Totally Underrated And Amazingly Awesome Women You Need To Know About

This is a list of women you might not know about, issues you might not know about, movements you might not know about- but totally should.

Milktea (Lilian Chen)

Nintendo / Via e3.nintendo.com

Milktea (Lilian Chen) is a former competitive player of the video game Super Smash Bros Melee. She has been playing the fighting game for the past ten years. Although she doesn't compete anymore, she attends tournaments still, and will forever be one of the most prominent faces of women in the SSBM community. Through many social medias, she has actively written about the issues women face in gaming. I myself competitively play the game and have experienced the issues she has written about: Not being taken seriously, being seen as simply striving for attention, and not being given credit where credit is due. In not just the melee community but gaming in general, it is not as common to see a girl playing as it is to see a guy playing. And unfortunately, while some will treat you all the same, that is not always the case. Milktea speaks proudly about the negative light women can sometimes be seen in. Her words have brought attention to problems that otherwise, would remain unspoken. She encourages everyone in the gaming community to be more aware of their actions, and to be supportive of each other no matter who they are. For this I find her to be an influential woman. She is a glimmer of hope, and a role model to up and coming female gamers. Thanks to women like her, gender roles are being broken. She shows us all that you should always speak up for yourself.

"When you're given a voice, you need to use it, and you need to use it responsibly."

Refer to:

http://ideas.ted.com/whats-it-like-to-be-a-woman-in-competitive-gaming-a-female-gamer-explains/

and

http://milktea-ssbm.tumblr.com/

for more from Milktea

*Disclaimer: Lilian is not in favor of women being treated like mystical unicorns. That no one should be given special treatment, we should all be treated equally. She along with all true feminists, fight for the idea of equality.

Meredith Walker, Amy Miles, and Amy Poehler

Amy Poehler's Smart Girls / Via amysmartgirls.com

These three women founded the organization Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls. This organization is a non-profit dedicated to aiding girls of all ages, encouraging people to “Change the World by Being Yourself.” It started out at as a comedic web series, but after winning a Webby award and being recognized for its inspiring material, it became so much more. The smart girls are encouraged to express themselves, volunteer, and take part in civic activism. Smart Girls has partnered up with fellow organization Creative Action to form a Summer Camp. The camp is for girls of ages 14-18, the girls take part in activities that allow them to practice critical thinking, understanding their ability to change the world for good, and knowing fitting in is nothing in comparison to their intelligence and curiosity. They provide a safe haven to girls who otherwise might never understand their true worth. It is so important for women to be able to know the happiest life comes from being yourself.

“I like bossy girls I always have, I like people filled with life.”

For more from Amy Poehler’s Smart girls click the link down below to read about topics like art, politics, culture, and education, to explore different campaigns, and try out new activities.

http://amysmartgirls.com/

Marinashutup

youtube.com / Via youtube.com

Marinashutup is a youtuber dedicated to discussing social justice issues. Her videos are awesome, hilarious, full of dry humor, and inform viewers about equality and what exactly that means. With videos like “What is Cultural Appropriation” and “What’s the difference between sex and gender”, Marina does her best to ask hard hitting questions and answer them in the best way possible. Her opinions are well-researched and help men and women truly understand how to be awesome people. In her videos she explores her views on issues like rape, depression, race and feminism. Her words encourage people everywhere to believe that spreading awareness is what is needed in order to achieve change.

“I realize that spreading awareness is not the end-all-be-all of fixing social problems, but it is often the necessary step that leads to action.”

For more from Marinashutup click the link below

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJ2yCFYUDiBJajga4tXRdNA

Amal Clooney

Irish Mirror / Via i1.irishmirror.ie

Although at first glace you'd think she's the perfect woman for maintaining amazing brows and marrying George Clooney, she is perfect for so many other reasons. Born Amal Ramzi Alamuddin, she is an Oxford educated lawyer, activist and former UN advisor who has worked tirelessly to advocate for human rights and freedom of speech. She has worked on the recognition of the Armenian genocide, driven forward global initiative to shield children in conflict zones from rape and sexual violence, and speaks to students about her work in criminal law. She is an amazing woman who has contributed amazing ideas, and brought justice into the world. She stands as an example to people everywhere to protect those who cannot protect themselves.

Tess Holliday

Stylite / Via styleite.com

At 5'5'' size 22,Tess Holliday is the biggest plus-size model to get a major modeling contract. In high school Tess was bullied for her skin color and weight. She was also bullied about her size by her dad but her mother encouraged her to become a model. She worked as a makeup artist and creative director for some time, but after some photos were taken of her by her boyfriend at the time she soon began her modeling career. She has modeled for Benefit Cosmetics, featured in Vogue Italia, and starred in the A&E series Heavy. Tess Holliday’s gorgeous looks poop all over beauty standards and show that all people can find perfection in what some may call imperfect. There is always a tremendous pressure on us all to look a certain way, keep up with the latest trends and looks. But Tess Holliday says to “eff your beauty standards”, to forget standards and see the worth in looking the way you do.

“I understand not everyone understands what I’m about, but to me it’s such a simple concept. It’s all about loving your body regardless of your size and chasing your dreams."

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

youtube.com / Via youtube.com

Chimamanda is probably most widely known for her speech in the aforementioned Tedx Talks video, particularly the small role it plays in the Beyoncé song 'Flawless'. Don't get me wrong the song in itself makes you feel like you're in 10 inch heels, with wind blowing in your hair, kicking major ass, and saving the world. However, the woman who fuels the feminist undertones of the song is Chimamanda . In her talk 'We Should All be Feminists', she explains the importance of being a feminist in a world that can sometimes view it in a negative way. The Nigerian novelist majored in Communication minoring in Political Science, with a Masters degree in African Studies and Creative Writing. She was listed as one of the twenty most important fiction writers today under 40 years old by The New Yorker and celebrated as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2014. She renounces the idea of gender roles, and advocates for equality. Her speech fights to inform us we are equally as important, and equally as human, that gender roles are a great injustice to humanity. She says these ideals will create a world with happier men and women.

"Feminist: the person who believes in the social. Political, and economic equality of the sexes"

Malala Yousafzai

Comedy Central / Via youtube.com

Malala is a seventeen year old Pakistani activist for female education, as well as being the youngest person to win a Nobel Prize. Malala lives in England, but five years ago when she lived in northwest Pakistan, the local Taliban had banned girls from attending school. She wrote a blog post under another name for BBC about her life, and living under Taliban, their plans for taking over completely, and her dreams for education in her area. The next summer, after a documentary was made about her life she rose to fame. In 2012, after she went on her school bus, a man asked for her then shot her three times in the face. She was moved to a hospital in England to recover. The taliban issued a statement, threatening to kill her and her father, Ziauddin. The nation sent their support and love to her, sparking a UN petition in her name, that asked for education to be mandatory for every child by the end of 2015. Malala's words and perseverence made a huge impact on the world. She leads by example, that even in the face of danger, we must stand firm in what we believe in. That if we do so, you have the capability to change the world.

If you hit a Talib with your shoe, then there would be no difference between you and the Talib. You must not treat others with cruelty and that much harshly, you must fight others but through peace and through dialogue and through education.

Yeomni Park

One Young World / Via youtube.com

Yeomni Park is a North Korean human rights activist, who speaks out against the crimes and horrors happening in her homeland. She describes having one channel on her tv only used to brainwash the people, being convinced the dictator could even hear her thoughts, and having watching her best friend's mother assassinated in front of the entire town. Her family was at one point a part of the ruling elite. However, when her father was imprisoned for alleged illegal business, his views on the leadership changed. Yeomni's personal views changed upon watching the movie Titanic on a pirated DVD, this movie taught her what love was which made her realize how oppressive North Korea was. Her father paid his way out of imprisonment and for two years the family did their best to make their way to China. Seven years after her escape, in 2014 Park began to speak of the hardship that she faced being a refugee, in order to bring awareness to the lack of human rights in North Korea. Stories like hers, remind us to do our best to give off love and support, to be the good in a world that is not always so.

You have to shed the light on even the darkest places in the world.

Emma Sulcowicz

New York Magazine / Via pixel.nymag.com

Emma is an Art major at Columbia University, she was raped in her dorm by a classmate her sophomore year. Along with 23 other alleged cases of rape being botched by the school, Sulcowicz's rapist walks freely throughout campus and was let off without even a suspension. Emma's story is similar to the stories of many; mishandled cases, sexual abuse, and the difficulty of living with both of these experiences. In an effort to speak out for herself and the countless people who have experienced what she has, she began an art piece entitled: "Carry That Weight". It is estimated that every 21 hours there is a rape on an American college campus (Crisis Connection). A just as scary statistic tells us "more than 40 percent of [350] universities had not conducted a sexual assault investigation over the last five years. And more than 20 percent of the schools provide no sexual assault response training to faculty and students, one-third of the surveyed schools provided no sexual training to students about the issue." (Washington Post). Sulcowicz's art piece unleashed endless aid from her peers and classmates. She's constantly helped on campus carrying her mattress, and this stands as a metaphor for the support and help we should give all people who are faced with the great tragedy of sexual abuse. Sexual abuse is often something we are made to feel is an embarrassing and taboo topic. However, it is imperative for us as people to be able to speak about these things. To bring what is normally left as a painful secret in the bedroom, out into the light. To help those who are brave enough to do so, to give them our support and help.

Everyone who has believed in me. Everyone who has helped carry the mattress. Everyone who has carried mattresses in support around the world. Everyone who has stood up for themselves and spoken out. Everyone who has worked to end the silence. These are the people who make real change.

Google / Via ethic.es

These women really are awesome, but to be quite honest I think as women we're all amazingly awesome and totally underrated. So when you look at these women, know you can achieve anything. Pocket the strength to speak out, the kindness to help, the fervor to teach, and the eagerness to strive for a more equal world.