The birth of Islam allowed women to have independent identities and for a woman’s successes or failures to rest entirely on her. This is no better demonstrated than in the case of Nusaybah bint Ka’ab, Islam’s first woman warrior.
women in history
LGBTQ+ Couples: Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West
"I am reduced to a thing that wants Virginia..." The love affair of Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West was colourful and lively, and the impact the two women had on each other and their work can scarcely be measured.
LGBTQ+ Couples: Anne Lister and Ann Walker
Gay marriage has only been legal across the UK for just over two years, after legislation took effect in Northern Ireland on 13th January 2020. However, the first lesbian ‘wedding’ actually took place a little short of two centuries before, when Anne Lister and Ann Walker wedded at Holy Trinity Church in York in 1834.
Women in Mythology: Nüwa (女媧)
Every religion and mythology has a creation myth. The Ancient Greeks believed in Chaos and Gaea, who gave birth to the first beings. In the Christian Bible, God spends six days forming animals, plants, and people. In Ancient China, there was Nüwa.
Women in Mythology: The Morrígan
Sometimes a triple goddess, sometimes an individual entity, the Morrígan is a feared figure from Irish mythology. As a goddess of war, her stories are centred around the battlefield, an unusual place for a woman in Celtic myth.
Z is for… Zenobia
Born around 240 AD in Palmyra, Syria, Zenobia would rise to challenge the likes of the Roman Empire and even earn their grudging respect, despite their prejudices against both her race and sex.
Y is for… Yaa Asantewaa
Now an anti-colonial heroine and a role model for women and girls throughout Africa, Yaa Asantewaa was prepared to do whatever it took to protect her land and culture. As Queen Mother, she held a great deal of power in the relatively egalitarian Asante nation—power which she used to incite a war against one of the largest colonial forces in the world. It was not a war Asantewaa would necessarily win in body, but her actions and what they symbolised produced a type of victory out of defeat.
X is for… Xtabay
La Xtabay is a Yucatec Maya myth which seems to invert the typical Madonna/whore complex that is often seen in folktales. The story contrasts two women - one promiscuous, the other chaste - but it may not turn out like you expect.
W is for… Witches
The Pendle Witch Trials, in which twelve people were accused of witchcraft and ten sentenced, are some of the most infamous in English history, accounting for 2% of all witch executions carried out across three centuries. Read on to find out about the series of events that led to these deaths.
V is for… Velu Nachiyar
India has its fair share of female warriors in its history, but one of the first was a woman named Velu Nachiyar, the first Queen of Sivaganga estate. She was the first queen to take on British colonial powers in India, and she emerged victorious, restoring her kingdom to its former glory.