Female Awesomeness

Of course you know that I think Coco Chanel was a super cool lady, but I want to share with you some other examples of female awesomeness that you might not be familiar with.

Have you ever heard of Nellie Bly?


Back in the late 1800's, when most ladies were tending to house and home, she was an early investigative journalist, and pioneered undercover reporting. She was eventually hired by Joseph Pulitzer, and got herself committed to the Women's Lunatic Asylum in New York to write about the horrible conditions. She also traveled around the world, unaccompanied (which was unheard of), mimicking Jules Verne's book Around the World in Eighty Days. She completed her journey in seventy two days. Her adventures were of course covered by the newspaper, a song was written about her, and there was a contest to see who could come closest to her finish time. She was an inspiration to women everywhere.

I will be extremely impressed with your grasp of women's history if you say you have heard of Maria Mitchell.


She was an American Astronomer in the mid 1800's. In a time when women did not traditionally receive the same level of education as men, she did, courtesy of her parents. She was a librarian by trade and also had access to her father's observatory, and discovered "Miss Mitchell's Comet" in 1847. Her pursuit of a career in science progressed unabated. She became a member of various academies and associations, and eventually became a professor of astronomy at Vassar College. I love this.....taken directly from Wikipedia: "After teaching there for some time, she learned that despite her reputation and experience, her salary was less than that of many younger male professors. She insisted on a salary increase, and got it."

Rawk on Maria!

I have only highlighted the history of two women. There is a ton if history out there to discover. What will history say about you?