100 things to make all women feel proud

Since The Lady was first published in 1885, it has been an extraordinary, turbulent time for women. As the BBC’s much lauded new costume drama, Parade’s End, once again highlights women’s struggle for equality (the heroine is Valentine Wannop, a suffragette), here are 100 good reasons – from the heroic to the humorous, the spectacular to the surprising – to celebrate women everywhere…

1 We are clever. Marie Curie was the fi rst woman to win a Nobel Prize in 1903.

2 We stay beautiful. Two-thirds of men begin balding by age 60, while hair loss in women is much rarer.

3 We are imaginative. In 1902, Beatrix Potter created the Peter Rabbit series.

4 We are resolute. In 1904-1906, Dora Montefi ore refused to pay her taxes until women were given the vote.

5 We give back to our communities. Women have been eligible for election to borough and county councils since 1907, when the Qualifi cation of Women Act was passed.

6 We survive longer. In most countries, life expectancy of women is greater than that of men.

7 We stand up for our beliefs. In 1908, suffragettes chained themselves to the railings outside Downing Street in their bid to win the vote.

8 We’re loyal. According to a survey, the bonds of friendship made by British women when they are at school are twice as likely to be sustained for life than those made by men.

9 We are appreciated. Mother’s Day has been held every year since 1914. 

10 We captivate. World bestselling books Harry Potter and Fifty Shades Of Grey are written by women.

11 We can tie a good knot. Millions of girls have achieved this and more, since the Girl Guides Association (now Girlguiding UK) began in 1910. 

12 We can take to the skies. The first qualifi ed female pilot, Hilda Hewlett, gained her licence in 1911.

13 Women have higher pain thresholds. A study of military veterans found women soldiers were less likely to report pain than their male peers. 

14 We are REALLY clever. Marie Curie was awarded her second Nobel Prize in 1911 - the first person to receive it twice.

15 We can change (and save) lives. Eleanor Davies-Colley was the first woman admitted into the Royal College of Surgeons over 100 years ago. 

16 We are cleaner. Researchers in America found that men had up to 20 per cent more bacteria on their workspaces than women. 

17 We are good educators. Britain’s first-ever official female professor was Caroline Spurgeon, who was appointed Professor of English Literature at London University in 1913. 

18 We’re safer. Statistics show women are less likely to be killed in a car accident. 

19 We stand up for each other. On 26 July 1913, 50,000 women staged a ‘pilgrimage’ in Hyde Park to demonstrate for the National Union of Women Suffrage Societies. 

20 We can bake a mean cake. The Women’s Institute in Britain has been going since 1915, when it was set up in Wales. 

21 Women tend to have neater handwriting than men, due to a fundamental difference in how our brains develop.

22 We are assiduous. In this year’s A-Level results, girls recorded more grades of A and above.

23 And we work hard physically, too. In 1917, The Women’s Land Army, the Women’s Royal Air Force and the Women’s Royal Naval Service were all established, giving women active employment during the war.

24 We have our say. Women have been voting in General Elections in Britain since 1918.

25 We are stars. Annie Jump Cannon published her system of stellar classification in 1918 – and it is still used today.

26 We run the country. Women have been standing as MPs since 1918.

27 We outshine men. Kathryn Bigelow won the Oscar for Best Director in 2010, beating former husband James Cameron, who had also been nominated.

28 We are professionals. The Sex Disqualification Removal Act was passed in 1919, and women have become lawyers, vets and civil servants ever since.

29 We are feminine but feisty. French tennis player Suzanne Lenglen won Wimbledon for the first time in 1919. She shocked everyone by playing in a short dress.

30 We entertain the world. Opera singer Dame Nellie Melba was the first person to be heard on radio in 1920.

31 We are educated. Women have been undergraduates at Oxford University since 1920, and at Cambridge University since 1948.

32 We are creative. The world’s first novel, The Tale Of Genji, was written by a Japanese woman in around 1000AD.

33 We are excellent communicators. Enough said!

34 We are talented. Writer Edith Wharton was the first woman to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for The Age Of Innocence in 1921.

35 We can inherit. Husbands and wives have had equal rights to inherit since 1922.

36 We understand good style. Coco Chanel invented the Little Black Dress in 1926.

37 We can control the news. Ethel Snowden took the helm at the BBC in 1927, becoming its first female governor.

38 We are fit. In 1927, Mercedes Gleitze was the first English woman to swim the English Channel.

39 We are VERY educated – 60 per cent of Masters Degrees are achieved by women.

40 We keep law and order. Lillian Wyles was appointed the first female Chief Inspector in the police force in 1932.

41 We know our geography. The first London A-Z Street Atlas was created by Phyllis Pearsall, in 1936.

42 We win gold. The first gold medal of London 2012 was won by a woman, Chinese shooting expert Yi Siling.

43 We can row. Britain’s first gold medal of London 2012 was won by Helen Glover and Heather Stanning in the women’s pairs.

44 We get heard. Woman’s Hour was fi rst broadcast in 1946.

45 We know the truth. Simone de Beauvoir published her seminal work, The Second Sex, 1949.

46 We top charts. Lita Roza was the first woman in Britain to reach number one in 1953 singing How Much Is That Doggy In The Window?

47 We provoke change. Rosa Parks helped to spark the Civil Rights movement in 1955 by refusing to give up her bus seat to a white passenger.

48 We know news. Also in 1955, Barbara Mandell was the fi rst woman to read the news on ITN.

49 We hardly hiccup. It is scientifically proven than women get persistent hiccups less often than men. 

50 We make a mark. Mary Stott created a new agenda for The Guardian’s Women’s Page in 1957.

51 We can control finance. The first female bank manager, Hilda Harding, was appointed at Barclays in Hanover Street, London in 1958.

52 We are natural pacifiers. The Nobel Peace Prize was inspired by a woman: Baroness Bertha von Suttner.

53 We can fly. In 1966, Sheila Scott became the first British woman to fl  round the world.

54 We can run the country. Days before her 22nd birthday, Bernadette Devlin became the youngest-ever women elected to parliament in 1969.

55 We don’t get struck by lightning. Men are four times more likely to be struck my lightning than women.

56 We control music. Annie Nightingale became the first woman DJ on BBC Radio 1 in 1970.

57 We see colour better. Women are less likely to be colour blind than men.

58 We can have fabulous feet. The average woman has 17 pairs of shoes.

59 And in 1992 we could silence a room full of politicians after Betty Boothroyd became the fi rst woman Speaker of the House of Commons.

60 Since Kim Cotton did it first in 1985, we have been able to carry another woman’s baby by becoming a surrogate.

61 We can sort out our own tax affairs. Independent taxation for women was introduced in 1990.

62 We can be spies. Dame Stella Rimington was the first woman to head MI5, in 1991.

63 We can go into space. In 1991 Helen Sharman blasted into space and became Britain’s fi rst female astronaut.

64 We can get close to God. The Church of England ordained its fi rst women priests in 1994.

65 We can sign bank notes. Merlyn Lowther was the first to do so after being appointed Chief Cashier at the Bank of England in 1999.

66 We can conquer the globe. In 2002 Caroline Hamilton and Ann Daniels became the first all-female team to trek to both poles.

67 We are big earners. JK Rowling became the world’s best-paid author in 2003.

68 We can be Beefeaters. Moira Cameron broke the 522- year male monopoly at the Tower of London in 2007.

69 We work well under water. Sarah Mather invented the submarine telescope and lamp in 1845.

70 We love biscuits. Ruth Wakefield baked the first chocolate chip cookie in 1930.

71 We are great at saving time. Marion Donovan invented the disposable nappy in 1950.

72 We are ingenious. Mary Anderson invented the windscreen wiper in 1903.

73 We are ahead of the curve. Cleopatra (69 to 30BC) became Queen of Egypt at 18 years old.

74 We are fearless. Florence Nightingale worked on the battlefield during the Crimean War and laid the foundations for modern nursing.

75 We never give up. Helen Keller overcame deafness and blindness to achieve a degree and become an internationally renowned author.

76 We change minds. Anne Frank’s Second World War diary is a constant reminder of the horrors of anti-semitism.

77 If a job’s worth doing, we do it well. Sarah Boone reinvented the ironing board in 1892.

78 We take the driving seat. In 1905 Dorothy Levitt established the record for the longest motor car drive by a lady.

79 We’re proactive. Millicent Fawcett organised the first NUWSS national demonstration in 1907, which came to be known as the Mud March.

80 We are robust. Bette Davis said: ‘Old age ain’t no place for sissies.’

81 We care for animals. Aileen Cust became the first woman to practise as a veterinary surgeon in 1922.

82 We’re in parliament. Women have taken their seats in the House of Commons since 1918, and the House of Lords since 1958.

83 We control the markets. Women have been on the floor of the London Stock Exchange since 1973.

84 We fight fire. Mary Joy Langdon became Britain’s first female firefighter in 1976, with the East Sussex Brigade.

85 We scale mountains. In 1993, Rebecca Stephens was the fi rst British woman to reach the summit of Everest.

86 We are pioneering. Amelia Earhart once remarked: ‘Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail their failure must be but a challenge to others.’

87 We are determined. Ella Fitzgerald said: ‘It isn’t where you come from, it’s where you’re going that counts.’

88 We’re visionaries. Barbara Hepworth sculpted Mother and Child in 1934 while a mother of triplets.

89 We celebrate one another. International Women’s Day has been a formal annual event since 1977.

90 We run the capital. In 1983, Dame Mary Donaldson became the first female Lord Mayor of London.

91 We’re very fast. In 2005, Ellen MacArthur achieved the fastest solo circumnavigation of the globe.

92 We are authentic. Dolly Parton famously quipped: ‘Find out who you are and do it on purpose.’

93 We get things done. According to Margaret Thatcher: ‘In politics if you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman.’

94 We adore our pets. In her later years, Florence Nightingale kept an owl in her pocket.

95 We are often imitated. It has been estimated that at any one time around the world there are more than 600 adaptations of Jane Austen novels being produced.

96 We are inspirational. Indira Gandhi said: ‘You must learn to be still in the midst of activity and to be vibrantly alive in repose.’

97 We are great defenders. In 1971, Stephanie Kwolek invented Kevlar, from which bulletproof vests (and skis) are made.

98 We are manly. Her Majesty the Queen was Time magazine’s ‘Man of the Year’ in 1952.

99 We are good at DIY. Tabitha Babbitt, a member of a Shaker community, invented the first circular saw in 1813.

100 We are all beautiful. As Audrey Hepburn once said: 100 ‘For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.’