By: Zed News TeamHappy International Women's Day! On this celebratory day it is important to acknowledge how much farther every nations must go in order to reach gender equality, but also the women who have gotten us to where we are today. Here at Zed News YYC we have comprised a list of the most influential historical women that we look up to and hope that you take a moment to honour their lives and legacies with us. By: Kristina LanuzaThe Rani of Jhansi, Lakshmi Bai Rani Lakshimi Bai, the Queen of Jhansi, was best known by her intense bravery and courage in fighting against the British East India Company and its control during the Indian Mutiny in 1857. During the annexation of Indian states under Lord Dalhousie from the British government, she was removed from her throne as Rani (Queen) and her homeland, Jhansi, was taken from her reign. All of her appeals to contest the Doctrine of Lapse — the policy used to annex Indian states — were repeatedly rejected up until 1856. Thousands of Indians, under the rule of the British, had their own opinions and protests against those above them. It was one June 6 that the Indian Mutiny took off and the troops in Jhansi shot their commanding officers. The British were quick to blame the incident on Lakshimi Bai due to her apparent distaste towards the British government, despite lacking evidence of her involvement. On March 25, Jhansi was laid under siege and five days later the walls were breached. Lakshimi Bai was forced to flee with her infant son strapped to her back and in 24 hours, she joined with infamous resistance leaders and fought up until her death on June 18, 1858. In modern India, Lakshimi Bai is regarded as one of the nation’s national heroines and her statues stand guard over Jhansi and Gwalior. She was also held in high regards by her foes, comparisons being made between her and Joan of Arc. Unyielding and inspiring, her story is one that sparks a sense of determination to fight for freedom and stand by your own ideals. She was a strong woman in the face of a crisis surrounding her nation, and is one of the most motivational heroines in Indian history. By: Heather ParkQueen Sundeok of Silla Dynasty In Korea as Dynasties began to change we slowly transitioned into Silla, after King Jinpyeong died the crown was passed onto a woman instead of a male -- as it had been for several generations. Since Sundeok wasn’t a man and ultimately not a king, many factions did not approve but later they came to recognize her as a true queen. When she first became a queen in 632 AD she was mostly focused on the people living in Silla, she helped many kids in Silla by creating proper education so even impoverished children could get the education they needed. Sundeok also built the cheomseongdae, an astronomical observatory which resulted in her being the biggest person to influence Korea in science. She also influenced Buddhism further into the society by rebuilding temples. Sundeok was the first woman to take control of Baekje and Goguryeo different parts of Korea and unified them together, she used her great military force in order to keep Korea from any other foreign countries control. This was all possible because of Sundeok’s good diplomatic skills. Thanks to her threats of attacking China, she formed an unlikely ally with the bigger nation She also refused to step down from her throne in order for China to rule Korea thus taking Korea one step further into a United Korea. The people in Korea look up to her because she changed Korea in a way no other king’s were able to do. was also the first woman to influence Korea and helped shape the country to what it is today. It is truly amazing because all this happened during her 15 year reign and she died without regret and lived to be written in history as one of the strongest, best military, and diplomatic queen that history has ever known. By: Silvana S.Zari Izadpanah In this world there are many heroes, but there are more unknown heroes than we think, my maternal grandma Zari Izadpanah was one of them. She was born and raised in a small middle class village near Sheraz, Iran, back in the days. Over 65 years ago girls in Iran thought all they had to do to be successful was cook, clean, marry some guy, and stay home with the kids and not go to university, half of them didn’t even graduate from high school, until there was my grandma. She was like anyone else, but when she graduated from high school, like other girls and many boys in her village, they didn’t go to university, until there was my grandma. Her home was very far from the university and was a four hour walk, but each day she woke up at midnight and walked the distance. She loved to learn that much. Eventually the rumors of a girl going to university (from her village) came all the way to the Iranian school minister, when he came to speak to the family my great grandma came to him and said, “How come your kids get to go to university and became successful and my daughter can’t? Just because she comes from a small village and is a girl doesn’t mean she doesn’t have the same learning capabilities than everyone else.” He frowned and rolled his eyes, “Fine,” he said and he stormed off back to his government building. My Grandma continued to study psychology at the university. She graduated with a PHd, but she didn’t stop there, she encouraged more girls to go to high school by becoming a full time psychologist at the school board council, she encouraged girls in the Middle East to get an education and continue high school and go to university. She disproved the myth that girls cooked and took care of the kids. She stood up for the fact that girls could do anything, in a small, old-fashioned (village. I met my materna great-grandma a few times, when I went to Iran for the first time when I was 3 for my uncle (Mom’s side’s) wedding, and when I went for Iranian new year when I was 5 at the end of March. And when I went for Christmas when I was 7. It was a sad day in 3rd grade when I heard the news that she had passed away. She was 97 and had lived a long good life. My grandma is still here today. You may think hero’s need to save the world in fantasies, which I usually do write, but in fantasies the heroes have superpowers to do super deeds and without superpowers my grandma sure proved herself to be a super-heroine. By: Priya MigneaultJane Austen
“I hate to hear you talk about all women as if they were fine ladies instead of rational creatures. None of us want to be in calm waters all our lives.” - Jane Austen Jane Austen was a romantic satire writer and had ideas that were ahead of her time regarding gender roles and women’s rights. She often critiqued the way women were viewed in marriage and society through the lenses of her main characters, all of whom happened to be women. Her characters often had a firm idea of who they were and their values, and even though they wished for romance they would not settle for less than authentic love. Although Jane wrote romances, she never married. It is assumed by many that she did fall in love in early adolescents and used that feeling to convey the romance within her novels. She was proposed to in 1802, which she did accept only to turn him down the next day. It is believed that she did not love or feel affection towards him and only accepted to help her family, which she soon realized was a mistake and decided to only marry for love. Jane is one of the many women I look up to and find strength in. She redefined how women were viewed in literature in the early 1800s and embodied the saying ‘a women who don’t need no man’ in her own life. Her contributions to creating a space for women in classical literature and ideologies have led her to become a symbol and leader for feminism in the 21st century. She was born in 1775 and started leaning towards writing as a profession in 1789. In 1799 Jane completed the first draft of her book ‘First Impressions,’ now called ‘Pride and Prejudice’. Her writing was supported by the whole Austen family, but especially by her father who she would read her manuscripts to and who encouraged her to read his entire literary collection. Mr. Austen tried to have Jane’s work published at one point. Her brother Henry also helped her publish her novels, and acted as the go-between the publishers and Jane. While living with her sister and mother Jane published ‘Sense and Sensibility’ and ‘Pride and Prejudice’. Although Jane’s novels were published anonymously, she received a great amount of praise for the novels. By 1811 her novels were being printed constantly, they were well reviewed, and widely read.
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