The 8th of March of rebellious girls

Dream bigger, aim higher, fight harder. And, if in doubt, remember: you are right

These are the final words of one of our favourite books: Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls. A promising title that celebrates a reality more magical that any castle. The tales of 100 modern heroines: strong, complex, unwavering women. Who know how to pursue their passion, and fight to choose their destiny.

Young and not that young, well known or unknown to most, often in love, yet not depending on Prince Charming: the 100 women described in this book are scientists, pirates, painters, musicians, and activists. And, above all, they are the symbols of a courageous, unconventional life, a life out of the ordinary. Original, as we love it.

To celebrate the 8th of March, we selected 3 stories that impressed us in a special way. To remind every girl around the world that, if you put their mind to it, you can really do anything you aspire to do.

 

Amelia Earhart. Via Facebook Page Storie della buonanotte per bambine ribelli


Amelia Earhart

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who wanted to fly

Amelia had been dreaming about adventures since she was a little girl and to make her dreams come true she soon had to fight the social norms of the early 1900s, when «for us girls reading was considered proper, but not other outdoors activities. And I loved to play basket, tennis, bicycle around, and I practised all sports and the most physical games…».

She discovered her great passion for the first time in the Twenties: her parents took her on a short flight over Los Angeles. «As soon as we took off from the ground, I understood that I too needed to fly».

In 1923 she became the sixteenth woman in the world to obtain a pilot license. Soon after, she became the most famous aviator in history and the first woman to attempt a flight around the world.

Even Barbie paid homage to her by adding to the “Inspiring Women” collection a doll that looks like her:  «She’s a courageous woman who took risks, and changed the rules and cleared the way for generations of girls who can dream big».


Marie Curie

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who wanted to fly

«A scientist in his lab is not just a technician: he/she is also an eternal child facing natural phenomena that catch his imagination like in a fairy tale». 

Science was a fairy tale for Marie Curie, a lofty pseudonym for a Polish young girl called Marya. She was the “last” born and became the first woman ever to win the Nobel Prize, in addition to being one of only two people in the world to win two prizes in different disciplines.

To accomplish this, Marie dedicated her entire life to progress, with thousands of sacrifices and against uncountable adversities. She was orphaned during adolescence, lived in abysmal poverty when she left for Paris to study. In just 3 years she graduated, locked in an attic, suffering cold and hunger to reach her goal.

In the City of Lights she met her husband, discovered Polonium and Radium and taught at the prestigious Sorbonne University:  another record she had to struggled for in a time – at the end of the 1800s – of wide spread male chauvinism.

Marie was a special type of woman, with extraordinary independent spirit and determination, an intransigent perfectionist and a visionary genius. A not at all a careerist. As proved by the fact that she never patented her discoveries: «Humanity needs men of action, but dreamers too, people for whom pursuing a goal in a selfless manner is as important as it is thinking of one’s own benefit».

 

 Jane Goodall. Via Facebook Page Storie della buonanotte per bambine ribelli

Jane Goodall

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who wanted to live in the jungle

Until 1960 the academic world knew nothing about chimpanzees. Nor did Jane Goodall, who went to Tanzania to observe their behaviour at the young age of 26 without a degree or a scientific title. She came back 15 months later with a revolutionary discovery: humans were not the only beings capable of reasoning and solving a problem.

Jane Goodall's is the story of the greatest living naturalist, a woman who, despite his thin frame, is a real giant of anthropology. Sixty years ago she showed to us all that the differences between men and apes are not so great, thus redefining for all intent and purposes the concept of humanity itself.

The most beautiful thing is that Jane accomplished this not by studying on books or at the microscope, but by establishing a friendly, almost symbiotic, relationship with a chimpanzee in the Gombe Reserve, at the border of Congo. She even gave him a first and last name: David Greybeard, for his grey hair on the chin.

She lived for months with him and the other members of the community, discovering that chimpanzees use tools to find food and that they are even capable of making new ones.

Her conclusions closed a gap considered unbridgeable for the scientific mindset of that time. In reality, that officially meant that men and apes are part of the same family.

As her only male supporter at the time, university professor Louis Leakey, said: «Now we either have to redefine the concept of tool and that of man; or we must accept that chimpanzees are human».