5 female badasses Who Blazed the Canadian Trail
I often hear, and have been guilty of saying myself, “I believe in women’s rights, but I’m not a Feminist!” I remember when I was called out for saying that I wasn’t a feminist, and my friend, shocked at my words, said “what?! Of course you are.” For whatever reason I admittedly believe I didn’t fully understand what it means to be a Feminist. And what I’ve come to learn is that feminism actually means something we all want in life: Equality.
Although women and minorities have come a long way in our journey to equal rights, 2020 has reminded us of how far we have yet to go. These thoughts of equality really got me thinking, and I felt called to research my own countries female trailblazers, in both female activism but also in male dominated fields. Researching these brave women inspired me, and I felt gratitude for their courage and perseverance. Traditionally photography is a male dominated occupation, and reading of these lessons reminded me to have grit, gumption, to continue with my drive for excellence in my field, and to live my life with integrity. I hope this does the same for you.
Here are some female badasses that you should know, because they have paved the way for us female Canadians.
Emily Stowe
Emily was the first female physician to practice in Canada, a teacher, school principal, and a suffragist. She worked as a teacher early in her life, and after her husband was diagnosed with Tuberculosis it then inspired her to pursue medicine. Emily researched different medical colleges in Ontario, and was denied entry because she was a women. She was accepted into the New York Medical College for women and received her degree in homeopathic medicine in 1867.
After being denied entry into medical programs and the same opportunities as her male counterparts, Emily advocated for equal rights for women and me, and began the suffragette movement. She started the Toronto Women’s Literary Club (TWLC) in 1867 which was created to help women in such areas as: access for a women’s right to vote, the right to own property, advocating for higher education for women, and improving working conditions for female workers. In 1883, the TWLC changed it’s name to the Canadian Women’s Suffrage Association (CWSA) in which Emily was the Vice President. In 1889, Stowe helped create a nationwide organization devoted to female suffrage called the Dominion Women’s Enfranchisement Association (DWEA). Stowe was the principal founder and first president of the DWEA. In her position, Stowe used various strategies to influence political change: lobbying, petitions, rallies, speeches, and newspaper editorials.
Much of the reason we can vote and own property today is due to Emily’s efforts.
Viola Desmond
Viola was a Canadian businesswomen and a civil rights activist. She was a beautician, and was a mentor to young black women in Nova Scotia through her Desmond School of Beauty Culture.
In 1946, Viola Desmond challenged racial discrimination when she refused to leave the segregated Whites-only section of the Roseland Theatre in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. Viola Desmond was arrested, jailed overnight and convicted without legal representation for an obscure tax offence as a result. Despite the efforts of the Nova Scotian Black community to assist her appeal, Viola Desmond was unable to remove the charges against her and went unpardoned in her lifetime. Desmond’s courageous refusal to accept an act of racial discrimination provided inspiration to later generations of Black persons in Nova Scotia and in the rest of Canada. In 2010, Lieutenant-Governor Mayann Francis issued Desmond a free pardon. In December 2016, the Bank of Canada announced that Viola Desmond would be the first Canadian woman to be featured by herself on the face of a banknote — the $10 note released on 19 November 2018. Viola Desmond was named a National Historic Person by the Canadian government in 2018.
Buffy saint marie
Beverly Sainte-Marie, CC, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, social activist, philanthropist, visual artist (born 20 February 1941 on Piapot Reserve, SK). A pioneering and influential singer-songwriter, Buffy Sainte-Marie specializes in love songs and music with a political and social-activist focus. She was an important figure in the Greenwich Village and Toronto folk music revivals in the 1960s, and is perhaps best known for her 1964 anti-war anthem “Universal Soldier,” which was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005. She won a Golden Globe, a BAFTA and an Academy Award for co-writing the hit song “Up Where We Belong.” A Companion of the Order of Canada, she has been inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame, the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame and Canada’s Walk of Fame. She has received the Polaris Music Prize and the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award, as well as multiple Juno Awards, Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards, lifetime achievement awards and honorary degrees.
Roberta Bodnar
Is Canada's first female astronaut and the first neurologist in space. After more than a decade as head of an international space medicine research team collaborating with NASA, Bondar became a consultant and speaker in the business, scientific, and medical communities.
Bondar has received many honours including appointment as a Companion of the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario, the NASA Space Medal, over 28 honorary degrees, induction into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame, the International Women's Forum Hall of Fame and a star on Canada's Walk of Fame.
Haley Wickenheiser
Let’s hear it for a fellow Saskatchewan girl!
Haley is a Canadian former ice hockey player, and the current Assistant Director of Player Development for the Toronto Maple Leafs. She was the first woman to play full-time professional hockey in a position other than goalie. Wickenheiser was a member of Canada women's national ice hockey team for 23 years, from 1994 until announcing her retirement on January 13, 2017, and is the team's career points leader with 168 goals and 211 assists in 276 games. She represented Canada at the Winter Olympics five times, capturing four gold and one silver medal and twice being named tournament MVP, and one time at the Summer Olympics in softball. She is tied with teammates Caroline Ouellette and Jayna Hefford for the record for the most gold medals of any Canadian Olympian, and is widely considered the greatest female ice hockey player of all time. On February 20, 2014, Wickenheiser was elected to the International Olympic Committee's Athletes' Commission.
What these women have in common is the belief and understanding that women are equal and be treated as such. They have all shattered the glass ceilings and have paved the way for future generations of successful, smart women. For that, I’m so amazed, inspired, and grateful!
Research reference: The Canadian Encyclopedia