Being a girl is hard. I grew up with a very traditional background, which gave me the distinct feeling that my femaleness largely determined how I could live my life. I have vivid memories of realizing I couldn’t follow my dad’s career as a pastor, not for a lack of faith, but because of my gender. Even today when I walk down the street, I can’t help but remember my mother’s warnings: don’t make eye contact, don’t respond to strange men, and definitely don’t walk down any dark alleyways. I have had to come to terms with the idea that even in the new millennium, women are still unequal to men. This is a hard pill to swallow.

History has been written largely by white men. For too much of our history, women were not taught to read, write, drive, or have any other skills that would allow for personal independence. We have not been allowed to participate in the writing of our stories. Today we still have to fight for the right for young girls to receive an education in some parts of the world. This willful handicapping of women has prevented half of the world’s population from flourishing for hundreds of years, stifling the potential for unique contributions to art, science, and culture.

Though women may still be unequal and frustrated with their place in the world, we’re more free today than ever before. Our freedom today is the result of centuries of women fighting for justice, liberty, and equality. So much inspiration can be taken from reading the stories of these heroines, and I’ve personally derived much comfort in knowing women have done so much with so little.

I wanted to share the beautiful stories of these women who have broken the ‘glass ceiling’ over and over and over. So I created Badass Ladies in History.