# Women you admire. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 1, 2004, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-you-admire/272233 "2004-11-01T02:23:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-you-admire/272233/1 "2004-11-01T02:23:11Z")
They have to be famous, and it can’t be for their beauty. I just want to see how many different women people admire and what for. The reason I ask is that I can’t really think of any I admire for anything besides their beauty. The few people I can think of are Ellen Degeneres, Jenna Jamieson and Maureen Dowd. They all are beautiful, but I suspect it is because I have such great respect for them. ---
**Author:** ![Keapon\_Laffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e274bd/32.png) [@Keapon\_Laffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keapon_Laffin)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-you-admire/272233/2 "2004-11-01T02:32:04Z")
:eek: Uhh, I’m assuming this Jenna Jamieson is a different person from Jenna Jameson? ---
**Author:** ![Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9dc877/32.png) [@Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightwatch_Trailer)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-you-admire/272233/3 "2004-11-01T02:35:07Z")
> [@Keapon Laffin](#): > > :eek: > Uhh, I’m assuming this Jenna Jamieson is a different person from Jenna Jameson? I would recommend _not_ Google image searching to find out. At least, not if you’re in the workplace or something right now… ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-you-admire/272233/4 "2004-11-01T02:57:20Z")
Katherine Hepburn. Dorothy Parker. They were clearly women before their time. I admire their strength, wit and wisdom. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-you-admire/272233/5 "2004-11-01T03:03:21Z")
**Condoleeza Rice** , **Margaret Thatcher** and **Jamie Lee Curtis**. ---
**Author:** ![pokey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ebca7d/32.png) [@pokey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pokey)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-you-admire/272233/6 "2004-11-01T03:30:24Z")
I admire Jamie Lee Curtis too. I didn’t until she did that thing where she showed off her flab so that everyone else could feel less like shit. That took guts. Plus she’s funny. I admire: Oprah Winfrey, Aung San Suu Kyi, Toni Morrison, Amy Sedaris, Hazel McCallion, Missy Elliott, Madeline Albright, Junko Mizuno, Cintra Wilson, Tina Fey. ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_On\_My\_Sleeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/77aa72/32.png) [@Heart\_On\_My\_Sleeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_On_My_Sleeve)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-you-admire/272233/7 "2004-11-01T03:58:56Z")
Tori Amos Marilyn Monroe Ella Fitzgerald Hillary Rodham Clinton Oprah Winfrey Ellen Degeneres Kate Winslet Mary J. Blige Debby MacDonald (not exactly famous, but from Animal Cops Detroit) Erykah Badu I could go on and on. ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-you-admire/272233/8 "2004-11-01T04:14:14Z")
My mom. No. Seriously, my mom. She was one of the first women in her field. Worked for several thousand dollars less a year than the men on her team for the same work because, as her foreman put it: “You might have a baby, and I don’t have time to replace you. When you’ve been here a while, we’ll see about a raise.” She endured insults and sexual harrassment and long hours without overtime pay. She never gave up, raised three kids on her own, and helped put two of them through college. She has my admiration and respect, and I always try to think how she would handle it if I find myself in a difficult situation. I am immensely proud of her. ---
**Author:** ![LilyoftheValley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@LilyoftheValley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilyoftheValley)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-you-admire/272233/9 "2004-11-01T04:17:52Z")
[Dr. Alice Hamilton](http://www.distinguishedwomen.com/biographies/hamilton-a.html) (She’s on a US stamp – how many people know who she is?) [Dr. Frances Oldham Kelsey](http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2001/201_kelsey.html) [Anna Lindh](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3098092.stm) Madeline Albright Mia Hamm ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-you-admire/272233/10 "2004-11-01T04:35:02Z")
> [@Keapon Laffin](#): > > :eek: > Uhh, I’m assuming this Jenna Jamieson is a different person from Jenna Jameson? No, same person. Some people say Jamieson some say Jameson. She held here own against Bill O’reilly and made him look like a perverted idiot. She had my admiration ever since. I forgot Doris Roberts. Excellent actor. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-you-admire/272233/11 "2004-11-01T05:52:55Z")
I don’t admire mere celebrities. I admire women who change the world: [Sojourner Truth](http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/trut-soj.htm) [Sandra Day O’Connor](http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/legal_entity/102/biography) [Ada Lovelace](http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Lovelace.html) (World’s first computer geek! Babbage invented the thing, but she fell in love with it and figured out how to program it.) [Marie Curie](http://www.aip.org/history/curie/contents.htm) [Sally Ride](http://www2.lucidcafe.com/lucidcafe/library/96may/ride.html) [Rear Adm. Grace Murray Hopper](http://ei.cs.vt.edu/~history/Hopper.Danis.html) [Geraldine Ferraro](http://teacher.scholastic.com/researchtools/articlearchives/womhst/gerald.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-you-admire/272233/12 "2004-11-01T06:01:01Z")
> [@Lakai](#): > > No, same person. Some people say Jamieson some say Jameson. She held here own against Bill O’reilly and made him look like a perverted idiot. She had my admiration ever since. You wouldn’t know where I could get a transcript of that? I’ve heard lots about it and am very curious to see how the interview went. ---
**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-you-admire/272233/13 "2004-11-01T07:59:22Z")
**Oprah Winfrey** No link needed, I think. [Rosa Parks](http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/par0bio-1) [Maria Montessori](http://www.montessori.edu/maria.html) [Emma Thompson](http://web.ukonline.co.uk/emma.jsrpages/2fetx.htm) [Gertrude Stein](http://www.tenderbuttons.com/) [Dorothy Parker](http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/parker/) [Fanny Blankers - Koen](http://www.brainyencyclopedia.com/encyclopedia/f/fa/fanny_blankers_koen.html) [Ayaan Hirsi Ali](http://www.racematters.org/ayaanhirsiali.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Martha\_Medea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@Martha\_Medea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha_Medea)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-you-admire/272233/14 "2004-11-01T08:11:01Z")
One of the inspirations behind my screenname, [Martha Gellhorn](http://www.salon.com/media/1998/03/12media.html). Also, too many women writers to mention. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-you-admire/272233/15 "2004-11-01T08:58:41Z")
> [@gum](#): > > **Oprah Winfrey**. > [Emma Thompson](http://web.ukonline.co.uk/emma.jsrpages/2fetx.htm) > [Ayaan Hirsi Ali](http://www.racematters.org/ayaanhirsiali.htm) Amen, brother (or sister 🙂 ) Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Dutch politician, is a true modern hero. A Ethiopean refugee, she came to the Netherlands less then 10 years ago, learned Dutch, made a booming career in Dutch politics, made some very courageous decisions that got her a lot of animosity and even death-threats. In the last three years, Ayaan singlehandledly started the third feminist wave in Holland, the much-needed emancipation of Islamic women. Similar Dutch heroines are Joke Smit and Aletta Jacobs. Women writers I admire are: Joke van Leeuwen Yvonne Krooneberg Renate Dorrestein (the Dutch Fay Weldon) Naomi Wolf (author of the Beauyty myth) Judith Martin All of the above I admire first and foremost for their way with language, and secondly for making me see more of the world then I would have without their books. ---
**Author:** ![marky33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@marky33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marky33)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-you-admire/272233/16 "2004-11-01T09:12:12Z")
\*\*Arundhati Roy \*\* – A straight-shooter if there ever was one. ---
**Author:** ![MidnightRadio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@MidnightRadio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MidnightRadio)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-you-admire/272233/17 "2004-11-01T12:38:26Z")
Helen Keller ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-you-admire/272233/18 "2004-11-01T12:40:21Z")
**Susan B. Anthony & Elizabeth Cady Stanton.** Because of their inexhaustible campaigning to fight for a woman’s right to vote, I now have the option to vote out or deny any idiot running for office. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-you-admire/272233/19 "2004-11-01T12:47:54Z")
> [@Lakai](#): > > No, same person. Some people say Jamieson some say Jameson. She held here own against Bill O’reilly and made him look like a perverted idiot. She had my admiration ever since. > > I forgot Doris Roberts. Excellent actor. Somebody please tell me there is a way I can see this!! Most of them have already been mentioned. There is this one lady though I wish I could remember her name. But anyway she used to be the cover girl for Max Factor. She had a battle with cancer and came out smelling like a rose and also managed to keep a VERY positive attitude. Damn! I wish I could remember her name. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-you-admire/272233/20 "2004-11-01T13:00:17Z")
Dorothy Day. Julian of Norwich. Barbara Jordan. Heloise (not the helpful hints one, the one with Abelard). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-you-admire/272233.md?page=2)