, she is not always likeable but she is so ‘herself’ whatever that may be and I love that about her. She just doesn’t give a shit.

Hillary Clinton. I am late to the party, only when I watched that Sky documentary on her did my admiration and huge respect kick in. What a woman! What a feminist. I grew up knowing of her as the unlikeable hypocrite wife of a president. I was about 18 and so high and mighty and judgemental. Now I have huge respect for her. And have recognised how much bias I carried!

Jacinda Ardern

I don't have one. Not sure why. I probably will at some point but not at the moment.
I have male ones though.

I don’t agree with Greer on a lot of things BUT The Whole Woman was hugely important to me as a teen.

Christiana Figueres
Tina Fey
Jacinda Ardern
Michelle Obama
Amelia Earhart
Emmeline Pankhurst
Betsey Johnson
Malala Yousafzai

All for different reasons, but all fabulous, inspirational women!

Ooh I have loads of female role models!

Kamala Harris/Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - because US politics right now.
Also Rachel Maddow for commentary.
Raven Leilani - for raw, honest fiction.
Mindy Kaling - for cinema.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - for feminism
Adriene Mishler - for yoga.
Samira Wiley - for acting.
Temple Grandin - for inventing.
Arundhati Roy - for beautiful prose.
Sia Furler - for beautiful voice.
Deborah Anne Dyer - for raw lyrics.
My mother because she inspires me.
My wife because she always believes in me.
And my daughter because she overcomes massive challenges and is exceptional.

Role models no, but women I admire would be Serena Williams and Nicola Sturgeon. I am in awe of both. I have met one of them and she absolutely did not disappoint...much wittier and "normal" than the press give her credit.

@RosieCrumpet

Eva Longoria. An ethnic minority, worked part-time alongside her studies (even as a child), has a STEM bachelors' degree and master's degree, she does an incredible amount of charity work and political activism. Not to mention, she proves that short women can also be beautiful and fierce.

And she produced the John Wicks films! I remember being thrilled when I discovered that.

I'm not sure I have any famous female role models but there seems to be a lot of women mentioned in the thread who I find too wishy washy and "right on liberal progressive", so to counter that, I'd like to mention
Aaayan Hirsi Ali and Kemi Badenoch.

KB, who I've only just become aware of, for her recent speech in parliament on critical race theory, and AHA I've liked for a long time

Intelligent humour: Joyce Grenfell, Victoria Wood, Sandi Toksvig

What they were or are like in real life I dont know but their humour always impressed me.

When I first read your thread I thought I did not have a role model, I had never even thought about needing/having one. Then I thought about it a bit more and realised that my Dearest Departed Mum was my role model from my earliest days. I suppose that shouldn't surprise me, but even though I always knew that I was lucky enough to have the best Mum ever, I had never consciously thought before that I have always strived to emulate her. I know she made some mistakes in her life, but thank God I have never had to try for perfection, that would have been impossible to even try to live up to. I sadly never managed to reach the standard of motherhood that my Mum did.
I think that Diana, Princess of Wales, did help confirm my beliefs, I don't know how much she may have influenced them; it is no exaggeration to say that I was devastated by her death, and since then have been even more impressed by how she battled through her mental health problems, and with so little support. I also have great respect for the Queen, except for her attempts at motherhood, but then she had Prince Philip to contend with, I don't think he has brought much happiness into her life, I would have hated her life. As others have said as well, I do respect J K Rowling, but not to the same extent as the other two.

Its Mary Beard for me. I'm gutted that my opportunity to meet her is postponed.

In real life its two of my aunts. They are both amazing!

Actually, having thought about it:

My mother (many reasons)
Billie eilish (sounds stupid, I don't even listen to her music very much! But we're the same sort of age group and she has done what I can only hope to someday do so she is very inspirational to me)

My beautiful mum 🌈

I don't want to rubbish Mary Beard, but she cried real tears for the male aid workers who made starving women have sex with them for food. Not for the women, but the men. She took the stance that piwer corrupts and the poor men couldn't be held accountable. Poor lambs lost their jobs.

I was as disappointed as when I found out that Chrissie hynde was a rape (of underage girls) apologiest.

Gayle Anne Dorsey.
An amazing person and an incredibly talented musician.

I didn’t think I had one, then I saw one of the first posters say Elle Woods, and that’s embarrassingly true!

I’m doing a really tough postgrad at the moment, and one days when I’m not feeling good enough, I rewatch Legally Blonde to give myself a boost.

Nana.

Whenever I don’t know what to do, I think what would Madonna do?
The answer?
She would do exactly what she wanted and not give a shit whatever anyone else thinks .
I’d actually like to be like than rather than a wet people pleaser.

Tara westover is admirable. I think cupcake Brown is inspirational too

AOC
RBG (yes I knew who she was long before she passed away)
Michelle Obama

No one famous, but my maternal grandmother. She came over to the UK from Nigeria when she was barely 20 to marry my grandfather. They had met when grandpa was in Nigeria on business - he was 25. It was a whirlwind romance and he proposed after knowing her only 6 weeks. She followed him here, leaving her family and friends (none of whom approved) and they married (to his family's disapproval). She suffered terrible racism and sexism, but was so dignified and strong eventually playing a role in the family business when my great grandparents died and left it to my grandfather. He adored her throughout his entire life and recognised her natural talent as a businesswoman. She was also a fabulous grandmother and we spent a lot of our holidays with her. She gave me my love for Africa and my obsession with diamonds! But she gave my sister, brother and I the love that our mother couldn't and was the wisest person I've ever met.

Other one is my first boss in my first public health job. She was strong and independent and fought for the communities we were working in. She also decided at a young age that marriage and children weren't for her and was unapologetic and fierce when criticised. She taught me that we don't all have to live the same kind of life and that it's ok to leave a bad relationship and also ok to say no, I don't want kids.

@DFAMA I agree AOC is fantastic

Hilary Mantel. Her wonderful writing came out of a chronic illness which wrecked her conventional career choices.

Honour Blackman. Wry and elegant from her twenties to her eighties.

Honor^^