Mallory’s Monthly Reads – Bygone Badass Broads

As I mentioned in my previous entry, I didn’t manage to finish any books last month. That said, I got halfway through one, and more than 80% of the way through another. The former was Prozac Nation, which I liked but it was very depressing. The latter was Bygone Badass Broads: 52 Forgotten Women Who Changed the World by Mackenzi Lee. Lee’s book was an anthology about incredible women throughout time who aren’t as well known as Eleanor Roosevelt, Rosa Parks, Cleopatra, or Gloria Steinhem. In the process of reading this book, I learned about a bunch of awesome women that I had never known existed! Here’s just three of the women mentioned in the book who blew me away:

1. Khutulun: Here’s an obscure “Parks and Rec” reference: When Leslie is invited to an event ceremony for women in government, she is accompanied to the luncheon by April, who fangirls over a Mongolian woman named Khongordzol, who grew up in a hut of ice and mud, only to then become her town’s mayor, police chief, and top wolverine wrangler.

   

   Khutulun didn’t wrangle wolverines, but she was still pretty badass. She was the daughter of one of Mongolia’s most powerful leaders. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree, as Khutulun was an equally fierce warrior. She fought alongside other soldiers, and demanded that any man who wanted to marry her should be able to defeat her in wrestling. If they couldn’t defeat her, they owed her horses. It is said that by the end of her life she had had over ten thousand horses. She remained undefeated in wrestling, but did eventually marry a handsome man (though not much is known about him). Marco Polo was a huge fanboy of hers, being one of the few to document her story.

2. King Christina of Sweden: Christina became queen at the age of six. Yes. She was the apple of her father (the king’s) eye, and he made sure that his daughter would inherit the throne if anything were to happen to him before she had the chance to properly transition into the role. Christina was educated as though she were a royal male, learning multiple languages, studying hours a day, and impressing all with her wit. She was a great patron of the arts and even performed in plays. She was very anti-womanly pleasures, like becoming a wife and subservient to a man. That said, she had a very close female friend who may have been (definitely was) a romantic partner. Christina’s refusal to marry, along with her frivolous spending and provocative behavior, contributed to her eventually abdicating the throne and converting to Catholicism. She was then exiled, but she eventually returned to Sweden before settling in Italy. She lived a life of scandal and rebellion, but is one of the few women buried in the Vatican after being so beloved by multiple popes. Maybe it’s just because she was in a movie called Vicki Christina Barcelona, but I kind of want to see Scarlett Johansson play her in a movie.

   

3. Sarah Breedlove (Madam C.J. Walker): Sarah was America’s first female billionaire. Born the first free child into a family of slaves, Sarah was orphaned and worked from a very young age, receiving very minimal teaching by way of a formal education. Now in a new world where former slaves were now considered “people”, Sarah (who eventually took on the name Madam C.J. Walker after her husband Charles Joseph Walker, with deriving the French title of Madam for beauty pioneers) noticed a lack of products for hair and skincare for the African-American community. She eventually began her own line of products, starting her own business and selling door-to-door while teaching other women how to care for their own hair. As her business expanded, she employed and provided education programs targeted to helping black women achieve economic independence. She took advantage of her position as a prominent business woman to give back to her community, playing a prominent role in creating leadership opportunities for other African Americans and even joining the executive board of the NAACP. She was quite philanthropic and donated thousands to charities and orphanages, among other endeavors. Days after reading this chapter, a miniseries on Sarah’s life premiered on Netflix, with Octavia Spencer portraying Madam C.J. Walker.

This book had plenty of other great women’s stories, and I hope they all get their due in the future. They say there’s nothing but reboots and remakes in Hollywood now. With all the talent in tinseltown now, combined with the contents of this book… there’s potential for years’ worth of Academy Awards, Tonys, and stardom. These women are worthy of a legacy.