At all times in the past, the status of women has been a topic of discussion.
What does it mean to be a woman in our society? How women's role in society has changed? What are the problems faced by women in society?
Through the decades, there have been various regulations regarding women's rights to education, health services, economic and political participation. The main and significant changes were impulsed by women themselves, who fought for their rights and achieved amazing results in various fields. Let’s have a look at some of them!
The first woman who is worth to be mentioned is a Polish and naturalized French physicist and chemist Marie Curie. She went in history as a woman who discovered the use of polonium and radium; championed the use of radiation in medicine and fundamentally changed our understanding of radioactivity.
Though she could not attend the University of Warsaw as her brother, because the Russian government prohibited women from attending university anywhere in its empire, she enrolled at Sorbonne University. For her research in radiation phenomena, Marie Curie became the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize in 1903 and later was awarded another Nobel Prize in chemistry. Despite the fact that this woman had some difficulties on the road to success, she is a great example of perseverance, which led her to achieve her purposes and aspirations, contributing to science progress .
Another very inspiring example of woman is the American activist Rosa Parks. She was an activist in the civil rights movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. The United States Congress has called her "the first lady of civil rights" and "the mother of the freedom movement".
This brave woman was on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955, when the bus driver asked her to stand up and give her seat to a white man. She, a black seamstress, refused and in doing so sparked an entire civil rights movement in America.
The last but very important woman who dares to speak the unspoken and be unapologetically herself is Simone de Beauvoir. She is a French writer, phylosopher, existentialist, feminist laid the foundation for the modern feminist movement.
Her best piece of work is a book called "The second sex" in which the author discusses the treatment of women throughout history. De Beauvoir gave a primary concept that men essentially oppress women by characterizing them as the "other."
De Beauvoir work was vital, because she demonstrated that women have a voice and it is paramount to use it. Women are much more than just the "others."
These inspiring women showed that nothing is impossible when you strongly believe in yourself and your purposes. We can seek inspiration from them for our better tomorrow.
In Mentana, we set up an open air exhibition about these women, and many more. If you didn’t have the possibility to see it, you will be able to have a small glimpse in pictures below.
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