Dec 10: Ada Lovelace

Ada Lovelace (b. 1815, d. 1852) 

Today is actually kind of mainstream, because Google did a doodle on her.

Ada Lovelace's fame comes from her status as the world's first computer programmer. Not the world's first female computer programmer. The world's first computer programmer. 

http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=298

Ada Lovelace was the product of a very brief marriage between poet Lord Byron and Anne Isabelle Milbanke. Shortly after Ada was born, the two were separated, and Milbanke devoted herself to making sure that Ada did not become a poet like her father. She insisted heavily on keeping her away from poetic influences and building up her mathematical skills.

Her real achievements came after she made the acquaintance of Charles Babbage, the engineer who invented the world's first mechanical computer, which he called the Difference Engine. The two met at a party when Ada was only seventeen. Babbage showed her the invention-in-progress and she was fascinated by its potential. 

Ada took a break from mathematics and logic to get married and have three children, but she came back in the 1840's in full force. An Italian mathematician had published a memoir in French about the Analytical Engine, Charles Babbage's next creation. Ada was enlisted to translate it into English, and as she did that, she added on notes with her own understandings and visions of the machine.

Ada Lovelace published the very first algorithm for a machine, but the most important contribution that she made was seeing past simple calculation and into real computation. Essentially, nobody else even thought about what computers would one day be able to do, while Ada Lovelace wasn't afraid of speculating. Notably, she predicted that computers would one day be able to compose elaborate pieces of music. 

So it's fairly ironic that computer programming is such a boys club now when the first programmer was a woman. At least she's being recognized with today's Google Doodle, which is much more than can be said for the majority of women in history.

Honorable mentions: 

Nelly Sachs (b. 1891, d. 1970), Jewish German poet who wrote most notably about her experiences in Nazi Germany. In 1937 she was arrested and sent to a work camp, but she managed to escape to Sweden with her immediate family. In 1966, she won the Nobel Prize for Literature, earning the distinction of being the first Jewish woman ever to win any kind of Nobel Prize.

Cornelia Funke (b. 1958), best-selling German author of such children's novels as the Inkworld trilogy, The Thief Lord, and Dragon Rider. As a child, she wanted to become an astronaut, then a pilot, then just somebody who could make the world a better, less violent place. She began work as a children's illustrator, capitalizing on her natural talents, but soon started to feel the urge to write her own stories. Her fantasy novels achieved great success in their original German and even greater success once translated to English. More than five million copies of her books have been sold in the United States and her book Inkheart was made into a major motion picture in 2008. 

Rookie magazine also did a great tribute to Emily Dickinson today that I could never top. 

Slam Inequality

So on Friday night, the feminist club at my school (Herstory!) hosted a slam poetry event to raise money for the Somaly Mam Foundation, an organization featured in the documentary Half the Sky that fights sex trafficking and empowers survivors.

Of course, you immediately have the problem of having to convince cynical high schoolers that slam poetry is a fun thing to go see on a Friday night. People who know what slam poetry is know that it's fun, but everyone else just kind of hears the word "poetry" and dozes off.

The flyer that we put up around the school, made
 by a sophomore who is far better at design than I.

All the members of the group (and especially the officers and the seniors) worked really hard to make the night a success. Getting the main act, a professional slam poet from Brandeis University named Jamele Adams, was less of a worry than getting enough people to come that we could pay him.

So we recruited some opening acts, to turn it from a good show into a great show. We got my friend Ethan to open with some slam poetry of his own and the a cappella group of the high school, Pitch, Please, to make a contribution. And let me just tell you: they may be amateurs but they are incredibly talented.

Then on the week leading up to the show, we sold tickets at lunch and talked about it excitedly to all of our teachers and friends. My English teacher offered extra credit for attending (which makes sense because it's slam poetry) but so did my math teacher. And according to her I had to sign people's tickets for them to get the extra point. Specifically me because  I "can't be bribed". Signing all those tickets on Friday made me feel so powerful.

Can I just stress that these are homemade?

And of course, THE FOOD. All of it was homemade. I can't imagine how hard some people must have worked on the baked goods, because they were delicious. I think I bought at least twelve dollars worth of concessions. When we started setting up the lemon bars were still warm, so how could I not?  Quality baked goods sell much faster, plus the fact that they were homemade meant that the club didn't spend any money on concessions aside from buying some soda and water bottles.

So the show itself was amazing. It started off with Ethan, that courageous soul, performing a poem that he had written himself that was a letter to his six-pack. It was really brilliant. I can't find a full video, and I'm not sure if this will be visible on the blog, but this is the best I can do:

Back in freshman year, I didn't even like Ethan that much and I knew that he would be awesome at slam poetry. Maybe I'm biased, but I was totally right.

If the video doesn't work, this is Ethan.

Ethan's first poem was a message to his six-pack in which he rather hilariously attacked gender norms and the idealization of secondary sex characteristics.
"And I firmly believe that whether you are a man or a woman no lines and curves on your front side should dictate how beautiful you are." (quote best taken with visuals)
His second poem, from my perspective, went after privilege and told people that it was their job to help those that had been trampled. I wish I could find a video because he made it all sound very compelling.

I had half an eye on Jamele Adams, who was sitting in the front row, through all of Ethan's performance. I'm pretty sure he was genuinely impressed. He laughed loudly at the funniest parts and applauded all by himself at a few of Ethan's best points in the second poem.

Then it was time for Adams himself to perform. One of the things that impressed me most about him (besides his socks) was that he didn't make the show about him but about everybody in the auditorium. He started off by making Ethan come back onstage and get a proper standing ovation. Then he had us dance to Alicia Keyes, walking around with the microphone to let people sing their hearts out at the chorus.  He noticed when people had talent and encouraged them to perform and us to recognize it. A sophomore performed his own rap, a freshman made a brief speech, one of my friends sang her favorite song, everyone wrote a poem about domestic violence and a few people read theirs to the whole audience. Adams' poetry was amazing and intense, but one of the most powerful things that he did was make us all feel like we were connected and responsible for each other.

The a cappella group performed right after intermission, before Jamele Adams started again.

Part of Pitch, Please singing "Some Nights" 

They sang "Some Nights" by Fun, which is a song that my brother and I happen to be obsessed with right now. I took this video on my phone, so the audio can be a bit jarring. Still, it gives you an idea of how insanely talented the group is.

The night was an enormous success. I talked to (and signed the tickets of) a lot of people who had come for the extra credit, but ended up loving the show just in its own right. Everything went smoothly, the acts were well received (more standing ovations than at Mr. SHS! Jamele Adams knows how to get a crowd excited), and we raised so much money. $943.48.
$943.48.
$943.48 that will be going to help end sex trafficking and we got to enjoy a great show.

This is the first year that Herstory has existed at our school, so it makes me really happy that it's taking off like this. The seniors who decided to found the club last year have done an amazing job at maintaining interest, finding good causes, and organizing events. Here's hoping that next year, when I'm a senior, we can do Slam Inequality again and get even higher participation and raise even more money.

Depressingly enough, I'm sick for the second Monday in a row and am therefore missing Herstory for the second week in a row. :-/ Damn you, immune system. Perhaps I should share this blog with the club. It might be nice for them to know where their photographs are going.

Dec 9: Kirsten Gillibrand (among others)

Kirsten Gillibrand (b. 1966)

Okay, full disclosure here: if I could I would definitely follow Kirsten Gillibrand around everywhere like an orphaned puppy. She is a Democratic senator from New York, appointed to the position after Hillary Clinton (<3) was chosen as Secretary of State. 

Gillibrand lived a fairly privileged childhood: born in Albany to politically active attorney parents, she attended an all-girls boarding school and went off to get a degree in Asian studies from Dartmouth College (as a result, she is fluent in Mandarin. Freaking Mandarin, the hardest language in the world to learn. Respect.) Then she got her law degree at UCLA and started off in her parents' footsteps as an attorney.

While working at a law firm in New York City, she got involved in the Women's Leadership Forum and was deeply affected by a speech by Hillary Clinton urging women to get involved in the political process because "if you leave all the decision-making to others, you might not like what they do, and you will have no one but yourself to blame."

Clinton was a role model for Gillibrand, who contributed significant time and money to Clinton's campaigns and to encouraging more young women to get involved in the political process. 

Gillibrand first ran for office in 2006 in a firmly Republican Congressional district with a four-term incumbent who did not at all expect to be defeated. Through a combination of perseverance, killer fundraising, and the revelation that the incumbent's wife had once filed a report of domestic abuse, Gillibrand defied all expectations and won with 53% of the vote. 

Gillbrand on the Daily Show in 2011, when I first realized that
I loved her

Her first two years on the national stage are rather controversial. She held much more moderate views in those days: being the representative of a Republican district, she was more fiscally conservative than most Democrats and received an A rating from the National Rifle Association. However, after her appointment to Hillary Clinton's vacant seat in 2009, she quickly shot up to the tenth most liberal senator in 2010 and then one of the two most liberal senators in 2011. Oh, politicians. 

Among Gillibrand's achievements:

• Winning reelection to the Senate with 72% of the vote, the highest margin for any statewide candidate in New York
• Repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell
• Championing the James Zadroga Bill-- this bill would provide health coverage and compensation for 9/11 first responders who suffered permanent damage to their health from their service. It was initially filibustered by the Republicans until Jon Stewart drew attention to how mind-blowingly horrible filibustering such a law was.
• Supporting the DREAM act to give illegal immigrant children the opportunity to get an education and earn citizenship 
• Actively raising two small children -- Theodore, age 9, and Henry, age 4 -- in addition to her trying duties as a senator. Seriously. If there are evening votes, she goes home for an hour to cook dinner and then comes back to Capitol Hill. 

In general, you can count on Gillibrand to fight for equality and fairness for everyone. She vocally advocates for women's reproductive rights, gay rights, and getting more women involved in politics.

Gillbrand looks cute with her youthful complexion and warm smile, but she has proven herself to be an unexpectedly formidable opponent in every campaign and legislative battle that she has undertaken.


My favorite lines from this interview with Feministing:
"the reality is that every single day, decisions are being made in Washington. And I believe that if women understood all the decisions being made and that they are being made without their input, they would be highly concerned. "

But wait! There's more!

Ida Scudder (b. 1870, d. 1960): One of the first women graduates from Cornell Medical University, she devoted her life to improving the condition of Indian women and fighting disease. She was a missionary, but her positive impact was indisputable. She treated thousands of patients and set up a medical school in Vellore so that Indian men and women could train to help themselves. The school to this day makes a point of having women as at least 25 of its 60 students admitted each year. 

Grace Hopper (b. 1906, d. 1992): One of the programmers of the first computers, she worked to develop user-friendly programming languages and teach young people using "analogies and examples that have become legendary". She was brilliant and a pioneer: she was one of the rare women to earn a doctorate in mathematics, and from Yale no less. She joined the military while the US was fighting in World War II and made important (but pretty difficult to understand if, like me, you don't understand programming) contributions to computing that helped maintain the United States' technological advantage. Later on, she was the first American and first woman to be a Distinguished Fellow of the British Computer Society (the British make everything sound so highbrow). Hopper was revolutionary as a woman and as a scientist, and all around just a pretty cool person to have existed.

Felicity Huffman (b. 1962): Actress who is best known for playing Lynette Scavo on Desperate Housewives (I'm currently on the third season and love the show secretly, but Lynette is my absolute favorite character) One of seven sisters, she struggled with eating disorders as a teenager and has been acting in some form since the age of sixteen. Over the years that I really don't have time to chronicle, she has gained immense popularity and success and has used her status to campaign for NARAL and make a website dedicated to women and mothers.

For once let's just show a picture where
 she IS impressed.

And finally, McKayla Maroney (b. 1995): As-of-today-seventeen-year-old Olympic gymnast who won a silver medal in the vault. Now she is better known for her "not impressed" face and teaching Jenna Bush how to dougie, at least to me. Lately she's dabbled in acting, but being an Olympic medalist at the age of sixteen is already pretty impressive.

Dec 8: Mary, Queen of Scots

So this is late. Sorry. Royalty is confusing.

Mary, Queen of Scots (b. 1542, d.  

1587)

Our first woman of the day from before photography was invented.

Mary, Queen of Scots was, well, the queen of Scotland. When she was only six days old, her father, King James V of Scotland, died. She was his only surviving legitimate child, so she instantly became the reigning queen. 

Is it a stupid idea for a six-day old child to be a reigning queen? Yes. Is it a stupid idea to let blood and birth order be the sole determiner of who's in charge? Of course. 

Scotland was ruled by regents while Mary grew up in France. At the age of fifteen (well... this was the 1500's) she married the future King of France and actually spent about a year and a half as the Queen of France. Then her husband Francis II died of an ear infection (again, 1500's), and she was left as only the Queen of Scotland (still not too shabby).

After this, she returned to Scotland in 1561 to take over control from the regents. Unfortunately, she had more experience with French politics than Scottish politics, and as a Catholic, many of her subjects did not trust her. In the end, though, she exercised the freedom to practice her own religion while leaving Protestant traditions alone.

Meanwhile, Mary's ambitions were to become Queen of England. She married Henry Stewart, or Lord Darnley, who was in line for the throne, but the relationship soured when he tried to force her into giving him control over Scotland. Later, after he murdered Mary's Italian secretary and friend right in front of her, Mary knew she had to get out of the relationship. They considered divorce, but the lords decided that the prospect of Darnley ruling over anything was too awful. Darnley soon died in a mysterious explosion. 

Just a few months later, Mary married the man accused of murdering her husband, Lord Bothwell. This seemed a little odd to a lot of people. This plus the fact that Bothwell's divorce from his previous wife wasn't recognized meant that basically everyone was unhappy, and Mary was soon forced to abdicate to her one-year-old son (family tradition of starting young, I suppose).

Mary fled to England, seeking the protection of her cousin Elizabeth I. The charges of murder were cleared, but Mary was not allowed to return to power nor leave England. Mary, as ambitious as always, was not content with this state of affairs and plotted to assassinate Elizabeth with the help of Spanish troops and French Catholics. Unfortunately for her, the plot was uncovered, and Elizabeth I had her own cousin beheaded in front of 300 witnesses in 1587. 

Moral of the story: Monarchs know no morals, fool. 

Honorable mention: Ingrid Michaelson (b. 1979), indie singer/songwriter who has had great popularity but never signed with a major record label. Unfortunately far less historically significant than our dear friend Mary.

Dec 7: Susan Collins

Susan Collins (b. 1952)

This choice might be surprising to some of you, since Susan Collins is a Republican and I a staunch liberal. All the same, I'm not one to condemn an exceptional woman for having different ideas than I do. Feminism can't be "equality of opportunity and respect from the media but only if you're a Democrat". Using sexist language and condescension on people like Sarah Palin or even Ann Coulter doesn't hurt only Republican women but all women. I see this sometimes among people who I otherwise agree with, people who call themselves feminists, and it's severely disappointing to me.

Susan Collins was born in 1952 in a town called Caribou to a family that owned a lumber business. Yes, that would be Maine. Her family was fairly privileged: both of her parents served as mayors of Caribou and were very involved in state legislatures. In Collins' senior year of high school, she participated in the United States Senate Youth Program and found herself in a lengthy conversation with the first woman to serve in both the House and the Senate, Margaret Chase Smith. Being passionate and informed about politics, she continued on this path after graduating from St. Lawrence University and eventually came to occupy the old seat of Smith. 

Fun fact: up until Olympia Snowe decided not to run for reelection this last year, Maine was one of  four states to have only women senators

During her time in the Senate, Collins has been a moderate Republican. That is, she's a fiscal conservative but joins with the Democrats on many social issues. There's a prejudice against Republicans in the feminist world because in an overwhelmingly liberal sphere, they are seen as being against all the social issues that we care about. Even though anti-feminist and anti-gay rights language is woven into their platform, there are a significant number of moderates who break with the party on these issues. Collins is pro-choice and said that the anti-abortion party platform "was designed to alienate" women over an issue that was resolved in the Supreme Court decades ago. She was also one of eight Republicans to vote to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell. 

As a rule, I respect conservatives as long as they're not social conservatives (i.e. against gay rights, a woman's place is in the home, legislating a subjective morality) because I think that's just a code word for bigotry. I much prefer being able to respect the people that I disagree with because it makes for more productive arguments, so I hope that the rest of the Republican Party follows the lead of Susan Collins so that conservative feminists and social activists don't have to choose between what they think is best for the country and what they think is best for the people.

Also: the relationship between Susan Collins and Margaret Chase Smith strikes me as what I refer to as a girl crush. For me, it's when I find a girl or woman, usually older, whom I admire so much that I'm struck by the urge to follow them everywhere like an orphaned puppy. Although I can find no confirmation of this, I feel like Collins probably followed Smith around for a few days trying to find an excuse to start a conversation before at last having one.

The fact that Collins ended up in Smith's old Senate seat demonstrates what all girls experience: the power of a female role model. Seeing a woman have success in what used to be only a man's job makes the whole thing seem much more possible and "you can be anything you want to be" like much less of a lie.

We should all latch on to our idols like barnacles, is what I'm saying.

Honorable mention to: Leigh Brackett (b. 1915, d. 1978), American science-fiction author and screenwriter, notably of The Empire Strikes Back and Sara Bareilles (b. 1979), singer of the unfairly catchy "Love Song" and woman who, unlike Katy Perry and Taylor Swift, has the presence of mind to pick up a dictionary and find out what a feminist is and that she is one.

Dec. 6: Ève Curie

(Yes, I did the accent. I'm pretentious)

Ève Curie (b. 1904, d. Oct 22 2007)

Ève Curie may have been the only person in her family to not win a Nobel Prize, but that's no reason to dismiss her. The youngest daughter of Marie Curie, she was surrounded by brilliant scientists from an early age and chose to go off and be brilliant in an entirely different way. She became a pianist, a journalist, a humanitarian, and a political activist.

Ève, like her chemist sister, graduated from the Collège Sévigné with degrees in science and philosophy. However, she chose instead to pursue art. She had been a talented pianist as a child and had improved during her years at the Collège. The year that she graduated, 1925, was also the year that she gave her first performance in Paris as a concert pianist.

During World War II, piano had to take a backseat. When the Nazis invaded France, she fled to England and there joined the Free French Forces (or, as I and the French like to call them, les Forces Françaises Libres. Have I mentioned that I'm a francophile?)

Her participation was more than just talk. She visited fronts in Africa, Asia, and Russia, gathering interviews with everyone from common soldiers to Winston Churchill. She was already famous for writing a popular biography of her mother entitled Madame Curie, so she was able to promote the Free French cause to Americans and increase pro-war sentiment there.  A compilation of her experiences on the fronts was published in 1943 as Journey Among Warriors.

After the war she still worked in politics, spending her time alternately editing a newspaper and being in charge of women's affairs under Charles de Gaulle. 

About a decade later, she married the American ambassador to Greece, Henry Richardson Labouisse and shortly afterward became an American citizen. Later on, when Labouisse was appointed the director of UNICEF (I don't have to explain this one to you, right? You all know what UNICEF is), she became known as its "First Lady". This meant that she ended up visiting hundreds of countries and that her husband too received a Nobel Prize. Ève would joke that she was a disappointment because she didn't have one, but nobody would dream of diminishing her accomplishments. Even after her husband's death she continued to work for UNICEF and otherwise be an active humanitarian. 

Obviously I love Marie Curie. I love that a woman was able to break into the world of science and make undeniable contributions. But I also love that a girl surrounded by science from the beginning could decide to forge her own path and become a concert pianist. It's also a great use of fame to help those without a voice, as she did with occupied France and later, Third World countries. I generally just like Ève Curie.

Honorable mention: Elizabeth Yates (b. 1905, d. 2001), journalist and author of the Newbery-award winning Mountain Born.

Dec 5: Margaret Cho

Margaret Cho (b. 1968)

Margaret Cho is a Korean-American comedian who is well known for using her comedy to make points about racism, gay rights, and feminism.

One of the first things that strikes you about her is that she's a minority woman in a male-dominated field (comedy) who doesn't have an unrealistic body shape.

The next thing that strikes you is that she's hilarious.

Just one of many Youtube videos of her

Margaret Cho's exceptional adulthood stemmed, in some ways, from a difficult childhood. She was bullied constantly, especially between the ages of 10 and 14. Helped through this difficult period by gay friends, music, and comedy, she "grew up fast and controlled her future" by launching into the world of professional comedy by the age of sixteen.

Cho on her experiences being bullied

Cho started to gain serious popularity in the early 90's, well-loved by college students and late night audiences, but the next chapter of her life was a rather dark one.

In 1994 Cho was picked to be the star of an ABC sitcom centered around a Korean family called "All-American Girl". The show itself was supposed to be based on Margaret Cho's views expressed in her stand-up acts. But since when have TV producers been progressive? They told Cho that she needed to lose weight and "act more Asian". The same sort of language that she had run away from in childhood had followed her into her sitcom. 

During the show and after its cancellation, she struggled with drug addiction and alcoholism as well as an eating disorder that landed her in the hospital with kidney failure.

Cho on body image and her past

These experiences became a part of her comedy. Her stand-up acts now include anecdotes about her mother, racism, substance abuse, LGBT rights, her own bisexuality, and Asian-American stereotypes. 

Some career highlights since then:

• Marriage equality: Gave money from her tours to gay-rights organizations such as PFLAG. When gay marriage was legalized in California, she was deputized to perform marriages in San Francisco.
• Went on Dancing With the Stars wearing a rainbow dress after a series of suicides by gay teens 
• Campaigned actively against the execution of Stanley Tookie Williams and the death penalty in general
• Played Kim Jong-Il on 30 Rock
• Won multiple awards and commendations from organizations such as the ACLU, GLAAD, and the National Organization for Women
• Wrote this awesome piece on diets

Margaret Cho is groundbreaking as a comedian. She's a woman, a person of color, and a bisexual. She uses her position of celebrity to make people think about the way they see issues of inequality and prejudice. I also love the way that she smashes the idea that women can't be funny. With male comedians like Daniel Tosh making rape jokes all over the place, there absolutely need to be more female voices making milk come out of our noses.

Oh, and she's a self-declared feminist, too. I like that.

Honorable mention: Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz (1822-1907), co-founder and first president of Radcliffe College (Harvard University's woman's college).