Women Warriors - Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi

"People ask me about what sacrifices 

I’ve made.  I always answer: 

I’ve made no sacrifices.

                                    I’ve made choices.”   

                                                                           - Aung San Suu Kyi

Women Warriors - Josephine

Josephine Baker

"The Eiffel Tower looks very different from the Statue of Liberty, but what does that matter? What is the good of having the statue without the liberty?”

Baker was the first African American female to star in a major motion picture, to integrate an American concert hall, and to become a world-famous entertainer. 

Josephine Baker…growing up abandoned and in abject poverty in the slums of St. Louis, she left school at the age of 12 to work in a series of menial jobs, surviving in makeshift cardboard shelters…Her street corner dancing attracted attention and at the age of 15 she was recruited to dance in a vaudeville show and found success in New York Harlem’s dynamic night club scene.

Josephine Baker

However, it was only when she went to Paris that she became a SENSATION. Paris society was integrated and Baker became one of the highest paid entertainers in all of Europe and welcomed into all aspects of Parisian society. Yet, when she returned to ‘Merka in 1936, she was savaged by the ‘Merkin critics; the New York Times calling her a “Negro wench.” She is reported to have returned to France heartbroken by the reception.  

Josephine Baker

 Lady GAGA… who? 

Josephine Baker

Racism prevented her talents from being wholly accepted in the United States until 1973. She refused to perform for segregated audiences when she toured and is credited with helping to integrate Las Vegas shows. 

She is also noted for her contributions to the Civil Rights Movement in the United States and she was offered the unofficial leadership of the movement by Coretta Scott King in 1968 following Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination. For assisting the French Resistance during World War II, she received the French military honor, the Croix de guerre.

In a famously reported incident, she accused the Stork Club in Manhattan with refusing her service. Grace Kelly, who happened to be in the club at the time, saw what happened. She marched her entire party out of the club, arm-in-arm with Baker. Kelly never set foot in the club again and the two women became friends to the end. Years later, when Baker had fallen on hard times she was supported by Grace Kelly, who was known as Princess Grace of Monaco by then, with money and a villa.

Josephine Baker sashayed onto a Paris stage during the 1920s with a comic, yet sensual appeal that took Europe by storm. Famous for barely-there dresses and no-holds-barred dance routines, her exotic beauty generated nicknames like "Black Venus.”  She maintained energetic performances and a celebrity status for 50 years until her death in 1975. At her funeral 20.000 people came in mourning.

Women Warriors - She was an unusual woman, a little ahead of her times.

Ella Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe

“… I owe Marilyn Monroe a real debt… it was because of her that I played the Mocambo, a very popular nightclub in the ‘50s. She personally called the owner of the Mocambo, and told him she wanted me booked immediately, and if he would do it, she would take a front table every night. She told him - and it was true, due to Marilyn’s superstar status - that the press would go wild. The owner said yes, and Marilyn was there, front table, every night. The press went overboard. After that I never had to play a small jazz club again. She was an unusual woman - a little ahead of her times. And she didn’t know it”   

 -     Ella Fitzgerald 

Women Warriors - Nothing is new!

Renee Perle. By Jacques Henri Lartigue. 1914

Nothing is new.

Everything is a recreation of something that’s already been done.

Although I’m not entirely convinced that everything could possibly have already been created, the past has a wonderful ability to inspire new things to be done, but in a different way or form, creating something that feels fresh, exciting and new to the times. Fashion is much like this. Today - we think that our relaxed way of wearing fashion and the highly individual mix of high-end labels & low price items is an invention of our times. This is far from the truth. Renee Perle was mixing ‘high & low’ in 1914, wearing a sport T-shirt with jewelries and an elegant coiffure with a lace veil. Très chic!

Nonetheless, when all of the components that en-capsule a unique and specific period of time are done for the first time, its existence is original and lives on.

Onna-musha - Women warriors

                                                                                Japanese Bushi women


Bushi women were trained mainly with the naginata because of its versatility against all manner of enemies and weapons. It was generally the responsibility of women to protect their homes rather than go off to battle, so it was important that they become skilled in a few weapons that offered the best range of techniques to defend against marauders who often attacked on horseback. 

One of the most famous women warrior was Tomoe Gozen.
She was described as follows:

"Tomoe was especially beautiful, with white skin, long hair, and charming features. She was also a remarkably strong archer, and as a swords-woman she was a warrior worth a thousand, ready to confront a demon or a god, mounted or on foot. She handled unbroken horses with superb skill; she rode unscathed down perilous descents. Whenever a battle was imminent, Yoshinaka sent her out as his first captain, equipped with strong armor, an oversized sword, and a mighty bow; and she performed more deeds of valor than any of his other warriors."

--Tale of the Heike. More HERE

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