Women’s History Month - The Stars You Should Seek

March 2022 - Women’s History Month

I was not sure how to approach this, whether to pick one woman, or just generalize, but I have decided to highlight some women who have impressed me and share links for them. I will miss lots off but hope I can highlight some who you need to know and my reasons for sharing them.

Please share all that I miss in the comments.

For some people, it will be friends and ancestors, family members and more. Society has allowed women to be trivialized and women are more than equal of men but have been marginalized by frightened, cowardly controlling men.

Hedy Lamarr

I knew Hedy Lamarr as a glamorous actress, born Hedwig Eva Kiesler, born in Vienna, Austria on November 9th, 1914, and that was it. In recent years I found out that she was an amazing inventor responsible for pioneering the technology that would one day form the basis for today’s WiFi, GPS, and Bluetooth communication systems.

An incredibly talented individual who shaped today's world. Find out more about her here.

Claudette Colvin

Most people haven't heard of Claudette Colvin, but nine months before Rosa Parks at the age of 15 she refused to move to the back of the bus and give up her seat to a white person.

Claudette now lives in the Bronx and tells a lot of her story in this article here.

She and Rosa Parks were not the only ones to challenge the system but a lot of women were just fined and we heard nothing more about it.

Wendy Carlos

As you know I have an eclectic taste in music and while I was aware of Walter Carlos's "Switched on Bach" and "The Well-Tempered Synthesizer" I remember being really impressed with the soundtrack to Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange". So why am I highlighting a man in Women's History Month?

In 1979, Carlos raised public awareness of transgender issues by disclosing she had been living as a woman since at least 1968, and in 1972 had undergone sex reassignment surgery.

This is very important as she is Wendy and an incredibly important and innovative musician.

From her website:

Wendy Carlos is one of the most important composers living today. While primarily connected to the fields of electronic music, sound design, and alternate tunings, her compositions transcend these genres. It is certain that her music will be included among the major milestones of 20th-century music.

You can find out more about Wendy and her music here

Delia Derbyshire

Although I didn't know it at the time, I was introduced to the electronic pioneering music of Delia Derbyshire when I first heard the "Doctor Who" theme.

She worked on many albums, one of my favorites was "White Noise" .

She was a leading light in electronic music but we lost her in 2001 .

From her web site:

Shortly before Delia died, she wrote the following: "Working with people like Sonic Boom on pure electronic music has re-invigorated me. He is from a later generation but has always had an affinity with the music of the 60s. One of our first points of contact - the visionary work of Peter Zinovieff, has touched us both, and has been an inspiration. Now without the constraints of doing 'applied music', my mind can fly free and pick-up where I left off."

You can find out more about Delia here.

Sylvia Pankhurst

Sylvia Pankhurst was the daughter of Emmeline Pankhurst and was a militant Women's Rights campaigner. a suffragette like her mother, and a pacifist.

She founded the East London Federation of Suffragettes and launched a newspaper, the Dreadnought. She later wrote The Suffragette Movement (1931), one of the first and most lucid accounts of the struggle for the vote.

More information can be found here.

Marsha P. Johnson

Marsha P. Johnson was a trans-rights activist who played a big role in important moments for the LGBTQ+ movement, such as the Stonewall protests.

Marsha was a gay man, a drag artist who performed as a woman, and stood up for rights across the sexual spectrum and in my opinion, should be celebrated in Women's History Month.

The "P" stood for "Pay It No Mind" according to Marsha.

In the sixties, being gay was classified as a mental illness in the United States. Gay people were regularly threatened and beaten by police and were shunned by many in society.

Marsha went missing in 1992 and her body was found but this was not investigated by police.

You can read more about Marsha here.

Mae Jemison

In 1992, Mae Jemison became the first African American woman to travel in space. That is just one amazing thing this incredible woman has done. She has written books, appeared on TV including Star Trek and is also a doctor and an engineer.

You can find out more about this incredibly talented woman here.

Conclusion

These are just seven women who I admire intensely but there are thousands who have made our world what it is for the better despite having to fight against racism and misogyny and come through, delivering successfully. Hopefully, I have unearthed facts that you were unaware of and shown myself as a man who appreciates the talent and determination of all women.