“Those who thought that by their cruelty they could silence her were wrong. Nadia Murad’s spirit is not broken, and her voice will not be muted.”
—AMAL CLOONEY
From the moment she escaped, Nadia has refused to hide her face in shame. Instead, she has forced the world to confront the atrocities committed against the Yazidis and the horror of sexual violence as a weapon of war. I was thrilled when, in 2018, Nadia was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, alongside pioneering Congolese gynecologist Dr. Denis Mukwege, who has treated survivors of wartime sexual violence. What Nadia deserves even more than an award is to see her message turned into action everywhere that women’s human rights are threatened so that the attackers are brought to justice.
Epilogue
It’s hard to read the news and not feel grateful for brave, resilient women around the world. That’s been true throughout history, and it’s especially true today.
We wanted to cheer and scream at the same time when Olympic athletes Alysia Montaño, Kara Goucher, and Allyson Felix broke their nondisclosure agreements to tell the New York Times about being paid less by their sponsor, Nike, after they gave birth. We only wanted to scream when white male legislators in Alabama and other states voted to effectively ban abortion. Thousands of women came forward in response to publicly share their own experiences of ending a pregnancy—but why should it fall to women to share their most personal stories in order to defend a right we’ve had in America for more than forty-five years? What’s more, why are legislators focused on limiting reproductive choices rather than solving the real challenges pregnant women confront? A woman in America today is 50 percent more likely to die from pregnancy, childbirth, or related complications than her own mother, and black women are three to four times more likely than white women to die from pregnancy-related complications. Why aren’t these legislators concerned about keeping women alive?
Meanwhile, around the world, efforts to dictate what women can wear continue. The speaker of the Tanzanian parliament banned women members from wearing nail and eyelash extensions. The Japanese health and labor minister defended employers who require women to wear high heels, calling the practice “necessary and appropriate.” More than a few countries currently either restrict what religious clothing women wear in public or require women to wear religious clothing in public. And it’s not only governments policing women’s attire and accessories. In 2018, the U.S. Open chastised professional tennis player Alizé Cornet for changing her shirt during a break in a match, and Serena Williams was told by French Open officials that she couldn’t wear her black catsuit, even though it was helping prevent life-threatening blood clots.
As we said in the introduction, ensuring the rights, opportunities, and full participation of all women and girls remains a big piece of the unfinished business of the twenty-first century. But sometimes it seems even more unfinished than we’d hoped. Even though women in the United States have graduated from college in higher numbers than men for decades, there’s still a woeful lack of women in the upper reaches of science and technology, business and education, not to mention politics and government. Women’s representation in the current administration in Washington is the lowest it’s been in a generation, and women hold just a quarter of computing jobs in the U.S.—a percentage that has gone down instead of up since the mid-1980s.
For too many women, especially low-wage workers, a livable wage or predictable work schedules or affordable child care are still far out of reach; less than 20 percent of American workers have access to paid family leave, and those benefits are concentrated among the highest-income workers. One in three women in the United States and worldwide has experienced physical or sexual violence. Every year globally, more than two million girls under fourteen give birth.
Yet, we have made progress. Around the world, child marriage rates are declining. So, too, is teenage pregnancy. Brave women in India, Canada, South Korea, the United States, and elsewhere are shining a brighter light on sexual assault and harassment. More women are making their own reproductive health choices in more places, even as we lose ground in America. Women are running countries and cities across the globe. They’re leading Fortune 500 companies and starting their own enterprises. They’re making award-winning films and theater, shattering records in sports, and inventing revolutionary technologies.
For the first time ever, there are more than one hundred women in the U.S. Congress—the most diverse class in history. We’ve watched the first woman Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, face off with a president who embodies misogyny. A century ago, most women in America couldn’t vote; today we have enough women running for president of the United States to field a basketball team.
While writing this book, we have loved thinking back across our own lives to remember the women who inspired, educated, and challenged us. Some we’ve had the gift of knowing; others we’ve never met. Some come from politics and public service. Many don’t; running for office is one great way to make a difference, but it’s far from the only way. Some of their names are famous, others are unknown. To us, they are all gutsy women—leaders with the courage to stand up to the status quo, ask hard questions, and get the job done. Many have done heroic things, but they are not superheroes. They are complex, flawed, and imperfect human beings. They all made the world better. We draw strength from these women, and we hope you will too. Because if history shows one thing, it’s that the world has always needed gutsy women—and we know it always will.
Acknowledgments
We are both thankful for the many people who helped us visualize, research, and produce this book. It’s been an adventure and labor of love for us to work together.
First and foremost, we could not have done it without the indispensable Lauren Peterson, our intrepid collaborator. Her writing skills and love of the subject are unmatched, and her good humor in navigating between our different working styles (one of us still writes longhand) deserves special recognition, as does her help in the painful process of moving from our initial count of more than 200 essays to the 105 we share in this book. We are also grateful to all of the teachers, historians, writers, and librarians who helped shape and guide our thinking and writing over the years, including for this book.
Opal Vadhan provided invaluable contributions in deciphering Hillary’s handwriting and researching our endless arcane inquiries; her efforts added immeasurably to our own. She was ably assisted by Harshil Bansal, Nina Emilie Bechmann, Charles Burton-Callegari, Jessica Grubesic, Olivia Hartman, Sara Hussain, Alana Jennis, Ashley Kawakami, Anna Matefy, Valia Mitsakis, Dylan Mott, Maria Julia Pieraccioni, Madison Sidwell, Ekum Sohal, Millie Todd, Olivia Weathers, and Aija Zamurs.
We were very lucky that Ruby Shamir, an author with whom we have both worked before, led our fact-checking efforts, and that the indefatigable Joy Secuban took on the formidable challenge of finding all the photographs we needed, tracking them down, and securing permissions. Both of their efforts made this book stronger and more vibrant.
As always, we appreciate the help we received from our teams and friends who offered advice along the way: Huma Abedin, Allida Black, Kristina Costa, Bari Lurie, Nick Merrill, Laura Olin, Megan Rooney, Robert Russo, Dan Schwerin, Ella Serrano, Lona Valmoro, Melanne Verveer, Shanna Weathersby, Emily Young, and Liz Zaretsky. A special thank you to Marc, a wonderful husband and son-in-law who is also a wonderful reader. And, as always, thanks to Bill/Dad for offering comments.
A heartfelt thank-you to Jonathan Karp, Priscilla Painton, Elizabeth Breeden, Annie Craig, Amar Deol, Paul Dippolito, Lisa Erwin, Jonathan Evans, Elizabeth Gay, Cary Goldstein, Kimberly Goldstein, Yvette Grant, Kayley Hoffman, Megan Hogan, Irene Kheradi, Sara Kitchen, Ruth Lee-Mui, Richard Rhorer, Elise Ringo, and Jackie Seow at Simon & Schuster, who believed in this book and stayed with us through all the ups and downs. And we both value the continuing support of our respective lawyers, Bob Barnett and Tara Kole.
We will be donating a portion of the proceeds f
rom this book to organizations that support the work and legacies of the women spotlighted within it.
Finally, we want to thank Charlotte and Aidan for providing endless joy and laughter throughout this process, as throughout all days.
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Index
A note about the index: The pages referenced in this index refer to the page numbers in the print edition. Clicking on a page number will take you to the ebook location that corresponds to the beginning of that page in the print edition. For a comprehensive list of locations of any word or phrase, use your reading system’s search function.
Note: Page numbers in italics refer to illustrations.
Abdi, Hawa, 182–84, 182
Abzug, Bella, 331–34, 331, 336
Acevedo, Sylvia, 64
Achebe, Chinua, 315
Adams, Lily, 343
Addams, Jane, 374
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi, xi, 314–16, 314
Affordable Care Act, 377
AIDS, 176–78, 179–81, 186–87, 322
AIDS Medical Foundation, 177
“Ain’t I a Woman?,” 240
Alcatraz Island, 361
Alcott, Louisa May, 5
Al-Khatahtbeh, Amani, 324–27, 324
Allende, Salvador, 364
al-Sharif, Manal, 432–34, 432
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), 27
American Red Cross, xi, 168
Americans with Disabilities Act, 232
amfAR, 178
Amin, Idi, 409
Amma, G. Devaki, 118
Anand, Anita, 426
Anderson, Marian, 267
Angelou, Maya, 305–7, 305, 386
Antheil, George, 147
Anthony, Susan B., 16, 416, 422
Ardern, Jacinda, x
Artemis (goddess of the hunt), 7
Ascend Afghanistan, 207
Asquith, H. H., 414
Athena (goddess of wisdom and war), 7
ATTENTIONTheatre, 322
Atwood, Margaret, 9
Auld, Sara, 170, 171
Babbage, Charles, 134
Bachelet, Michelle, 364–67, 364
Baden-Powell, Lord Robert, 62
Balanchine, George, 21, 22
Bancroft, Margaret, 58–60, 58
Bangura, Zainab, xii
Barnett, Ferdinand, 249
Barton, Clara (Clarissa Harlowe), xi, 165, 166–68, 166
Bates, Daisy, 78–81, 78
Bates, Lucius Christopher (L. C.), 79, 81
Baum, L. Frank, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, 10
Baumfree, Isabella (Sojourner Truth), xi, 13, 16, 243, 244–46, 261
Beard, Mary, 308–10, 308
Beauvoir, Simone de, 9
Becquerel, Henri, 142
Bedoya Lima, Jineth, 311–13, 311
Bernstein, Carl, 379
Bethune, Mary McLeod, 70–74, 70
Beyoncé, 316
Bhatt, Ela, 281, 389–91, 389
Bhutto, Benazir, 93
Biles, Simone, 240
Billinghurst, Rosa May, 413, 414–15
Bishop, Ruth, 197
Black, Allida, 253
Black Girls Code, 408, 409
Blackwell, Elizabeth, 169–70, 169
Bluford, Guion “Guy,” 153
Boochever, Annie, 258
Bourke-White, Margaret, 34–38, 34
Bradlee, Ben, 379
Brady, John, 288
Brady, Sarah, 287, 287, 288, 293
Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (1993), 288, 293
Bryant, Kai, 408
Breedlove, Sarah (Madam C. J. Walker), 136, 137–39
Brown, Amelia, 420–21
Brown, Deneen L., 16
Brown, John, 15
Brown v. Board of Education, 79, 89–90, 260, 383, 420
Bryant, Kimberly, 407–8, 407, 409
Bryceson, Derek, 111
Bundles, A’Lelia, 139
Burgos-Debray, Elizabeth, 47
Burn, Harry, 423
Burn, Phoebe Ensminger, 423
Bush, George H. W., 273
Bush, George W., 71, 244
Bush, Laura, 6
Byron, George Gordon, Lord, 133
Caldwell, Erskine, 36, 37
CARE (Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere), 326
Callahan, Sean, 37
Caring Across Generations, 285
Carlock, William, 394
Carnegie Foundation, 72
Carroll, Frank, 218–19
Carson, Johnny, 396
Carson, Rachel, xi, 100–103, 100
Carter, Jimmy, 172
Carter, Majora, 108
Carter, Rosalynn, 197
Carver, George Washington, 260
Casa dei Bambini, Rome, 66
Cassatt, Mary, xi
Caster Semenya Foundation, 237
Catt, Carrie Chapman, 422–23
Challenger (1983), 153, 144
Challenger (1986), 155, 158
Chavez, Cesar, 272, 273
Chavez, Edna, 294, 298
Chavez, Ricardo, 298
Cherokee Nation, 360–63
Children’s Television Workshop, 68, 69
Chisholm, Shirley, 74, 333, 335–38, 335
Cho, Alice, x
Christopher Movement, 67, 352
Chun, Alice Min Soo, 119–22, 119
Church, Robert Reed, 419
Churchill, Winston, 427
Civilian Conservation Corps, 376
Civil Rights Act (1964), 258, 419
Civil Rights Memorial, 401
Civil Rights Movement, 287, 383, 384, 400–401
Clinton, Bill, 91, 99, 244, 288, 306, 347–48
Clinton, Catherine, 13–14
Clooney, Amal, 436, 437
Coachman, Alice, 201–3, 201
Coe, Alexis, 248
Coles, Robert, 91
Collins, Elsa, 319
Collins, Gail, 9
Columbine High School, 295
Colvin, Claudette, 245, 259, 261–65
Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence, 284
Confluence Project, 401
Constitution, U.S., 72, 79, 80, 83, 90, 175, 261, 263, 348–50, 379, 403–6, 417, 420
Constitutional amendments, See Equal Rights Amendment; Nineteenth Amendment
Conyers, John, 264
Cooney, Joan Ganz, 65, 67–69
Cooper, Anna Julia Haywood, 417–19
Cooper, Helene, 356
Copeland, Misty, 23
Copeny, Mari, 194
Cornet, Alizé, 439
Couric, Katie, 64
Cox, Laverne, xi
Cradock Four, 281
Crumpler, Rebecca Lee, 169, 170–71
Curie, Marie, 140–45, 140
Curie, Pierre, 141–42, 143, 145
Cutler, Eustacia, 392
Davis, Jordan, 291–92, 293
Day, Mary, 22–23
DeGeneres, Ellen, 395–98, 395
DeGeneres, Vance, 395
de la Cruz, Sor Juana Inés, 55–57, 55
de Rossi, Portia, 398
Delano, Sara Ann, 252
Dias, Marley, x
Diouf, Abdou, 190
Discovery, 158
Disney, Abigail, 278
Doar, John, 347–48, 349
Doe, Samuel, 356, 357
Dolores Huerta Foundation, 274
Domestic Workers United, 284
Douglas, Gabby, 240
Douglas, Marjory Stoneman, 97–99, 97
Douglass, Frederick, 16, 419
Doyle, Glennon, 216, 217
Dr. Hawa Abdi Foundation, 184
Drew, Nancy (fict.), 5–6
Du Bois, W. E. B., 382
Dugdale, Una, 426
Dulles, Allen, 49
Dulles, John Foster, 49
Dunbar, Bonnie, 155
Duncan, Isadora, 18, 19–21, 23
Duster, Michelle, 256
Earle, Sylvia, 149–51, 149
Eckford, Elizabeth, 80
Edelman, Marian Wright, 243, 347
Education Amendments Act (1972), Title IX, 83, 85, 86–88, 210
Einstein, Albert, 143–44
Eisenhower, Dwight D., 80, 150, 244
Eldering, Grace, 197
Elizabeth II, queen of England, 309
Elizabeth Peratrovich Day, 258
EMILY’s List, 352
Environmental Protection Agency, 103