This book is funny, honest and down-right necessary. Girls
aren’t the best at everything... HOWEVER, neither are men... which is sometimes
forgotten. Women are rarely remembered for the great things they have
contributed to societies, this is why a book like this is so useful. Let’s not
forget those wonderful women who were the best at what they did and what they
do and who shoudln’t be overshadowed by their male counterparts.
I’ve picked out of a few of my favourite bits from the book,
enjoy!
1. The
Triplewart Seadevil is great. Well, if you’re a girl. It’s a kind of fish. At
least the females look like a fish. The boys are so small they don’t look like
anything mych. They don’t even have a digestive system. The only way for a boy
Triplewart to survive is by finding a girl and clinging onto her for the rest
of his life. It’s a bit like a boyfriend who keep saying’ ‘I’ll die if you
leave me’ – exepct in this case, of course, it’s true.
2. Women
fighters in history: Amazons, female bodyguards of the kings of Persia, the
kings of Kandy in Sri Lanka (and Gadaffi).
3. The
Mercury 13: in 1958 the Americans first began to research putting a man into
space. Not just a man actually. 24 women pilots were tested and 13 were chosen
to become astronauts in the Mercury space programme. Suddenly, in 1961, NASA
cancelled the women’s space programme. When asked why, they said it was because
the women had never gone through the jet-aircraft system. And they weren’t
allowed to until 1973...
4. Women
inventors: Ada Augusta Lovelace – the groundwork for developing the computer,
Phyllis Pearsall – the A-Z maps, Stephanie Kwolek – Kevlar, used in
bullet-proof vests and car tyres, Gertrude B. Elion – the first treatment for
leukaemia, drugs for gout, malaria, meningitis and bacterial infections.
5. Great
women writers: Jane Austen, Virginia Woolf, Li Qingzhao, Sappho, Al-Khansa, Huo
Xuan Huong, Mary Shelley
6. Matriarchy
in the animal kingdom: elephants, ants, snakes, killer whales, lions, spotted
hyenas
7. ‘Funny’
fact: The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews is one of the world’s
oldest golf clubs. Women are not allowed to be member s. Prince Andrew is the
captain of the R&A. He got the job because he is the second son of the
Queen of England, yet he is the captain of a club that she is not allowed to
join.
8. Women
in 21st century business: Dame Clara Furse is the Chief Exectuive of
the London Stock Exchangee. Indra Nooyi is the chairman and CEO of PepsiCo.
Margaret Whiteman is Chief Executive and President of eBay.
S
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