International Women's Day 2025: History and Folklore

Thought this International Women’s Day, I’d focus on Women of Folklore and History. After all, we have many goddesses, many historical figures, many writers and artists and so many others in culture and history that represent women, we don’t just exist in fiction.

Greek myth is the most popular mythology, but as a fan of all kinds of mythos and folklore, there are so many women in Indian, Sikh, Persian, Scandinavian, and Phoenician myths

Blenda, Tomyris, Malalai, the latter of whom one of our modern heroes was named for her and writers include them in retellings to this day, even minor characters like Kaikeyi and Vashti. Even in history, Salic Law has always been complete bul-um not very nice but there were those who defied it. Urraca of Castile, Melisende of Jerusalem, Eleanor of Aquitaine and while Empress Matilda was robbed of her rightful crown, she still made history as the Plantagenet matriarch.

We all know the names Anne Bonny, Mulan, Joan of Arc, Frida Kahlo, we have heard these names in mythology like Demeter, Isis, and Sita, But what about Margaret Beaufort the Tudor matriarch [read my tribute to her] or Fuamnach one of the most scorned women in mythology [read that one too] what about Semiramis of Babylon or Mary Seacole the original Florence Nightingale or Agnodice who may or may not have been the first midwife.

The poet Sappho is the most famous early women’s writer known, and Mary Wollstonecraft is overshadowed often by her daughter, the infamous Mary Shelley. Anne Bronte [The Tenant of Wildfell Hall tramples all over Wuthering Heights quite frankly, but also published against all odds were Christine De Pizan, Zafer Hanim, Lydia Koidula, Murasaki Shikibu, who wrote The Tale of Genji, the first novel, was written by a woman for Christ’s sake. One wonders how many women are published under male names, and we will never know.

Women warriors have always existed, like Arawelo, Tomoe Gozen. Lakshmi Bai, Zenobia, Artemisia, Nefertiti, The Trung sisters, The Wonhwa, The Agojie of Dahomey, who inspired the movie The Woman King, The Valkyries and shieldmaidens were mythical but actual Viking women had the rights to divorce and own property as well as take up arms alongside the men. Even in folklore and mythology, there was Artemis and her Hunters, Fiction adapts them or is inspired by them like The Kyoshi. Nowadays it all continues with the Akashinga and the Gulabi Gang and the Las Solderadas.

Science, Business and entertainment presented the true inventor of Monopoly, Elizabeth J. Magie Philips, Helen Holmes, the first female action star and Margaret J. Winkler, the first woman to develop animation and produce animators, including Walt Disney himself. Branching the way to create acres of History with names like Mary Blair and The Night Witches, following on with Ruth Coker Burks, “The Cemetery Angel”, child marriage eradicator Theresa Kachindamato and Dr. Hadiyah Nicole - Green, the first doctor to cure cancer in mice.

I agree, there should be more tales told. But there is a plethora just waiting to be discovered right in your libraries and wiki pages. Centuries of proof that Women can fight. Women can rule. Women can win. We know because we are represented in the women who broke boundaries.

Some of the Women mentioned -

Theresa Kachindamato

Ruth Coker Burks

Helen Holmes

Margaret Beaufort

Margaret J. Winkler