# 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:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-you-admire/272233/41 "2004-11-02T06:26:18Z")
Mrs. Ford. I don’t know the lady’s first name. She taught junior high school english to my older brother and sister, and ten years later when I came along, she was still at it. She was old school, something of a pedant, but I found her classes enjoyable. A sweet lady who cared about the kids and the subject, it showed in the classroom. ---
**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-you-admire/272233/42 "2004-11-02T07:32:40Z")
For some reason I read: ‘it snowed in the classroom’. chilly. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-you-admire/272233/43 "2004-11-02T09:55:35Z")
> [@furt](#): > > That’s fine for you, Miss knows-how-to-read. What about those of us who don’t own computers, eh? > > [/passive-aggressive outburst occasioned by acute embarrasment] See ? THIS is why I love the SDMB so much 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-you-admire/272233/44 "2004-11-02T10:08:38Z")
> [@SHAKES](#): > > 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. For some reason Lauren Hutton comes to mind, but I’m not sure. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-you-admire/272233/45 "2004-11-02T15:31:09Z")
Congresswoman **Julia Carson, D-IN.** She’s a woman of great courage. She speaks her mind without worrying about attacks from the opposition. If she were a man, I’d say this differently, but she’s got OVARIES. Oh, by the way, almost all of Julia’s beauty is inner. ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-you-admire/272233/46 "2004-11-02T15:40:08Z")
A lot of good names here that I share admiration for, but I wanted to plug one in I haven’t seen yet: [Barbara Tuchman](http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/tuchman.htm) She is by far my favorite author of history. I wish I could write history as easy to read and insightful as she did. I miss her, and wish she could have lived a couple extra hundred years to write more. ---
**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 2, 2004, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-you-admire/272233/47 "2004-11-02T16:30:40Z")
**Lindsey Davis** for writing great stories. ---
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-you-admire/272233/48 "2004-11-02T17:03:37Z")
> [@Anne Neville](#): > > [Margaret of Anjou](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_of_Anjou) WORD. Big fat word. ---
**Author:** ![burundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ec8ea/32.png) [@burundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burundi)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-you-admire/272233/49 "2004-11-03T02:14:59Z")
[Margaret Sanger](http://womenshistory.about.com/library/bio/blbio_margaret_sanger.htm) who established the first birth control in clinic in the United States in 1916 Labor activist Mary “Mother” Jones, who crusaded against child labor and unsafe, exploitative working conditions. [Pauli Murray](http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAmurrayA.htm), civil rights activist, author and the first African American woman to be ordained as an Episcopal priest. Not nearly as well-known as she should be. [Alice Paul](http://womenshistory.about.com/library/bio/blbio_paul_alice.htm), an early 20th century woman suffragist. She was one of the leaders of the National Women’s Party. Paul, along with other suffragists, was verbally and physically attacked and was sentenced to 7 months in prison for picketing the White House (although she only served for 5 weeks). If it hadn’t been for 20th century activists like Paul, the work of Anthony and Stanton would have foundered. In a similar vein, Gertrude Weil, the foremost leader of the woman suffrage movement in North Carolina. Though she wasn’t as militant as Paul, demanding votes for women in 1912 North Carolina took guts a-plenty. All five of these women have made the U.S. a better place for all of us. Thank you, ladies. ---
**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 3, 2004, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-you-admire/272233/50 "2004-11-03T02:19:04Z")
My Friend Chris who is going to be a stem cell donor for her sister in Germany who has leukemia. She will fly over there at her own expense for a minimum of 10 days for the procedure. Any donor is a hero to me. ---
**Author:** ![PastAllReason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@PastAllReason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastAllReason)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-you-admire/272233/51 "2004-11-03T03:10:05Z")
Well rats, I did this once already and lost my reply…so here I go again To the OP, I have to say my list for women would be as long as my list for men therefore I’m only going to go the excerpt route and try to avoid some that have been previously mentioned. Lots of them on the list are Canadian, though, so not everyone may be familiar with them… Literary (only going with a short list) and the Arts: Jane Austen The Bronte sisters, particularly Emily Mary Shelley Christina Rossetti Dorothy Sayers because who couldn’t love Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane Agatha Christie for creating accessible and popular mysteries Janet Evanovich because she’s funny and I adore Ranger [Margaret Atwood](http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/ref=s_b_rs/701-2926678-4731551) in my opinion this goes without saying [Ann-Marie Macdonald](http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/701-2926678-4731551) okay well I just finished reading _The Way the Crow Flies_ all 800 pages of it in one day [Emily Carr](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Carr) Canadian artist Maud Lewis, another Canadian artist - sorry, can’t find a link Elizabeth George who writes really dense mysteries Lucy Maud Montgomery for Anne of Green Gables Political/Head of State: [Nellie McClung](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nellie_McClung) and the rest of The Famous Five for their advancement of women’s rights in Canada Elizabeth I [Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Bowes-Lyon) for her humour and her steadfastness during WWII [Adrienne Clarkson, the Governor General of Canada](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrienne_Clarkson) (okay, she’s expensive but I admire her commitment to the country and to the arts) [Aline Chretien](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aline_Chr%E9tien) the former Prime Minister’s wife because of the story that in Canada our Head of Government’s security relies on his wife being a light sleeper. Okay, she confronted an intruder to the official residence late at night at 24 Sussex Drive that had gotten thorugh security. Made for a good bit on This Hour Has 22 Minutes (see Mary Walsh below). Journalism: [Barbara Frum](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Frum) though her “go for the throat” style sometimes went over the top [Pamela Wallin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pamela_Wallin) well I am from Saskatchewan after all Scientific: [Roberta Bondar](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberta_Bondar) the first female Canadian astronaut who is also fascinating to hear speak Legal: Current Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada [Beverly McLachlin](http://www.scc-csc.gc.ca/aboutcourt/judges/mclachlin/index_e.asp) for being there first. [Bertha Wilson](http://www.scc-csc.gc.ca/aboutcourt/judges/wilson/index_e.asp) former Justice on the Supreme Court for being willing to go in her own direction Former Supreme Court of Canada Justice [Louise Arbour](http://www.scc-csc.gc.ca/aboutcourt/judges/arbour/index_e.asp) for her work while appointed by the Security Council of the United Nations as Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda. Current Justice on the Supreme Court of Canada [Rosalie Abella](http://www.scc-csc.gc.ca/aboutcourt/judges/abella/index_e.asp) for her commitment to human rights Movies and Television: [Mary Walsh](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Walsh) and Cathy Jones for This Hour Has 22 Minutes [Judi Dench](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judi_Dench) for both television and movies Linda Schuyler, creative force behind all the Degrassi television series Starting to quite admire Teri Hatcher for her comedic role on Desperate Housewives Lauren Bacall (“You know how to whistle don’t you, put your lips together and blow”) Katherine Hepburn - pretty much a given Renee Zellwegger for being a better Bridget Jones than I expected Rene Russo just because Music: (going Canadian again…) Joni Mitchell Sarah McLachlan Diana Krall Loreena McKennitt (note I didn’t include Celine Dion or Shania Twain though I could have for their ability to be, um, popular?) Okay well going to stop now, though I could carry on for quite some time… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-you-admire/272233.md?page=2)