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By: R. Renzo  Women's stories have often been occluded from history, leaving the stories of powerful women overshadowed or misunderstood. One of the most remarkable female figures in history is Catherine the Great, the Empress which reigned over Russia for 34 years. The complexity of her life and actions are one of the most marvellous things to be preserved, and it is a testament to ambition, intelligence and resilience of women, despite societal boundaries.
She was born as Sophie of Anhalt Zerbst in 1729, a daughter of an obscure German prince and general in the Prussian army. Her mother, Princess Johanna Elisabeth, had distant links to the Russian royal family. Catherine was married to Peter III, which she first met when she was just 10 years old. Peter III was grandson to two emperors - Russia's Peter the Great, and Sweden's Charles XII. After being orphaned by age 11, he was chosen by Russia's Empress Elizabeth as her successor. From their first encounter she resented him and his indulgence in alcohol at such a young age. Ultimately, Peter and Catherine's marriage was loveless and tumultuous. Her letters and memoirs are filled with disdain for his drunken and cruel behaviour, and it is believed that he abandoned her on their wedding night to party with friends. By the late 1750s, Empress Elizabeth's health begun to deteriorate, dying in January of 1762. Peter became Emperor, and Catherine became his Empress Consort. Peter was immediately unpopular: despite Prussia being Russia's long time enemy, he withdrew from the Seven Years' War, and began military reforms based on the Prussian model. This enraging Russian army officers. Peter ruled Russia for just 186 days before Catherine took the opportunity to seize power and usurp her husband. She claimed the throne with the help of the Russian guard and key allies. Peter died shortly after under mysterious circumstances, which may have cemented Catherine's hold on power, but made the people grow skeptical and uncertain of her reign. Her reign lasted from 1762 to 1796 and was marked by her desire to make Russia a prosperous and powerful state. Catherine was inspired by English and French liberal philosophers and carried out many of the reforms advocated by Montesquieu or Jean-Jacques Rosseau; she established boards of social welfare to oversee hospitals, prisons and workhouses, making an early attempt at a social welfare system. Under her reign, more than a hundred new towns were built, and old ones were expanded and renovated. Russia under her rule became strong enough to threaten the other great powers, expanding westward and southward, leading Russia to victory in two wars against the Ottoman Empire, and annexing the Crimean Peninsula, solidifying Russia's influence. She led the way in embracing the latest medical practices. She was immunised against smallpox by a British doctor, which was controversial at the time. She sought to, through her example, "save from death the multitude of my subjects". And by 1800, 2 million inoculations were carried out in the Russian Empire. She initially planned to emancipate the serfs, on whom the economy of Russia, which was 95 percent agricultural, was based. However, she saw quickly that the emancipation of the serfs would never be tolerated by the owners, whom she depended on for support. Catherine was far from a perfect ruler, despite her strengths, she strengthened serfdom, which led to widespread peasant suffering and revolts. Catherine the Great was a ruler of immense ambition and vision, transforming Russia into a formidable European power. However, it cannot be denied that she was egotistical and pretentious, additionally upholding oppression and limitations to freedom. Though she was not without her flaws, her reign remains a testament to the resilience and capability of women in leadership, defying the societal limitations of the time.
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By: J. McManus  Women’s roles and rights have evolved significantly, from the past centuries to the last decades: it is vital to commemorate and appreciate these important milestones because it actively shapes the world as we know it. Views of women and their purposes in life have changed so much and will likely continue to change: from childbearing ‘slaves’, to housewives and chambermaids, and today, as equals to their male counterparts. Expectations, restrictions, and rights for women have limited their capacities to achieve equal pay, respect, and command over male-dominated fields, and fortunately society progressed in the sense that women today do not experience as much of that oppression and chauvinism as before.
For too long, women had been treated effectively as slaves in respect to how they were bought and traded like merchandise, abused sexually and physically by their ‘owners’ and viewed as unimportant inferior objects due to the patriarchal society - the standard of that time. This limited women’s access to education, weight of opinion when making decisions (such as control of the home, finances, and ownership), and their right to freedom of expression (such as rebelling and voting). The problem with this norm is that no one believed that their actions had any unethical implications. Most men treated women that way because that was ‘the way things were always done’ and did so under the guise of ‘God’s will’. It was to their beliefs that God had made women only to serve as a homemaker, caring for and nursing children throughout their lives and because of this motherly instinct, they were ‘too emotional’ to make important decisions. However, these grounds are unwarranted because it fails to recognize the true intention of the holy scriptures. Bible verses are misinterpreted and taken out of context for the time. The fact is, since the beginning of time, women have been unjustly blamed for sin and evil. The first sin in the first book of the Old Testament depicts Eve taking a bite of the forbidden fruit and being punished for doing so even when she was tricked – today, people will put her at fault when she had been manipulated into sin. Jesus, Son of God, and the body of God on Earth, was born a man. The truth is that catholic religion, whether it is on purpose or not, upholds patriarchal values and undertones. This can be seen through not only the birth of the only Son of God, but also the fact that the entirety of the church is run by the pope and male priests (most of whom are celibate), where the role of priests in the church is to be the messenger of God. In confession (for example), you confess your sins as if you were speaking directly to God and the lack of female roles in this matter tends to cause misconceptions. It is not only Christian/Catholic religion that presents their God and omnipotent being as a man. Other religious figures such as Buddha, Allah and Zeus are all presented as males, allowing the public to assume that women were never and should never be considered equals because the perfect and ever-loving figures that society looks up to is presented as a man, therefore, men are portrayed as superior. Up until a decade ago, the Chinese One-Child Policy was still effective and prohibited women in China to bear or adopt a second child – this policy began in 1979 as a population control program and actively infringed women’s rights, even written into the national constitution of 1982. Since couples were limited to one single child, many female infants were discarded because their parents wanted the pride and nobility that came with having a son – presenting mainly the image built around it. Numerous consequences of this policy subjected women to forced contraception (birth control), forced sterilization (tubal ligation), and forced abortion, resulting in a startling change in the male-to-female ratio. An important circumstance to account for is the fact that even though each child is born with a father and a mother, the mother does not have the ability to avoid her child-bearing responsibilities whereas, even though it is morally questionable, the father can and often does. This leaves the mother in a conflicting condition where she must trade a career, social life, financial situation, and other opportunities for her child that deserves an attentive and caring parent. The father’s responsibility, under current legislation, can hardly be considered remotely equal in terms of energy given and time dedicated since their only obligation in usually to provide financial aid and child support. By: C. Muro  When we think of spies, we often think of cool gadgets, invisible ink pens and secret watches that shoot lasers, but in the second World War (WW2) spies were quite different to this stereotype. Perhaps, their best skill was their ability of blending in with those around them and maintaining undercover. Nancy Wake was one of the most well-suited women for the role: her courage and determination allowed her to dodge any suspicions, and so she has ease when camouflaging amongst a multitude of people.
Born in New Zealand, Nancy Wake grew up in Sydney, and from the start of her life she was extremely independent. She moved away from home and started studying nursing at only 16, and when she received an inheritance from an aunt, she travelled to England through New York to become a journalist. Nancy was the European correspondent for an American paper, and during her time as a journalist she witnessed the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis in German politics. Nancy visited Vienna, in Austria, and reported Nazi gangs randomly beating up Jewish men and women on the streets, and so, she vowed to do something against it. In 1939, Nancy moved to the south of France with her husband Henri Fiocca, a French industrialist. Throughout 1940, Nancy used her and her husband's money to support local resistance groups which emerged in France and fought against the German occupation. Citizens partaking in such resistance groups soon found themselves in high-risk operations attempting to disturb Nazi communications/transport to gather information for the Allies. Until 1943, Wake worked relentlessly for the French resistance, playing a major role in the escape of allied airmen and thousands of Jewish refugees. With her involvement in the war, the Gestapo put Wake on their most-wanted list, but she kept her secrecy and slipped through their fingers so many times they nicknamed her 'The White Mouse'. The secret German police was so desperate, they even offered financial reward for her capture. But Nancy was hard to catch: she went undercover using fake identities at German checkpoints and she used her confidence to trick German soldiers (distracting them), allowing her to get into restricted areas. However, as the Gestapo started getting closer, Wake escaped to England - it took her six tries before she was successful. Her husband, on the other hand, remained in France and was captured, tortured, and executed by the Gestapo. When in England, 'The White Mouse' started gained a new role in the Special Operations Executive (SOE), a top-secret wartime organization. She was officially trained to become a spy, where she trained her skills in espionage, sabotage, survival, hand-to-hand combat, weapon handling, secret codes, and more. Nancy was one of only 39 women in the SOE and was considered one of the most capable resistance fighters in France during WW2. Wake went back to France in 1944. Her job there was to prepare and arm the resistance fighters, the Maquis. She, and other European spies, were instructed by Winston Churchill to conduct undercover operations. Wake was involved in parachute drops of weapons and ammunition, setting up wireless communication with England, and recruiting/training members of the resistance. One of her most dangerous operations was a bike ride she made to retrieve secret radio codes. In three days, she rode 400km in a bicycle from Auvergne to Chateauroux and back. She got away with this mission by pretending to be a young housewife going home to her village, as she had to pass through many German patrols and guards, and they had no idea of how close they had gotten to catching 'The White Mouse'. Nancy reported this was probably the proudest and bravest thing she has ever done. In 1944, Wake and the resistance started an intensive campaign for sabotaging German occupation forces. She even led a raid on the Gestapo headquarters in central France, which resulted in the death of 38 Germans. Nancy Wake was one of the most distinguished women from WW2. She received the George Medal, the 1939-45 Star, the French and German Star, the Defence Medal, the British War Medal of 1939-45, French Officer of the Legion of Honour, the French Croix de Guerre with Star and two Palms, the US Medal for Freedom with Palm, the French Medaille de la Resistance, and the Companion of the Order of Australia for her brave accomplishments. She lived the rest of her life in the UK and Australia and sadly passed away in 2011 at 98 years of age. Wake was an extraordinarily courageous and brave individual, and her story certainly inspires many women to be fearless and stand up for what they believe is right. Her and her companions played a crucial role in the end of German occupation of France and the end of the war in Europe. "Freedom is the only thing worth living for. I used to think while doing that work, it didn't matter if I died, because without freedom there is no point in living." - Nancy Wake. By: A. S. Thiollier  Feminism as we know it was coined in the mid-19th century, and since then, life for women has been entirely transformed. Over the years, the upward climb towards gender equality has been faced bravely by many familiar names and many more anonymous ones on a passionate battle that bettered the lives of billions of women in the world.
However, the movement has suffered continuous backlash and hatred. While we would like to believe the world has become more accepting, the noun "feminist" in today’s world is viewed in a derogatory way, almost as a swear or chastise. Many believers in the cause have become afraid of association and choose to keep their views private to avoid ridicule or unpleasant looks, from both men and other women. But why is this? Why, in a world much freer than the one in which the movement began, is there so much contempt for modern feminism? The problem's roots go back to the rise of radical feminism during the movement’s second wave in the 60’s. While liberal feminists worked within political systems to advocate for legal and institutional reforms, radicals took more rash actions, such as protests, to voice their displeasure with the societal roots of female oppression. While this raised awareness and attracted more people to the movement, some of the attention was not necessarily good, even losing the respect of many people. In her manifesto S.C.U.M. (Society for Cutting Up Men), Valerie Solanas – a radical feminist – expressed the need for the complete elimination of men and more traditional or man-loving women. Thus, was born the misconception that all modern feminists are man-hating. Especially in Brazil, there is a common misinterpretation that the word “feminismo” (feminism) is the direct opposite of its counterpart “machismo” (male chauvinism) – the systemic belief that men are better than women and the encouraging of inequality. This has led many to think that feminists believe in the opposite of “machismo”: that women are inherently better than men, instead of in gender equality. Furthermore, second wave feminism ignored minorities like black or queer women, straining its approval to this day from those who were sidelined. The focus on the middle- or high-class white woman experience harshly limited inclusivity and often disregarded the rights of those who did not fit into these criteria. Since then, the feminist movement has expanded to become more inclusive: however, the damage was done. This has painted an unattractive picture of feminists to this day, despite the vitality of the issue at hand. Many women avoid referring to themselves as feminists because of the negative connotations of the word – anything from not feminine and man-hating to classist and racist. Despite the vitality of the movement in achieving a world where women and men are treated equally, this growing fear of association has made it lose power, a very worrisome fact. If we have any hope of continuing to progress towards a better world, it is of utmost importance that we overcome this growing stigma on feminism and keep clear on its true meaning. The word has brought power and unity to women everywhere, and it is important that it can continue to encourage girls in future generations. So, if you hope for a better tomorrow, you should be proud to call yourself a feminist. By: V. Toledo  “In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders.”- Sheryl Sandberg.
Sheryl Sandberg, the former Chief Operating Officer of Facebook, has become one of the most influential voices in women's leadership development. Her innovative work in technology, advocacy for women's empowerment in the workplace, and initiatives to promote women's inclusion has made her an inspiration for women around the world. Sandberg graduated from Harvard University with a degree in Economics, and soon began her career in government, employed at the U.S Treasury Department before converting to working in technology. After moving to Silicon Valley and establishing her role as the COO of Facebook, she contributed towards many successful developments, helping it become one of the most profitable companies globally. She was then placed amongst the highest-ranking people in Silicon Valley, a field typically dominated by men. Her accomplishments proved women can thrive in high-stakes environments, as well as encouraged them to pursue careers in business and technology. Sandberg’s prominent contribution to female empowerment was her bestselling book called "Lean In". The book encouraged women to be risk-takers and chase leadership opportunities despite societal biases and challenges they might face in their journey to success. In addition, Sandberg founded "Lean In Circles". These circles are essentially small, supportive groups of women who share their experiences, set goals, and help one another achieve growth in their personal and professional lives. This movement has grown globally and has been shown to help many women succeed in business. Sheryl Sandberg’s influence extends far beyond her accomplishments as a business and technology leader. Throughout her journey, she has served as a trailblazer for women in STEM, empowering them to persevere despite any obstacles they may face. Her movement, "Lean In Circles", continues to encourage women to support and mentor each other. Sandberg’s efforts have expanded workplace diversity, advocating for more inclusive environments across industries. Furthermore, her legacy serves as a lasting reminder of the power of determination, collaboration, and the importance of empowering women to lead. By: P. Raffaini Costa Espionage in the world wars shaped battlefields as much as bullets and bombs did, crafting the tide of history through deception and intelligence. The battlefield fought in the shadows with daring covert operations has always been an area mostly dominated by men. Nevertheless, notable female figures are essential in stories of thrilling confidential undertakings as well as challenges of societal norms during the wars. Women, often deemed to be a misfit for espionage, in fact played a key role in multiple operations by the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) and U.S office of Strategic Services (OSS). Society's overlook on women's skills in an area dominated by men was, in some way, a benefit for certain female spies. In other cases, women who found themselves in male-dominated environments (especially considering the context of war) were accused or suspected of espionage because of their impacting presence. Even so, the stories of these three women show great resilience and capability to thrive in areas of work initially thought to be dominated by men.
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