RoleModelFilter

December 30, 2007 11:16 AM

Help a friend of mine find examples of young women who've done extraordinary things?

A friend of mine leads a moral-support/discussion group for highschool-age girls. She's trying to find examples of girls and young women (teenagers, mostly) who've done extraordinary things in business, public service, etc to present as positive role models who rose above all the negativity of that phase of growing up. I know I've read a few pieces of journalism about this sort of thing, but I can't dredge up any names out of my memory. Help me, AskMe?

I'm sorry I can't offer any more specific guidance, but my hope is that if I make this an open-ended question, we'll get some new/interesting information!

posted by Alterscape to grab bag (22 comments total)

How about Anousheh Ansari?

Or Carly Fiorina, the Paris Hilton of female CEOs?

Meg Whitman has better biz credentials.

Don't forget Esther Dyson
posted by b1tr0t at 11:27 AM on December 30, 2007

I just found out recently that the elementary school near me is named for Samantha Smith.

"If people are so afraid of him," she asked her mother, "why doesn't someone write a letter asking whether he wants to have a war or not?"
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 11:29 AM on December 30, 2007 [1 favorite]

Golda Meir leaps immediately to mind. Jane Addams, Florence Nightingale are also noteworthy. All three began their activities at a young age. Florence Nightingale, for example, started nursing at age seventeen.
This is a great question, I will be eager to read other answers.
posted by msali at 11:29 AM on December 30, 2007

Rachel Rosenfeld opened a school in Cambodia.
posted by andythebean at 11:30 AM on December 30, 2007

Aw! Samantha Smith! I had forgotten all about her. She was awesome.
posted by msali at 11:31 AM on December 30, 2007

Anne Frank is an excellent example.

There's a great Ann Reed song called Heroes that's all about strong women. It's kind of cheesy but it lists a bunch of strong women. I don't know how old all of these women included are but Joan of Arc was definitely young.
posted by yogurtisgenocide at 11:44 AM on December 30, 2007

Joan of Arc
Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz
posted by gauchodaspampas at 12:15 PM on December 30, 2007

Shirley Muldowney

Clara Barton

Sissy Farenthold

Dr. Alison Toth
posted by bjgeiger at 12:32 PM on December 30, 2007

I've always loved Cheryl Haworth, who won a bronze medal in the 2000 Olympics for weight lifting. She was 17 at the time. Since negative body image is such a big deal for young women, she is particularly inspiring.

I just read this article about Ashley Qualls who started an internet site at age 14 that's now worth $1 million.

Oh, and if the subject matter isn't too controversial, The Education of Shelby Knox is just incredible. I had the opportunity to meet her at my last job, and she is such an incredible force in talking about teen sexuality, the failure of abstinence only education, and fighting the system. The documentary really delves into how difficult (and rewarding) it can be to stand up for what you believe is right, when that means standing up to your parents, school, and church.
posted by kimdog at 12:40 PM on December 30, 2007

A number of teen/women's magazines tend to do "Women of the Year" inspirational-type pieces. It may be worth flipping through some at the check-out line.

CosmoGirl has some of its winners online. It's video, which makes it hard to skim, but most of the women seem high-school or college-aged.

For one of my child psychology courses we watched the tv special about Oprah Winfrey's school for girls in South Africa. The story of some of these girls' horribly difficult lives, and their absolute belief that they will nevertheless become inspiration for others, was terrifically moving. They're amazing young women. (That DVD might be especially good if your friend is working with African-American girls.)
posted by occhiblu at 12:41 PM on December 30, 2007

Dame Ellen MacArthur
posted by wayward vagabond at 1:08 PM on December 30, 2007

I dunno how your friend would feel about communists and labor agitators, but Elizabeth Gurley Flynn seems to be up this alley. She delivered her first speech, "What Socialism Will Do For Women" (sadly, it doesn't seem to be online anywhere I can find), at sixteen, became an organizer for the IWW all across the nation when she was seventeen, and played a key role in their free-speech battles before she was twenty.
posted by The Bridge on the River Kai Ryssdal at 1:10 PM on December 30, 2007

Heh. As a teenager I wasn't terribly receptive to stories about people my age who had accomplished great things. They always made me feel inadequate.

That said: Joan of Arc sprang to mind.
Also I can think of a number of celebrities right away; they may not be role-model material, but for each trashy star there are a hundred hard-working professionals. Like Ellen Page, for example. Also, look to plays and musicals where fame is secondary. Or look to Olympic athletes.
posted by PercussivePaul at 1:13 PM on December 30, 2007

Ani DiFranco started her own independent record company in 1989 with $50 when whe was 18 years old. She has received the Woman of Courage award from the National Organization for Women. Her open letter to Ms. Magazine is my favorite letter to the editor, ever.
posted by onlyconnect at 1:32 PM on December 30, 2007

Also, I think the woman who came up with the idea for Teach for America was just in high school or college when she first thought of it. And Maya Lin, the woman who designed the beloved Vietnam veteran's memorial wall in D.C. was only 21 and still an undergrad when she won the design competition for the memorial with her design for the wall.
posted by onlyconnect at 1:40 PM on December 30, 2007

This thread is tangentially related, that is, there may be some overlap.

This student at my university is also a fine role model - I believe she is now in her early 20s but started this program when in second year, so probably about 19.
posted by Rumple at 1:50 PM on December 30, 2007

Probably not as young as you're looking for (when she did most of her interesting work), but how about the world's first computer programmer?
posted by madmethods at 2:07 PM on December 30, 2007

Seconding Samantha Smith. Self-link to MeFi post.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 2:32 PM on December 30, 2007

I always think of Laura Ingalls Wilder. The partially auto-biographical fictional series she wrote based on her life shows part of it, and then if you read biographies of her, you realize how much she overcame. One of my heroes!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 2:56 PM on December 30, 2007 [1 favorite]

Danica McKellar is best known for her role on The Wonder Years, but she also helped prove a mathematical theorem while still an undergrad. And she recently wrote a book for middle-school girls called Math Doesn't Suck.

A book your friend would find interesting is Young Women of Achievement: A Resource for Girls in Science, Math, and Technology. The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 is about career opportunities in science, math and technology. Part 2 is personal stories of girls and young women in the sciences. This section is further subdivided into two sections: Girls of Accomplishment Ages Eighteen and Younger, and Girls of Accomplishment Ages Nineteen and Older. Part 3 is about extraordinary women in history.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 3:49 PM on December 30, 2007

S.E. Hinton was a best-selling author by the time she was twenty. And a good one, at that.
posted by wsg at 4:37 PM on December 30, 2007

If you'd like cultural diversity, check out The Cultural Connect. Do Something also has the Brick awards for this sort of thing.

Try looking around TakingITGlobal for ideas.
posted by divabat at 4:54 PM on December 30, 2007