25 Women Who Dared To Compete

Discover 25 women who challenged the stereotypes of what it means to play like a girl. These women worked to even the playing field and steppped up to score points for women all around the world.

"Discover 25 women who challenged the stereotypes of what it means to play like a girl. These women worked to even the playing field and steppped up to score points for women all around the world"--

Women have been doing amazing, daring, and dangerous things for years, but they're rarely mentioned in our history books as adventurers, daredevils, or rebels. This new compilation of brief biographies features women throughout history who have risked their lives for adventure—many of whom you may not know, but all of whom you'll WANT to know, such as: • Annie Edson Taylor, the first person who dared to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel • Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman who dared to fly in space • Helen Gibson, the first woman who dared to be a professional stunt person • And many more! This is the perfect read for anyone who wants to know what it means to explore, discover, play, climb, and fight like a girl!

This book examines the ways women politicians in Serbia and Kosovo have imagined, constructed, and politicised national identity and gender while engaging with politics in the context of the democratisation process. The first book to focus on the work of women inside political structures, it draws on participant observation and interview material to answer the question of how women in positions of power and influence deal with their national identity and gender in societies deeply divided along ethnic lines. Based on close studies of the work of a small number of women from different ethnic backgrounds, the author offers comparative analyses of the ways in which women politicians of different ethnicities respond to similar events in their everyday work. An original political ethnography that considers engagement of women in formal politics, this volume will appeal to scholars across the social sciences with interests in political structures and political participation, particularly as these relate to questions of gender, nation and ethnicity.

From one of our most important scholars and civil rights activist icon, a powerful study of the women’s liberation movement and the tangled knot of oppression facing Black women. “Angela Davis is herself a woman of undeniable courage. She should be heard.”—The New York Times Angela Davis provides a powerful history of the social and political influence of whiteness and elitism in feminism, from abolitionist days to the present, and demonstrates how the racist and classist biases of its leaders inevitably hampered any collective ambitions. While Black women were aided by some activists like Sarah and Angelina Grimke and the suffrage cause found unwavering support in Frederick Douglass, many women played on the fears of white supremacists for political gain rather than take an intersectional approach to liberation. Here, Davis not only contextualizes the legacy and pitfalls of civil and women’s rights activists, but also discusses Communist women, the murder of Emmitt Till, and Margaret Sanger’s racism. Davis shows readers how the inequalities between Black and white women influence the contemporary issues of rape, reproductive freedom, housework and child care in this bold and indispensable work.

From NPR correspondent Keith O' Brien comes this thrilling Young Readers' edition of the untold story about pioneering women, including Amelia Earhart, who fought to compete against men in the high-stakes national air races of the 1920s and 1930s--and won. In the years between World War I and World War II, airplane racing was one of the most popular sports in America. Thousands of fans flocked to multiday events, and the pilots who competed in these races were hailed as heroes. Well, the male pilots were hailed. Women who flew planes were often ridiculed by the press, and initially they weren't invited to race. Yet a group of women were determined to take to the sky--no matter what. With guts and grit, they overcame incredible odds both on the ground and in the air to pursue their dreams of flying and racing planes. Fly Girls follows the stories of five remarkable women: Florence Klingensmith, a highâe'school dropout from North Dakota; Ruth Elder, an Alabama housewife; Amelia Earhart, the most famous, but not necessarily the most skilled; Ruth Nichols, a daughter of Wall Street wealth who longed to live a life of her own; and Louise Thaden, who got her start selling coal in Wichita. Together, they fought for the chance to race against the men--and in 1936 one of them would triumph in the toughest raceof all. Complete with photographs and a glossary, Fly Girls celebrates a little-known slice of history wherein tenacious, trail-blazing women braved all obstacles to achieve greatness.

“Drs. Judith Bachay and Raúl Fernández-Calienes present us with another outstanding volume of narratives that provide a much needed forum to share stories of the global movement of women towards empowerment and the securing of their human rights. Each of the twenty-three chapters’ authors share different aspects of the issues and challenges women have or will encounter as they “move forward.” The diversity of the stories reflects the diversity of the authors. As examples, Ariela Agosín discusses the progress Chile has made in recent years towards providing women with a voice. Katariina Juliao provides the reader with a comparison between the United States and Finland as to the evolution of women’s rights using examples from politics, education, and the workplace. Many of the authors explore the new difficulties and prejudices faced by women and/or their families who have migrated to foreign countries to escape the oppressive conditions in their homelands. Others reveal to the reader through first-person narratives, the intrapersonal conflicts experienced by those who are “moving forward” but fear the loss of their heritage. Women Moving Forward: Volume 2 delivers what the editors promise: a scholarly forum for the development of an intersectional perspective that extends our awareness of how women are moving beyond victimhood. This is a book that both inspires and challenges the reader!” Nancy Borkowski, D.B.A., C.P.A., Associate Professor and Dean of Academic Affairs, South University (West Palm Beach, Florida) “Women Moving Forward-Volume 2 is a cornucopia of issues and ideas, offered by diverse voices that lay the ground work for new ways of thinking and meaning making. Judith Barr Bachay and Raúl Fernández-Calienes are opening up spaces for an intersectional analysis that includes the unique experience of women. This is a must-read for social workers, academics, and human rights activists who want to learn about and from women who are claiming their place in every aspect of the world arena. I can't wait to meet and learn from the authors of Volume 3!” Carol Heinisch, M.A., M.S.W., Social Worker, Jefferson County Public Defender’s Office (Denver, Colorado) “This is a weaving of stories that speaks centrally to hope, fortitude, resilience, identity, and compassion amongst women. Within these writings is a central theme of finding meaning in adversity, promoting advocacy and justice, and fostering dignity in the human community through access and opportunity. Robert Coles posits, what we need is a respect “for narrative as everyone’s rock-bottom capacity, but also as a universal gift, to be shared with others.” These writings are a validation of our experiences and journeys to overcome struggles as women. Yet, narrative alone is not enough, as many of us know who have taken on these challenges of transforming communities and systems. Change occurs through the actions and resolve of individuals who courageously take on these issues. Assuredly, in this text, you’ll find this scale of synergistic energy as well. L. Sunny Hansen uses a poignant metaphor that “we are all quilters on this planet, seeking to understand, value, and connect with each other in a sustainable future free from violence.” Identifying where you fit into this “quilt” is, in part, what the authors writing here want you to examine. Urging you into identifying the essential role you might play in “sewing” together a better future for all humanity.” Heather Zeng, Ph.D., Human Resource Development Consultant / Career Counselo, (Freemont, California) “Significantly real world, unrelenting, and ultra-compelling are but a few defining indicators to describe these writings. This discriminating collection expresses the decisive dimensions that embody grassroots to global settings. From the evidenced shared aims of humanity reflected in the versatile matter-of-fact life experiences to the clearly conveyed urgent need for immediate involvement, these treatises are foundational to halting and de-fragmenting the variant layers of widespread colonial and post-colonial systems of injustice. To arrest this worldwide convention of minority-majority dissent, cultural hegemony, warfare, gendered suffrage and the socio-economic-politics against civilization, will require a revolution of sorts. This integral text establishes a wide-ranging view towards that negotiation and resolve and further presents a medium of critical reasoning to execute social reconstruction to dismantle the inequality that wrongly saturates macro to micro communities. No matter what societal position validates your being, this profound volume is a must read.” Arnold Munroe, Ed.D., Visiting Assistant Professor, Educational Studies Department, University of Central Florida (Orlando, Florida) “This book illustrates the profoundly personal quest of “women moving forward” despite the burden of geopolitical place, structural and cultural constraints, economic hardship, and gender. The whole balances a celebration of localized and personalized advancements with a portrait of daily struggles for justice. Women write of finding strength in their families, ethnicities, culture, and spiritual beliefs, while confronting unequal footing in personal and professional spaces and private and public places. This work offers inspiration, as well as critical assessments of what women have endured, what they are enduring, and for what they are striving.” Patricia Widener, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Florida Atlantic University (Davie, Florida) “This uplifting book engages with the dilemmas and joys facing all those women who, at some time in their lives, have had to cross borders of one sort or another. The United States is the point of arrival for most contributors, and their earlier experiences—as immigrant, refugee or displaced person, as educational or health migrant, or as seeker after freedom and opportunity—emerge vividly from every page. The rich cultural diversity of this volume extends to Latin America, Jamaica, Palestine, Africa and Finland with a series of thought-provoking tales of sorrow, hope and, particularly, of faith. Interdisciplinary contributions include fields as diverse as traumatic exposure, second language acquisition and human trafficking. Women Moving Forward provides an essential source—not only an inspiration to those women still forced to follow similar paths but a necessary stimulant to evoking understanding, sympathy and support from those whose way has been less traumatic. It will be rewarding reading for all.” Brenda Bolton, University of London (London, England, U.K.)

American Sports offers a reflective, analytical history of American sports from the colonial era to the present. Readers will focus on the diverse relationships between sports and class, gender, race, ethnicity, religion and region, and understand how these interactions can bind diverse groups together. By considering the economic, social and cultural factors that have surrounded competitive sports, readers will understand how sports have reinforced or challenged the values and behaviors of society.