Continued from Part One.
Mary Pickford. Mary Pickford, one of the biggest movie stars of the Golden Age, was so powerful she was able to create her own film studio. Along with her husband, Douglas Fairbanks (full disclosure: yes, we're related, but that's beside the point) and Charlie Chaplin, she founded United Artists, an early attempt to give creative people more control of Hollywood, and began producing her own films. These two leaps made her the most powerful woman in the business. (Back in 1916, Pickford accepted a record-shattering salary and went on, via her box-office take, to prove women could be just as-- and more-- profitable than men.) She went on to cause a major scandal in the sound era by cutting off her long curls, then a "sign of female virtue," for Coquette, a real which earned her an Academy Award for Best Actress.
Bella Abzug. Did you know her husband wrote trashy dime novels whose covers are now available as fridge magnets? We know because our ex-girlfriend has one-- not because we buy those things. Anyway, Abzug was the Congressional Rep who coined the phrase "a woman's place is in the House." Seeing as how we've included her on a list of iconic feminists, you know to which house she was referring. "She was one of the first members of Congress to support gay rights, introducing the first federal gay rights bill, known as the Equality Act of 1974." Abzug narrowly missed out on becoming a Senator from New York in 1976 (one of the reason's Hillary Clinton wanted that seat) and went on to lose several other high-profile races, including one for New York City Mayor. Undeterred, she headed Jimmy Carter's commission on women and even appeared in Woody Allen's Manhattan.
Amelia Jenks Bloomer. You know why they call 'em "bloomers" now? Amelia Jenks was a publisher, distributing The Lily, a pre-Bust periodical covering her views on social issues and other topics of the day-- that day being the late 1800s. "In her publication, Bloomer promoted a change in dress standards for women that would be less restrictive in regular activities." She suggested women wear a specific costume, which she described in print, to help make their leisure activities more, well, leisurely. "Articles on the clothing trend were picked up in The New York Tribune. More women wore the fashion which was promptly dubbed The Bloomer Costume or 'Bloomers'. However, the Bloomers were subjected to ceaseless ridicule in the press and harassment on the street."
Alan Alda. We're not kidding. Not kidding about including a male feminist on this list or about it being Alan Alda. According to his biography, Alda used his TV fame, in part, to champion the cause of equal rights: "His 'sensitive male' persona, derived in large part from his characterization on M*A*S*H, has lingered into the 1990s and continues to be sustained by public awareness of his efforts on behalf of women's rights. An ardent feminist, Alda campaigned extensively for ten years for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, and in 1976, was appointed by President Ford to serve on the National Commission for the Observance of International Women's Year. Alda's status as a feminist led a writer in The Boston Globe to dub him "the quintessential Honorary Woman: a feminist icon."
Sojourner Truth. Born into slavery, taken from her family and sold at age 9, and beaten with rods for much of her childhood, Sojourner Truth went on to become what I consider feminism's greatest icon. She was certainly the earliest one on our list and all others must acknowledge she helped start the wave. Her first major move was to become the first African-American woman to go to court against a white man and win-- in this instance, for the custody of her son, who had been sold illegally. But it was her speech at the Ohio Women's Rights Convention in 1851 that made her an historical figure. "Ain't I A Woman?" is part of many a high school curriculum for its eloquence, passion, impeccable craft, and lasting power. No other speech made on behalf of women's rights has ever been as effective in waking up the populace. You can read more about it here.
All quotes via Wikipedia entries for these great figures.
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