Women without children you admire?

[JorisBonson]

Just been bellylaughing at a Kathy Burke podcast and remembered how much I love her. She's gone through life being unashamedly herself and not taking a jot of interest in societal norms. I loved her Channel 4 doc about being a woman.

Also Beth Stern, Howard Stern's wife, who devotes herself to rescuing and rehoming animals.

Kim Catrall is an excellent shout

Betty White. And Vicky McClure.

Oprah gave birth to a baby boy when she was aged 14, as a result of sexual abuse. The baby died a few weeks later in hospital.

As an adult she decided to not have children.

Seems a bit...flippant, I suppose, to refer to what she went through as a 'data point'.

Just out of curiosity: why Vicky McClure?

She tells interviewers to mind their own business if they ask whether she wants children.

Ah. I see. Good move and good for her.

Correct answer Vicky!

Winona Ryder; Sarah Paulson; Allison Janney; Michelle Yeoh.

In politics: Angela Eagle, Nicola Sturgeon.

Rosalind Frankin, who never got the recognition she deserved and died far too young.

Marie Curie, a brilliant woman.

Agree with all the answers, but Marie Curie actually had two children who helped her with her studies.

My answers were Debbie Harry and Stevie Nicks.

Marie Curie won 2 nobels, one with her husband, Pierre) and had 2 daughters. One won a joint nobel prize for chemistry (I think. Science anyway.) And the other was only the only member of the family not to win a nobel prize but was married to a winner of the nobel peace prize.
An extraordinary family.

I didn't realise that, @HolyMolyAnne. Thanks for the correction!

Germaine Greer.

I saw an interview with Ruth Wilson asking her the same question and was longing for her to give that same answer and tell the iterviewer to MTOB. Instead she fudged it.

Clare Balding - really like her as a presenter and fellow animal lover. Also, as an aside to her professional qualities, I like her style of dress and wish I was tall enough to carry off similar. I have actually met her (very briefly!) and she came across as genuine.

Angela Merkel but her policies re: Putin/Germany and phasing out nuclear power were not great.

I didn’t know that most of those women didn’t have children. I did know about Theresa May, because Andrea Leadsom, her opponent in the 2016 Tory leadership election, tried to make it an issue. Vile woman. TM made some comments at the time which implied it wasn’t by choice. If that’s the case, she has my sympathy.

I remember the Leadsom comments - along the lines of TM wouldn't be as invested in the future of the UK as Leadsom, because unlike Leadsom, she didn't have children 🙄

At least it did Leadsom no favours in her campaign; she apologised for the remarks in the end.

Lowest of the low campaigning, in my view.

I admire many women. Whether they have children or not makes no difference to me.

Yeah. Leadsom's comment was stupid.

I'm in absolutely no way a TM fan but yeah, that's a low blow. Didn't know about that!

Debra Jo Rupp. Plays a great mother on tv but isn't one in real life.

Links to May/Leadsom story for anyone interested:

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jul/10/andrea-leadsom-apologises-for-motherhood-remarks

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36760986

Not the point of the thread. It's women, without children, that you admire. It's not women you admire for not having children.

And Kamala Harris is an excellent example.

Germaine Greer
Simone de Beauvoir
Christine Lagarde