10 women who clearly enjoyed what they were not supposed to do
And quite likely (ha!) got labeled "difficult" for it several times over
Is getting labeled difficult... difficult?
Or is it you being you, doing what you like to do, and women and men (both thoroughly conditioned by patriarchal ideas) stamping a label on your forehead because you remind them of the freedom they don’t take, or that you’re your own person and not easily controlled?
The ten women in this list did things they weren’t supposed to do as “good women”.
And they clearly enjoyed what they did.
Read on, and you might will be inspired.
You’re using her invention right now
Hedy Lamarr was one of Hollywood’s biggest stars in the 1940s. She was also, in her spare time, a co-inventor of the technology behind Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS. She and composer George Antheil developed a frequency-hopping system originally designed for torpedo guidance — the US Navy rejected it. The patent expired before anyone realized what she’d built. She was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2014. Posthumously. Your wireless world is partly her side project.
Every school said no, she went to France
Every flight school in the United States refused Bessie Coleman — she was Black and she was a woman, and both were apparently reason enough. So she learned French, moved to France, earned her pilot’s license, and came home as the first Black female pilot in the world. Then she barnstormed the country doing loop-de-loops and wing walks as “Queen Bess.” The schools that had turned her down got to watch from the ground.
She was twenty, she beat all of them
In 1926, Gertrude Ederle became the first woman to swim the English Channel. She also beat the existing men’s record. By two hours. She was twenty years old. New York gave her a ticker-tape parade. The men’s record never quite recovered its dignity.
She packed a pillow and climbed into a barrel
Annie Edson Taylor was a 63-year-old retired schoolteacher. She celebrated her birthday in 1901 by becoming the first person in history to survive going over Niagara Falls in a barrel. She packed her lucky heart-shaped pillow. She emerged with a small cut on her head, her pillow intact, and a story nobody could touch. The men who’d called it a reckless stunt said nothing much after that.
Three ships, three disasters, same woman every time
Violet Jessop was a ship’s stewardess. In 1911, she was aboard the Olympic when it collided with a warship. In 1912, she was aboard the Titanic when it sank. In 1916, she was aboard the Britannic when it exploded. All three ships from the same fleet. After each disaster, she went back to sea. Because she liked the work. The ocean, by all appearances, eventually gave up.
She looked like nobody’s idea of a record-breaker
Junko Tabei was a small, soft-spoken Japanese schoolteacher. In 1975, she became the first woman to summit Everest. Then she kept going — Kilimanjaro, Aconcagua, Denali, Elbrus, Mount Vinson, Puncak Jaya. First woman to complete the Seven Summits. A feat most avid male mountaineers never manage. Nobody saw her coming. That was probably part of the fun.
Nobody gave her a seat, she took several
Danica Patrick was the first woman to win an IndyCar race, the first to lead the Indy 500, and the first to take pole position at the Daytona 500 — all in a sport that nobody built for her, handed to her, or expected her in. She competed for years. She clearly enjoyed every second of it. That, apparently, was the problem.
She showed up like that, then she won
Florence Griffith Joyner arrived at the 1988 Olympics in a one-legged unitard, four-inch nails, and full glam makeup. Then she set world records in the 100m and 200m that still haven’t been broken — 38 years and counting. The records stood on their own. So did the nails.
She had four careers, one was space
Mae Jemison had degrees in chemical engineering and African-American studies from Stanford and a medical degree from Cornell. She served as a Peace Corps doctor in West Africa. She trained as a dancer at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. In 1992, she became the first Black woman in space. She retired from NASA at 36 to start a technology company. She’d apparently run out of things to try at NASA.
Oh, and fun fact: she appeared on Star Trek! I just love that.
She struck out the two greatest hitters in baseball, and got fired
In 1931, 17-year-old Jackie Mitchell was brought in as relief pitcher in an exhibition game against the New York Yankees. Her first batter: Babe Ruth. She struck him out. He flung his bat in frustration. Her second: Lou Gehrig. Three pitches, three swings, three misses.
The Baseball Commissioner voided her contract shortly after. The official reason was that baseball was “too strenuous” for women.
Some historians think the strikeouts were staged. Others think that theory exists to protect male egos.
You decide.
When you earn the “difficult” label, you’re in good company!
Jane Goodall got it too. Though she didn’t think it an accomplishment. In fact, she noted it takes very little to earn the title “difficult woman.”
Every woman on this list did something they weren’t supposed to. Not one of them asked permission. Most of them had a fantastic time.
“Difficult” is about inconvenience — specifically, the inconvenience of a woman who won’t stay put.
So go ahead. Be inconvenient. Have opinions. Take up space. Earn the label.
It doesn’t take much, apparently.
