ICONIC WOMEN PODCAST with Sarah Heeter

Khutulun, the Mongol Princess of 10,000 horses, was born in 1260, during a period of high conflict within her father’s empire. She stood out from her 14 brothers as the most skilled rider, shooter, and strategic military leader and supported her father’s cause in several battles.

As she got older, her father was anxious for her to marry (strategically). But, Khutulun wasn’t stoked to get married. She made a bet with any potential suitors near and far that if they could defeat her in a wrestling match, she would marry them! But if they lost, they had to pay a debt of 100 horses. 

Khutulun remained undefeated her whole life.

And, she obtained a herd of horses so large it rivaled the emperor’s herd!

Eventually, her AND her father’s reputations started to become tarnished by her refusal to marry, so… she gave in and married someone that history doesn’t even remember by name. However, whoever it was never beat her at wrestling.

As a young teenager Scarlett Curtis @scarcurtis had what should have been a very standard operation for scoliosis… but it left her in crippling pain. For a year, she was in pain every day, used a wheelchair for long periods, and couldn’t stand the feeling of any fabric touching her back. She was depressed, lonely, and withdrawn. Doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong, and for a long time, many people even within the healthcare community made her feel like it was all in her head and she was making the whole thing up. Finally, after months of this, they gave her family the option for an “unnecessary” second surgery. It was during this procedure that they discovered there was a screw which had been pressing into her spine the entire time. As soon as they removed it, the pain went away. ...But the whole experience was traumatizing enough to a 14-15 year old girl that she then had what she describes as a complete breakdown, and didn’t leave the house for three years.

As a young adult, Scarlett decided to open up about her experiences with depression and anxiety, and started a lifestyle blog with a major focus on mental health. In addition to her own blog, Scarlett has written for The Guardian, Elle Magazine, The Times, and The Telegraph.

In 2017, Scarlett co-founded the feminist activist collective, @pinkprotest, seeking to redefine what activism means for young people, and to make activism accessible and fun.

Although the story of her adolescence is infuriating, it ultimately led to her remarkable ability to help others and be a catalyst for change. She helps inspire us to have conversations about mental health and to normalize that subject matter. Scarlett also represents that there is community available for all of us… and that through community, we can be and achieve anything we dream of.

Scarlett is on a mission to make the world a better, safer place. Make sure you follow her - and the Pink Protest - on social media to learn about how you can get involved!

The legend of Lady Godiva (~990-1067) says that this aristocratic, land owning woman stood up to her husband about his over-taxation of the people of Coventry. And despite her continued assertions that he was oppressing his people, he saw her as a nag and basically tried to get her to leave him alone by Triple Dog Daring her to do something she would never actually follow through with… riding her horse naked through town.

Covered by nothing but her long hair, Lady Godiva allegedly rode through town. Rumor has it that she ordered everyone to stay inside with their doors and windows closed, but she did it nonetheless, to prove him wrong and to get her way.

The story is compelling, because it indicates that there should be more shame and embarrassment about a woman’s naked body than about over-taxing and oppressing people. 

Historians dispute any evidence that this story actually happened, but Lady Godiva really was a philanthropic and charitable aristocrat who also happened to be the only documented woman to be a major landholder of her time. And regardless of whether the rest of her legend is true, her story has been immortalized in folklore, literature, pop culture references, and art for hundreds of years.

Today I would like to introduce to you: Zarifa Ghafari, an Afghan advocate, activist, politician, and entrepreneur. She’s known for her efforts to empower women in Afghanistan, and is currently one of the few female Afghan mayors and the youngest to be appointed when she was only 26.

Zarifa is from the remote, ultra Conservative, Taliban supporting province Wardak. She was the only female applicant to be mayor out of over 130 hopefuls, and though she did not have any political experience, she was selected!

On her first day in office, local men from her town were so outraged by her role that they harassed her and attacked her office. She was forced to flee that day, and her ability to actually take on her position was delayed by almost a year, but she was determined to return and stand up for herself.

When she did take on her position, the men in the office staged a walkout, and even after that they continue to mock and ignore her. Gender roles are deeply engrained in this part of Afghanistan. But Zarifa is determined to make a difference and pave the way for other girls and women.

Zarifa says she anticipates her own assassination… she’s been threatened by the Taliban, ISIL, and - even scarier - the land mafia, local criminal syndicates involved in the highly corrupt and lucrative land trade. She’s not yet even 30 years old.

In her capacity as a trail-blazer and door-opener for a new generation of young women, she has helped to empower the women of Afghanistan. Zarifa may not be able to change the culture of toxic masculinity in her region overnight, but she continues to make a difference. She pushes through every obstacle in front of her - facing discrimination, bias, and threats to her life. 

Zarifa has experienced more threats, violence, and hate than most of us can ever imagine. But no matter who we are or what our life experience is, bullies and haters will often try to stand in our way. We should all look to Zarifa as a role model in standing strong and never giving up. Who we are, and what we do, matters. And we might just be able to inspire others along the way!

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Today’s Iconic Woman is Miley Cyrus, who you probably know as a controversial public figure who broke out of her Disney Channel child-star mold as a sexually awakened, drug-using force to be reckoned with.

She’s made a huge splash on the music industry, topping the charts, earning a variety of industry awards, and even being named as one of Billboard’s Greatest Artists of All Time; producing music across several genres and incorporating a multitude of musical styles. And even though she’s under 30, she’s been taking the music industry by storm for more than a decade.

But even more important than all of that is Miley’s philanthropy and advocacy. She’s spent her entire career as a visible, transparent social justice warrior - supporting charitable causes including natural disaster relief efforts in Haiti and Japan, animal welfare, pediatric HIV & AIDS prevention and treatment, cancer research, Ronald McDonald Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, United Service Organizations, Youth Service America, Amnesty International, and more.

And most iconic of all? Miley refuses to live her life according to anybody else’s standards, categories, or labels. She came out as pansexual at 14 years old, and in Time Magazine as gender fluid. She’s been a fierce advocate for the trans and gender-expansive community, and founded the Happy Hippie Foundation which supports homeless and LGBTQ youth.

 @mileycyrus is a role model to all of us. No matter who the world tells you to be or how to live your life, those decisions are yours alone. Miley has faced innumerable haters, trolls, and critics… but she’s never let that stand in her way. And all along, she’s made a point to dedicate her life to doing good and helping and supporting others.

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Follow Happy Hippie Foundation on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/happyhippiefdn/?hl=en 

Follow Miley on Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/mileycyrus/?hl=en 

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Do you ever think about what you are doing with the limited time and resources you have in this life? What will you leave behind when you are gone?

Meet Fatima al-Fihri, the founder of the world’s oldest university, which is still operating today! Al-Qarawiyyin was built as a mosque around 840 AD and when Fatima purchased it and rebuilt it into a university, she doubled it in size and opened it as the FIRST institution for higher learning that offered graduate and post-graduate degrees in Islamic Studies, mathematics, grammar, and medicine. This university is about 200 years older than the first European university, and as I mentioned, it’s still operating today and also holds the world’s oldest library!

It is INCREDIBLY powerful to think about how much of a permanent and lasting impact ONE woman (<3 Fatima al-Fihri <3) was able to make in her lifetime. 

What legacy will YOU leave behind? 

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Meet Wu Zetian, the only female emperor in the history of China, who lived from about 624-705 AD. 

Now listen, Wu Zetian doesn’t have a reputation for being Miss Congeniality or anything, in fact she’s known for her ruthless determination and brutal violence inflicted mostly by her secret police force, but she climbed the proverbial latter from being one of the lowest-ranking (teenage) concubines in the palace to literally claiming the position of emperor and holding that power for FIFTY YEARS.

How did she do it? 

She was really smart and committed to learning, intensely ambitious, incredibly bold and courageous, and persuasively charismatic. Wu Zetian was fiercely determined to get on top, and stay there. 

And, despite some of her more questionable and murder-y decisions, she also dramatically increased the size of China’s empire, improved the lives of peasants by cutting taxes and building new public works, improved farming techniques and literacy, and generally led her country during a time of power and prosperity.

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Today’s Iconic Woman Under 30 is Lauren Singer, an environmental activist, entrepreneur, and blogger in the zero-waste movement. 

You’ve probably already heard of “waste management” - which is how waste is handled or redirected once it already exists. But Lauren is bringing awareness to “zero-waste” - which is all about preventing trash from existing in the first place. Or, as she likes to say, making the world less trashy!

Lauren is known for keeping all of her personal trash in one 16 oz mason jar since 2012. EIGHT YEARS of trash that can all be contained in ONE jar! Now that’s commitment.

But, it’s important to Lauren to inspire others to take small steps that lead to big changes, for human health, and the health of our planet!

So, her @trashisfortossers website offers tips for zero-waste fashion, home and living, and even diy & guides that make sustainability easy, accessible, and even fun!

If you spend even five minutes on her website, you are going to be IMMEDIATELY inspired and motivated, and I think you’ll find that your mindset has shifted - at least a little - for good.

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Follow Lauren on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trashisfortossers/ 

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Today’s Iconic Woman is Susan Fowler, who gained notoriety as a whistleblower against Uber, a company she worked for at the time.

Finally, she landed at Uber, as a Site Reliability Engineer, where she had finally had enough of the blatant sexism. Her manager propositioned her to partake in illicit, inappropriate activities, and she reported him to Human Resources. However, they refused to punish him because of his productivity. She ended up writing a 3,000 word blog post online about the hostile work environment toward female employees at Uber, including outlining her experience with her former manager. The story went viral, which led to public investigations of the company, and several people were fired. Even the CEO, Travis Kalanick, had to resign in the midst of the intense fallout. 

Susan’s whistleblowing impacted not just Uber, but many start-up tech companies in Silicon Valley, and she became a business world celebrity. 

With different levels of severity, danger, or harm, nearly every working woman in every industry has experienced something related to corporate sexism. 

If you’ve experienced or are currently experiencing something comparable at school or work, you need to know that you are not alone, and it is not your fault, and you have the right to feel safe when you’re just taking up space and living your life. NO ONE has the right to make you physically uncomfortable or unsafe, and there is no appropriate way for those kinds of interactions and experiences to take place at work. 

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Follow Susan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/susanthesquark/ 

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Today I’m excited to be highlighting Boudica, a Celtic queen of the Iceni tribe, who led one of the most destructive and deadly revolts against the Roman Empire almost 2000 years ago. 

After her husband, the king, passed away, he left his kingdom to her and their two daughters in his will. But in the absence of a male heir, the Roman Empire ignored his will altogether and invaded and pillaged the Iceni tribe’s kingdom. To make matters even worse and even more personal, the Roman soldiers raped Boudica’s two daughters right in front of her.

Boudica was not about to let that fly. She vowed revenge and led a large army in revolt through the Roman Empire’s major cities, where they housed government and trade. They killed and destroyed several major cities, burning them to the ground, before they were finally defeated. 

To avoid an even worse fate, Boudica and her daughters poisoned themselves when their armies were defeated. But even though they weren’t successful in permanently destroying Rome’s power, they made an unbelievable impact and left a permanent scar on the Roman Empire. 

Boudica is a feminist role model representing standing up against oppression and authoritarian rule. She inspired and led others to follow her and to rise up for independence and the right to life. And, she teaches us that there is no such thing as failure. When you give it your best effort, you can make a tremendous impact.

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