100 Most Influential Women

by Deborah G. Felder

This book ranks the outstanding contributions of the most influential women of all time--from social reformers, women's rights activists, scientists, educators, and politicians to rulers, religious leaders, artists, performers, and sports figures--women who have inspired, inflamed, changed attitudes, and change the world.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Womens Studies, Womens, Feminism

400 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1996

About the author

Deborah G. Felder is a graduate of Bard College, where she studied drama and literature. She worked as an editor at Scholastic, Inc., and has been a freelance writer and editor for over 30 years.
She is also the author of four children's novels and two almanacs for children. In addition, Felder wrote the adaptations of popular children's books, The Three Musketeers and Anne of Green Gables. Felder has also written a number of books chronicling influential women and noteworthy events in women's history.

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

All ranked lists are controversial for who's where and who gets left out. This one is just that, and in my opinion, appallingly myopic--hence the lowest rating. Only 5 women on the list weren't from the US or Europe, few lived outside of the 20th century, and few non-white women. And finally, Eleanor Roosevelt is number 1. I like Eleanor Roosevelt, she changed the role of the First Lady and certainly accomplished a lot in her time. But really, the most influential woman ever? Of all time?

[Benjamin Stahl · Rating 3 out of 5]

An extensive, readable and informative list of the "100 most influential women" in history. Naturally, any kind of ranking seems both arbitrary and inevitably prone to controversy, as many great individuals must be omitted. Also, the idea of playing them off each other in order to determine the best of the best, the least of the best, etc., seems both stupid and beside the point; the apparent assumption that one cannot simply be great and do good works, but must also beat their competition in order to achieve a higher status of greatness, seems an unfortunate echo of the lowest "patriarchal" thinking. Maybe the writer, Deborah Felder, just did not put as much thought into it as I am crediting her. Nevertheless, the book could have done without the silly subtitle.

Nevertheless, it does make a decent primer to some of the notable females of our history, both ancient and modern - though primarily (which is not to say unjustifiably) the latter.

[Mady · Rating 1 out of 5]

Remarkably not worth reading. One woman’s political and religious views told through the narrative of other women’s lives. Should I have written a similar book it would probably have the same result, praising women who carried my values, and still not worth reading.

[Nicole Shelby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anthropologist, Margaret Mead: "Women have an important contribution to make."

Of course they do. But, women's opportunities for influence, as well as their recognition for their influence, have been slim. Not that we aren't capable, or willing... The reasons for this are varied and myriad. Hence, the fascination held within the pages of this book.

It was written by Women's Studies professors from leading US colleges and universities. It ranked social reformers (with high emphasis on suffragettes and abolitionists), educators, artists, performers, authors, political leaders, sport's figures... "Women who have inspired, inflamed, changed attitudes, and changed the world. Many have passed into history as the first, the finest, or the most prominent women in their fields...Their lives and achievements - and especially the battles they have waged on behalf of women, society and selfhood, make informative and compelling reading" (from the front cover).

I found it fascinating and inspiring. Many of the women I'd never heard of before. Those I did know about, I didn't know much. And just a few of them, I'm still a little unclear as to why they were included. These women devoted their lives, their energies, their talents, etc to improve the world in whatever sphere they were in. Regardless of the difficulties in their way, regardless of how difficult their particular fight was, regardless of the potential disastrous consequences...they persevered. For the most part, these women personified determination and integrity. They saw injustice, inequality...and did what they could to make life better.

That all being said. I have a completely different take I want to share. Without making rash judgments, I'll share something that I noticed. Here are some stats:

Single Women Included: 51.
Married Women Included: 17
Divorced/Separated Women: 28
Widowed (early on, essentially single): 4

Take from this what you want. And even though that main author, Deborah Felder, professed to be a biographer, a relater of facts. You could tell that she had little appreciation for the husbands, even the ones who were obviously supportive partners. She had much more admiration for the one's who did their best to be successful in spite of men. The one's who dedicated their lives to being single, who got rid of their men, and who encouraged other women to do the same. She overlooked, or didn't care about, the amazing partnership and balance that men and women can bring to one another. The support and love and aid that we can give one another. Granted a small percentage of the men were not optimal (to use a euphemistic word). But the few small-minded troublemakers shouldn't color the rest. Of course men have had much more overt influence and recognition over time...but we shouldn't discount them all now.

That being said - I also understand why the number of single women is so much larger. You know, being "unencumbered" with a husband and family. Able to focus without distractions. Able to travel hither and yon. Etc.

I'm also reading "Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention" right now. I'm not done yet. But, in one part he talks about the successful and creative person. One aspect is balance. The part I'm thinking of - his stats seemed to reveal that one aspect was a fulfilling family life, fulfilling relationships. Not just solely a focused independent life. To only read Felder, it would seem to be a hopeless task to attempt to feel fulfilled as "just" a wife and mother, and to have any sort of influence on the world. Mihaly C. is much more hopeful.

So many things to think about.

One more personal note: being a wife and mother may not be exciting and glamourous. My sphere on influence might be small. However, I believe I have the most important job in the world. And I wouldn't trade it.

[Cherie Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exactly as mentioned, "this book is sure to generate controversy, debate, and discussion..." I read about women I didn't know of, disagreed with some choices, and agreed with others. But it certainly is an interesting book to discuss.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although the actual information about these women was interesting I take serious issue with the title and format of the book. Had it been called "100 Influential Women" and been divided into sections like monarchs, civil rights activists, artists etc. I would have had no quibble. Instead, the (American) author takes these 100 women (59 American, 12 British, 22 other European and 7 from the rest of the entire planet!) from a wide variety of spheres of influence and ranks them 1 to 100. What an utterly futile and pointless exercise. So we have Eleanor Roosevelt at 1 and Lucille Ball at 100 via Rosa Luxembourg at 22 and Indira Ghandi at 56. Although in the introduction the author does acknowledge that the book is very white and Western she does not acknowledge the American bias, however without the American bias the book would have been even more white.

[Barbara Lovejoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book intrigued me!!!--I had a hard time putting it down. I happened to find it when I was looking for books with more info about the Grimke sisters. In this book I learned about women I knew nothing about and I learned new things about women with whom I was already familiar. I was amazed over and over again the trials most of these women had to overcome to achieve. So many of them have inspired me. I highly recommend this book.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting. Learned more about a few women I already knew of, learned much about several I hadn't heard of before. Made me curious to know more about some.

[Kari Brownholland · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a trash book. It’s too white, too western, too contemporary and too sanitized. There are far better books to spend your time on.

[Citra Rizcha Maya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Di awal tahun, saya berkeinginan untuk mengisi hidup saya dengan hal positif dan saya mengharapkan keseratus wanita ini memberikan saya inspirasi.

Hal yang menarik dari apa yang saya baca, bahwa setiap perempuan hebat adalah mereka yang mampu berdiri di atas kakinya sendiri, mampu memperjuangkan haknya, tahu apa yang diinginkan dan juga cara mewujudkannya. Di atas segalanya mereka adalah perempuan kuat berhati besar.

Yang saya sukai dari daftar ini bahwa setidaknya terdapat wanita luar biasa yang berprofesi sebagai guru atau pendidik, sekitar dua puluh tiga orang termasuk Lady Diana yang pernah menjadi guru TK hingga guru pedesaan Cile bernama Gabriela Mistral yang dianugerahi gelar "guru bangsa" dan ternyata mendidik bukan hanya tentang ilmu yang dibagikan tapi bagaimana menggali potensi terbesar anak didiknya seperti yang dilakukan Agnes de Mille serta kasih sayang tanpa batas seorang Anne Sullivan untuk Hellen Keller.

Berharap memiliki semangat Nadia Boulanger
Keteguhan hati Rosa Parks
Pikiran tanpa prasangka Anne Frank
Ketulusan Florence Nightingale
Kasih bunda Teresa
Keberanian Amelia Earhart
Bakat menulis Jane Austen
Serta ketegasan Eleanor Roosevelt

Para wanita hebat, terima kasih!
Dan para perempuan, milikilah keberanian untuk membuat perbedaan karena sesungguhnya tak ada batasan mengenai apa yang bisa kita lakukan.


Terima kasih bapak, karena telah menghadiahkan saya buku ini.

[Melissa Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

There were a lot of women in this book that I was not familiar with at all, which I think is sad. I'm really glad that I picked it up. I will probably look into trying to find more in-depth information about at least some of these women. I learned a lot about people of my own gender, things I really should have known already. I think it is important to recognize those who went before you that enable you to have and do the things you do today.

[Janice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short and sweet! Author Deborah Felder's thumbnail sketch of HER 100 most influential women was extensive in scope and concise in biography. I liked that. It was easy to read, infact, I would say a great book for a twelve year old girl. Felder even felt obliged to throw in the occasional fifty cent vocabulary word. Felder introducted me to women I had not met before and of course there were many of my heros too.

[Ke · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this book may be better entitled as "The 100 Most Influential Women According to Deborah G. Felder," I was more than happy to have read it. Especially, because this book provides extensive information on female American pioneers in science, politics, anthropology, education, etc.

[Nita]

I can't believe how little I know about important ladies. I'm reading about one lady each night.

quiz: what did wollstonecraft do?

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I intended to just read about one woman, but I was sucked in to read the whole book.

[Rachael · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little dry, but informational!