Courtney Love - Wonderful Woman No. 13

Courtney Love - Born 1964
American Singer, Songwriter, Musician and Actress

When the photo of Courtney Love appeared in my photo album, there was a comment protesting her inclusion.

Really? A media hungry drug addled train wreck who has had her children taken away from her on more than one occasion? I find nothing inspirational about this professional widow.
Owain, A Wonderful Man

While I do take Owain's point on Courtney, the original idea behind the album was not 'inspirational' women (although many of them are, especially as the album developed), it was more a selection of women who had been an influence at some point in my life, who I had been in awe of at some age or other.

I was, for a couple of years, a desperately unhappy teenager. I went through a period in high school were I was subjected to some fairly horrendous bullying by a group of very cruel girls in my year group. The typical girl-type bullying that was rarely about physical abuse and rather more about emotional torture. This was in the early 1990s when Courtney was a big deal. I saw the grunge girl who didn't seem to give a monkeys what anyone thought of her, she just got on with doing her thing whilst flicking a two fingers to the world... I really envied that.

My angsty teenage phase was short-lived, I moved on and gave Courtney no more thought but at the time, I guess it was important for me to be aware of someone like her... or, at least, the person I envisaged her to be when I was fourteen. I was not the only girl to feel this, I'm sure many, many others did too.

Although she doesn't 'inspire' me (although she's a pretty decent songwriter) I think most women our age have some level of interest in her?! She is very assertive, confident and talented and that's always good to see in a woman (particularly a woman in rock , a VERY male Dominated genre) I think some of her appeal for me has also been that she is a very obvious example of an emotionally troubled person (Something we all can at times relate to) and I think she, although obviously is now in a lot of ways, media driven, has always had some quite 'real' qualities which make her interesting and attractive. I definitely felt in awe of her at times as a teenager/young woman. She has massive balls!! And that's cool....She can stay [in the album] in my book...
Tara, A Wonderful Woman

Rosa Parks - Wonderful Woman No. 12

Rosa Parks - 1913-2005
African-American Civil Rights Activist

Right now, I really wish I were a better writer in order to be able to fully convey just how wonderful this woman was.

The name Rosa Parks instantly brings a lump of emotion to my throat. She is someone I feel truly in awe of and someone who makes me realise the great light, hope and power one person can have.

She was an ordinary woman, who did an extraordinary thing. It is incomprehensible to me that it was once common and acceptable practise for companies to favour one person over another simply because of the colour of their skin but that's how life was in America in the early and mid 1900s. Black and white people segregated, everything always in favour of those with white skin.

I would like to think everyone reading this is familiar with the Rosa Parks story but for anyone who is not;

Bus companies generally had sections at the back for 'coloureds' (as was the expression used at the time) and the front of the bus kept for white passengers. These sections were indicated by a sign that could be moved by the bus driver or conductor, if there were more white passengers the sign would be moved further back, allowing less seating for non-white passengers. Black people were never permitted to sit across the aisle from white people. It was expected that if more white people got on the bus, the sign would be moved back and black people would have to give up their seats to accommodate.

In December 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks took a bus journey. She paid the fare and sat in the allocated area for black people. During the ride, the bus began to fill up with more white people, until all the "white seats" were taken, leaving some white passengers standing in the aisle of the bus. The driver moved the sign indicating the area for black passengers further back and demanded that the four black passengers who were seated before the divide to move back. Three of them did, one of them, Rosa, did not. The driver urged her to go back and when she refused to move, stating "I don't think I should have to stand up," the police were called and Rosa was arrested. In court on a later date, she was found guilty of disorderly conduct and fined.

It is this single act of defiance, of believing that something was wrong and not just saying so but committing herself to the act of her one-woman protest that has really made Rosa a woman to be in awe of.

Her defiance and subsequent arrest sparked a boycott of the bus company, the boycott lasted 381, until the law requiring segregation on public buses was lifted.

Actually, no one can understand the action of Mrs. Parks unless he realizes that eventually the cup of endurance runs over, and the human personality cries out, 'I can take it no longer.
Martin Luther King

Sally Ann Howes - Wonderful Woman No. 11

Sally Ann Howes - Born 1930
British Actress

When people ask what my favourite film is, they generally are not expecting me to say Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. You might think that a woman in her thirties should prefer something altogether more mature, sophisticated and deep. Well, it is as much fun watching it now as it was when I first saw it as a seven year old child and for that, I cannot apologise.

Sally Ann plays Truly Scrumptious in the film. She is beautiful, kind, has a lovely singing voice, drives a lovely car and spends much of the film flouncing about in a white dress. She was precisely the woman I hoped I would grow up to be.

At the time of seeing the film, I was being taught by another wonderful woman, Mrs Dudley (the best teacher I ever had, if I could have gone to live with her, I would have been ecstatic). The day after seeing the film for the first time, I flounced into school (sadly not in a white dress) and asked Mrs Dudley if she would call me Truly instead of Sally. She gladly obliged and for the rest of the day I responded willingly to my new name. Perhaps someone should have pointed out to me that the actress playing Truly and I actually shared a name!

Mary Shelley - Wonderful Woman No. 10

Mary Shelley - 1797-1851
British Author

I read Mary Shelley's most famous work, Frankenstein, whilst studying for my A-levels. I was really taken in by the book, with all it's twists and turns. I thoroughly enjoyed the idea of reading the letters sent by Captain Robert Walton and how they began to tell the story of Dr. Frankenstein and his creation.

I love to find myself caught up in the imagery of the story I am reading. This book really ticked a lot of boxes for me and I remember feeling excited about writing my essay about the book at the end. Frankenstein really is a wonderfully well written story, with powerful content. It is completely understandable why this novel became the huge success it continues to be and why so many films have been made based on a piece of gothic literature that was first published in 1818.

The creation of this novel alone makes Mary a truly wonderful woman. It is worth noting though, that she wrote many other novels (including a number of historical ones), biographies, essays and even some travel literature. She also edited and promoted work by her husband, the celebrated poet, Percy Shelley. She was a vehement feminist (as her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, had been before her) and a political activist, many of her work being a platform for voicing opinions on social reform and change.

I do not wish women to have power over men; but over themselves.
Mary Shelley

Joan Collins - Wonderful Woman No. 9

Joan Collins - Born 1933
British Actress

Once again, I find myself referring back to my childhood love of the TV show Dynasty (I had really no idea that it had had such an effect on me!), which is where I was first aware of Joan. In Dynasty, she played Alexis Carrington, a feisty, glamorous woman, who pretty much summed up the powerful woman of the 1980s.

Since then I have seen Joan in some other things and seen her as herself on a number of occasions. She is really quite comical, having cleverly made herself a caricature of herself. Flamboyant, feisty and always, always fabulous.

Show me a person who has never made a mistake and I'll show you somebody who has never achieved much.
Joan Collins

Heather Locklear - Wonderful Woman No. 8

Heather Locklear - Born 1961
American Actress

This entry is reflective of my pre-teen years. I was a huge fan of the TV show Dynasty, in which Heather played Sammy-Jo Carrington.

I thought Sammy-Jo was marvellous. She was the inspiration for my hair and clothes at the time - thankfully, my mother seems to have little photographic evidence of this!

I'm not really sure what Heather has been up to since the 1980s... I'm sure she's probably still pretty wonderful.

Sally Bowles - Wonderful Woman No. 7

Sally Bowles played by Liza Minnelli in the Film Cabaret - 1972
Fictional American Singer and Show Girl

When I first watched cabaret, I really rather envied Sally the beautiful showgirl. I wanted to be the girl with the severe make-up and the exciting life and to be all-singing-all-dancing. Perhaps there is also an element of being seduced by the party-loving, bohemian lifestyle. Sally is also a woman who is content with her life, she is not longing to find a man and settle down (as we see so often in female film roles) - she is happy with her lot. In fact, when the opportunity to become and wife and mother presents itself, Sally rejects it. In her final scene, we see her back to her life as a showgirl, giving a fabulous performance of the film's title song, to a rapturous reception.