list 50 women little girls should admire instead of symbols of stupidity and weakness

Darlene Zschech

There are many amazing women who have passed from this earth leaving behind an indelible mark on the fabric of humanity. Their legacy lives on beyond their grave and in our remembrance of them, we consider ourselves eternally blessed. Yet greatness is not a thing of the past – it is dynamic and present in many modern day women who have chosen to make a difference on this earth. One of my personal heroes is Darlene Zschech.

Darlene has not only made an imprint on the music industry by her core occupation as a singer but has dedicated herself to the rescuing and rehabilitation of women in crisis. Darlene is the executive Director of Mercy Ministries Australia, a program founded to restore the lives of young women who have suffered abuse, eating disorders and other crisis situations. She is also a strong advocate and ambassador for ‘Compassion’, a child sponsorship organisation and the founder of Hope Rwanda. It was a mission trip to Central Africa in 2004 that prompted Mark and Darlene Zschech to initiate ‘Hope: Rwanda’, a global endeavour designed to bring hope to a nation seemingly forgotten since the horrific genocide of 1994. The ‘100 Days of Hope’ project is strategically co-coordinated to cover the same 100 days that saw over one million people viciously slaughtered and seeks to bring physical and spiritual restoration to the small nation by rallies, hands on help, medical aid and the culminative effort of hundreds of individuals dedicated to invest back into a country whose borders have witnessed some of the most horrific sights the world could ever imagine.

Darlene’s life is an expression of Mercy, her mission in life is to love the unlovely, bring kindness to the downtrodden and hope to those who have lost all hope. Self worth is something which she bestows on all whose lives she touches and these words which she once uttered sum up the very core of her mission: “What a tiring way to live, when your self-worth is constantly relying on the affirmation and approval of others.”... Breaking down social pretenses, expectations and conformities and empowering the unique individuality of every woman, every child, every family and every nation.

Virginia Woolf

The life of Virginia Woolf is a dark journey of brilliance and madness clashing together in a defiant fight for freedom of mind and thought. Her literature found a soulful source in the darkened state of her fraught mind and much of her work borders on the delicate balance of life and death. We pity the darkened depressive state of mind that drove her to madness, yet at the same time we see that very same dark thread as being the core of her brilliance… the deep well of inspiration from which flowed novels and poetry that are still regarded as some of the most profound literature ever written.

Virginia Woolf, a major British novelist, essayist, and critic was one of the leaders in the literary movement of modernism. In her works, she used a technique called “stream of consciousness”, revealing the lives of her characters by revealing their thoughts and associations. She was also a feminist, socialist, and pacifist who expressed her beliefs in essays such as “A Room of One’s Own”. In the words of E. M. Forster, she pushed the English language “a little further against the dark,” and her literary achievements and creativity are influential even today.

Throughout her life, Woolf was plagued by drastic mood swings. Though these recurring mental breakdowns greatly affected her social functioning, her literary abilities remained intact. Modern diagnostic techniques have led to a posthumous diagnosis of bipolar disorder, an illness which coloured her work, relationships, and life, and eventually led to her suicide. The notion of death is a recurring theme in much of Woolf’s literary work, a verse from one such novel highlights her melancholic fascination with suicide:

‘The scullery maid….was cooling her cheeks by the lily pond. There had always been lilies there, self-sown from wind-dropped seed, floating red and white on the green plates of their leaves. Water, for hundreds of years, had silted down into the hollow, and lay there four or five feet deep over a black cushion of mud….fish swam—gold, splashed with white….poised in the blue patch made by the sky….It was in that deep centre, in that black heart, that the lady had drowned herself.’

This verse seems almost an antecedent to her own final ending as Virginia Woolf ended her own life by drowning herself. In her final words written in a note to her husband Leonard, Woolf writes: ‘I feel certain that I am going mad again. I feel we can’t go through another of those terrible times. And I shan’t recover this time. I begin to hear voices, and I can’t concentrate. So I am doing what seems the best thing to do. You have given me the greatest possible happiness. You have been in every way all that anyone could be. I don’t think two people could have been happier till this terrible disease came. I can’t fight any longer. I know that I am spoiling your life, that without me you could work. And you will I know. You see I can’t even write this properly. I can’t read. What I want to say is I owe all the happiness of my life to you. You have been entirely patient with me and incredibly good. I want to say that — everybody knows it. If anybody could have saved me it would have been you. Everything has gone from me but the certainty of your goodness. I can’t go on spoiling your life any longer. I don’t think two people could have been happier than we have been.’

Though dark times prevailed in Virginia’s life, she never retreated from writing and articulating in violent honesty the deep inner-workings of her turbulent soul. She stripped away the superficiality of the aristocracy that prevailed in her times; she fought courageously for the rights of women, she challenged the previously unquestioned perceptions of love, she unabashedly confronted the fragility of human relationships and questioned the systematic collapse of social values. Virginia Woolf was a freedom fighter for women, and for the rights of the individual… through her literature she gave the world approval to question life, social values, relationships and indeed the sanity of our own minds.

Amy Carmichael

Amy Carmichael was born in the small village of Millisle in Northern Ireland in 1867. Through her lifetime she wrote many books and is regarded by many as a renowned author, however the true distinction of her life is marked by the selfless dedication and unwavering commitment she gave to destitute girls in India.

The motto of her life can be summed up in this one perfect phrase, “One can give without loving, but one cannot love without giving.” Through her life, Amy Carmichael loved much and gave all. Obedience, total commitment and selflessness framed the cornerstone of her mission and wisdom directed her steps. The legacy of her story was commissioned In 1895 when Amy Carmichael was appointed by the Church of England Zenana Missionary Society to go to Dohnavur, India. Amy served fifty six years at Dohnavur rescuing young Indian girls from Temple prostitution and raising them as her own children. Over 1000 Children were rescued and saved by her ministry.

The essence of her mission could easily be encapsulated in this simple story: While serving in India, Amy received a letter from a young lady who was considering life as a missionary, She asked Amy, “What is missionary life like?” Amy wrote back saying simply,

“Missionary life is simply a chance to die.”

Amy Carmichael’s life was hallmarked by greatness – greatness of humility, tenacity, vision, strength and fundamentally, greatness of love.

Angelina Jolie

This goal, in its very wording imposes the ideal of a holistically balanced individual whose exemplary lifestyle and personal characteristics warrant our admiration and following. Yet as inspiring as this model may appear, the truth is that beneath the veneer of charity, goodwill, dedication and other honorary qualities stands an individual whose personal failings and inevitable flaws are no different to the rest of humanity; some stupidity and weakness is inherent in us all. I choose to view this goal not as one drawing a delineative line of black and white in judgmental rhapsody, for who are we to judge? I see it rather as a goal intentionally honoring the bravery, courage and strength of individuals who have sought to better the world in their chosen endeavors, notwithstanding their personal failings.

Angelina Jolie is by many means somewhat of a controversial personality. She is a woman who lives by her own rules and intentions her life outside of convention. When it comes to her personal life, she is disarmingly open yet somehow manages to maintain total privacy. It is not however, her role as an actress or Hollywood Icon that has earned my respect, but rather her involvement with UNICEF. Like Audrey Hepburn who used her star power to benefit UNICEF, Angelina is the Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). She has visited refugee operations in the Balkans, Sierra Leone, Namibia, Tanzania, Kenya, Cambodia, Thailand, Pakistan and Ecuador and is passionately dedicated to humanitarian aid.

In her book ‘Notes from My Travels’, Angelina writes, ‘I don’t believe I am different from other people. I think we all want justice and equality. We all want a chance for a life with meaning. All of us would like to believe that if we were in a bad situation someone would help us.’

It is obvious by her writings, that Angelina Jolie’s heart has been enlarged for the refugees and the people of these war-torn countries. She, like many of us who have had opportunity to visit countries such as Africa and Cambodia, found herself drawing the surprising comparison of what constitutes a happy life. People in these countries are destitute, they are sick, wounded and have no possessions but what they do have distills the hearts of all whose eyes have been polarized by the materialistic western world – hope. Jolie writes, ‘I continue to grow more and more in love with everyone here. They know something – something we have forgotten. It is a feeling of community. It is a feeling of deeply appreciating their peace and freedom.’ In another chapter she again reiterates this sentiment by saying ‘They understand something about life that many of us never will, and they focus on many things we have forgotten. They know what to be grateful for. They appreciate the importance of family and community. They understand the power of faith and love.’

I seek not to endorse all of Angelina’s views but rather to extol her unwavering commitment to the liberation of poverty and war stricken nations, to recognise her contribution as one who has sought to make a ‘hands on’ difference rather than simply allowing her public recognition to influence as it may.

Audrey Hepburn

Audrey Hepburn-Ruston was born May 4, 1929, near Brussels, Belgium. Her career as an actress created her fame with films such as ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’, ‘Funny Face’ and ‘A Roman Holiday.’ Audrey Hepburn was an icon to style, elegance, dignity and also to charity.

In the later years of the life of Audrey Hepburn, her movie career took a back seat to her charity work for UNICEF which proved more meaningful to her than restarting her acting career. Audrey Hepburn represented the agency in many capacities, not only appearing at public occasions to support the good cause of UNICEF but also traveling widely to the world’s trouble spots to assess the situation of children. Her deeply sensitive appeals for children while visiting Ethiopia, Somalia and the Sudan cannot be forgotten. In 1993, the Academy posthumously gave Ms. Hepburn the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for her work as Unicef’s ambassador to the world’s children, a well deserved tribute to an exceptionally beautiful woman.

“Everybody was calling Bangladesh ‘a basket case,’” says John Isaac, a UN photographer, “because of the constant mishaps they had with floods, famine-you name it. But when everybody else was throwing up their hands, Audrey said, ‘I want to go there and be with them and promote their cause.’ I thought that was amazing.”

“Taking care of children has nothing to do with politics,” she would say. “Politics has nothing to do with one’s helping a dying child. Survival, that’s what it’s about.”’ . . . I think perhaps with time, instead of there being a politicization of humanitarian aid, there will be a humanization of politics.”

Audrey Hepburn left the world with a legacy of lives touched and changed, and this small poem I feel encapsulates her hope for the world, a hope that all she contributed to humanity should not die with her:

BEAUTY TIPS by Audrey Hepburn

For attractive lips,Speak words of kindness.

For lovely eyes,Seek out the good in people.

For a slim figure,Share your food with the hungry.

For beautiful hair,Let a child run his fingers through it once a day.

For poise,Walk with the knowledge you’ll never walk alone.

People, even more than things, have to be restored,renewed, revived, reclaimed and redeemed.Never throw out anybody.

Remember: if you ever need a helping hand,you’ll find one at the end of your arm.

As you grow older you will discover that you have two hands.One for helping yourself, the other for helping others.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of US President Franklin D Rosevelt, was his indispensable political aide and an indefatigable human rights activist. As head of the United Nations Human Rights Commission she drafted the Declaration of Human Rights. President Harry S. Truman called her ‘The First Lady of the World.’

Even today, Eleanor’s famous words on freedom, liberty and human writes are footnoted in essays, spoken in parliament and quoted by many ambitious campaigners for civil rights. She once said ‘At all times, day by day, we have to continue fighting for freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom from want – for these are things that much be gained in pace as well as in war.’ These words really articulate this woman’s passion for life. She fought for her own independent views and rose to a stage of prominence in her own right, over and above the recognition given to her as the wife of a famous leader.

Eleanor Roosevelt became America’s longest-serving First Lady and will be remembered in her own right for her commitment to international humanitarism. Her lobbying for anti racial discrimination laws and passionate advocating for equal rights for women sent repercussions through the whole of the western world. Her legacy continues through the freedom we now boast of – a freedom of speech, of equal rights and opportunities, a freedom of nationality, colour and race. She had a conviction which she ardently fought for all the days of her life – it was not a conviction of convenience or expectation but one of passionate belief, a belief which drove her to challenge and change conventiality, social expectations and humanitarism standards. Eleanor Roosevelt is now regarded by many as one of the greatest women who has ever held a place of leadership.

Though I’m not drawing any distinction to the music of ‘Pink’, her song ‘stupid girl’ speaks out appropriately about the rise of ‘dumbing down’ in our generation. Our role models are clones of the typified Hollywood image, very few of which possess any thought, reason or sensibility of their own merit. In her song, Pink asks the question ‘what happened to the dreams of a girl president?’ and gives the rather sarcastic remark that ‘she’s dancing in the video next to 50 cent.’ This cliché comment however, does bear some truth in today’s society. Many girls have dumbed down to be like their idols, to fit the stereotypical image of a popular Hollywood star with little consideration given to living lives of true significance and purpose.

We’re raising a generation of calorie counting, model aspiring, trend following blondes who are rejecting truth, independence of mind and rationale in pursuit of an esoteric image which though attractive and appealing, is actually quite hollow and unsubstantiated. Where are the real role models, the women who changed history, who fought for right of speech and independence, who pioneered revolutions and lived lives of righteous sacrifice and unflinching conviction?

Though there are many women who permeated the pages of history with lives of exceptionality and excellence, I’d like to list 50 women who have had the greatest effect on my life and the views and values I uphold.