I'm a little surprised that so many people would choose Steinem, given her stance on transsexuality. That, and she's not even remotely sex positive.

Give me Kathleen Hanna any day. If it weren't for her...I just don't know who I would be today.

No love for Jeremy Bentham, huh?

I read Anzaldua for the first time this spring and fell in love with her. Even though I'm not chicana and have only driven through the southwest, I like the ways she talks about being from a place, and being embodied.

assata shakur
arundhati roy
queen nzinga
harriet tubman
sojourner truth
ella baker

I selected "other" because Jessica Valenti is my personal favourite feminist! But thanks for the list - it introduced me to a couple of women I had not known about but I am glad I do now!!

Voted for the Guerrilla Girls, but I really wish Susan Faludi was in the poll.

oh, yeah...

SAMHITA MUKHOPADHYAY!

Remind me again - what about Ms. Steinem that's not sex positive? And what the hell do you mean "not even" sex positive? As if sex-positive feminism is the only valid one out there, right? Ms. Steinem isn't against sex, she's against pornography, which is neither sex nor positive.

As for my vote - I'd have to go with Ellie Smeal, even though she once refused an apple I offered her at a conference.

My mom.

No, seriously. My mom is my hero.

Randi Rhodes: the best talk show host in the country. First woman to be broadcast nationally.

Alanis Morissette: more often than not, her songs have become my themesongs. Right now "Unprodigal Daughter" is my theme, with it's chorus "unprodigal daughter and I'm heading for the West/ disenchanted daughter and this plane cannot fly fast enough/ unencumbered daughter hit the ground running at last/ I'd invite you but I'm busy being unoppressed". :D

I also love the ORIGINAL feminist: Lilith. She was Adam's first wife, and while she may be fictional, her status as a feminist has reverberated through history. The treatment of many a feminist is embodied in the treatment of the first women who refused to bow to a man and be subservient to him.

Unfortunately, I haven't read a lot of feminist literature yet, so I know my list of feminist heros will undoubtedly grow. (I also second SexySmallTownFemme's love of Jessica and want to extend that to all out wonderful bloggers here at Feministing!)

ooh, rachel, if you want to get all biblical, how about the apostle mary?

ani difranco!

I have always, always loved and admired Abigail Adams. I thought she was cool in elementary school when I first heard about her "Remember the Ladies" letter and then about freaked out when my mom told me I was (very very VERY) distantly related to her.

Also a big fan of Eleanor Roosevelt.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Margaret Sanger.

I clearly need to update my icons.

I'm seconding the "my mom" thing. I also want to add my dad. :)

"Ms. Steinem isn't against sex, she's against pornography, which is neither sex nor positive."

Ugh, Steinem. I still haven't forgiven her for her gaffes against WOC. Also, I'd argue that pornography can be pro-sex and positive, but this isn't the thread to have that discussion.

I put Kathleen Hanna. Because, fuck, who doesn't love Kathleen Hanna?

But my "favourite icon"/hero is Karla Jay.

Re: ProFeministMale

I got with the principle of "a woman's body, a woman's right" and insist that every peaceful choice a woman makes with her own body must be accorded full legal protection, if not respect.

And, well, I happen to enjoy some pornography now and then. I'm not trying to argue that pro-sex feminism is more valid...that's just what works for me. And though I absolutely respect (and am thankful for) much of what Steinem has done for women...I do not respect her stance on transsexuality.

Kathleen. Me and Kathy go way back...well, not personally but, you get it.

Lilith is something that was borrowed and changed by the bible. She's been around in many forms and places for a longer time than the bible's been around.

http://www.pantheon.org/articles/l/lilith.html

Check that our for a brief outline, if you wish. I can't stand that such a new religion takes credit for so many old beings.

Yup, I voted for all of them, but want to add Margaret Sanger, Emma Goldman, Simone de Beauvoir, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Andrea Dworkin, Carrie Chapman Catt, Sojourner Truth, and my beloved, wonderful, Victoria Woodhull!

I know, I know, Jessica, I'm supposed to spare the "I can't believe you didn't choose so and so." Sorry. ;-)

Happy Declaration of Sentiments weekend to all!

Not sure if Aung San Suu Kyi counts as a feminist icon, but she's one of my biggest heroines.

I'm sure I could compile a huge list, but I'll start with Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary Shelley, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sojourner Truth, Margaret Fuller, Margaret Atwood, John Lennon, and Hayao Miyazaki. For starters :)

Ellie Smeal......
I loooove her she is the greatest. But I love all feminists.

.ani.difranco. for real.

and beth ditto.

and why is betty friedan on this list? she's the asshole that called lesbians in the feminist movement "the lavender menace." some feminist. i guess she's only feminist when feminism serves her white upper middle class heterosexual privileged interests.

Fucking word, hotpinko.

If I had to choose from the list, I'd say Alice Walker. She's a writer, I'm a writer. But I've got other authors I'd list before her (thus I voted "Other"). Doris Lessing is probably the most "feminist" iconic, but Ursula LeGuin and Margaret Atwood round out the "better than second wave" top four, and I'd usher in Rebecca Walker to make five.

Morgan LaFey, how's you manage to pull a list from my head? Do you have a blog, I think I could keep with a sister like you.

Elizabeth I, Alice Paul, Patricia Hill Collins (author of Black Sexual Politics)

While Betty Friedan certainly had her faults, you can't deny her impact on Feminism with NOW and The Feminine Mystique.

I haven't got one yet, I'm still just a noob and don't really know all the names yet!

Dr. Henry Morgentaler.

Alright, so I don't know if he identifies as a feminist but perhaps that shouldn't necessarily be a prerequisite.

I voted for Kathleen Hanna, though. What initially got me into feminism (though I was raised by one... when you're fifteen you've got to reject what you're raised with, right?) was an article in BUST with both her and Gloria Steinem. Tres cool.

Nellie McClung!

It's hard to choose because all these women are icons for different reasons. I love Angela Davis (she gave a lecture at my school this past winter), Audre Lourde, Kathleen Hanna, Gloria Anzaldua and the Guerrilla Girls, all for different reasons. I also love Ida B. Wells, Ani Difranco and Beth Ditto. If it weren't for all the eugenics and steralization, I'd say Margaret Sanger too.

I'm loving this list!! Here's a couple I'd like to add: Delores Huerta: she co-founded United Farm Workers with Cesar Chavez, yet RARELY gets any credit for her hard work and sacrifices (not to mention raising 7 kids along the way, mostly as a single mom). She's AMAZING. Also, Mary Harris "Mother" Jones--another organizer, activist, and downright agitator. She was called "the most dangerous woman in America" and the "grandmother of all agitators" and is the namesake of my favorite magazine "MotherJones."

I'm really not super informed about most of the people on that list, so I'm not really qualified to rank them. I know who they are, but I just couldn't possibly pick one.

I think, however, Bella Abzug would be on most lists of influential feminists.

I second all these women. however, my personal feminist hero/icon/nerd crush is dana scully. oh yeah, she's fictional and she's AMAZING.

I second all these women. however, my personal feminist hero/icon/nerd crush is dana scully. oh yeah, she's fictional and she's AMAZING.

Fun topic...let's see, I agree with a lot of earlier posters, so I'll just mention feminists I haven't seen on the thread yet:

Germaine Greer, Phyllis Chesler, Alice Sebold, Naomi Wolf, Rebecca Traister, Tori Amos, Barbara Ehrenreich, Maya Angelou, Jackson Katz, Janeane Garofalo, Adrienne RIch, Catharine MacKinnon, Carol Ann Duffy.

I don't think any feminist is ideologically or personally perfect, but I don't want to disqualify people for making human errors or even for holding perspectives I sometimes disagree with.

Damn it, Delores Huertas deserves a mention, too. And where's Kim Gandy?

A feminist icon for me is anyone who inspires me to learn, grow and get involved. So, the feministing bloggers definitely make the list for me.

Dr. Frances Kathleen Oldham Kelsey

ooh, and tina fey! i love her.

Is it horrible that I want to vote for Gloria Steinem purely because she's Christian Bale's step-mom?
Rrrrrr....

Virginia Woolf and Grace Paley! Yay feminist literary figures!

Is it horrible that I want to vote for Gloria Steinem purely because she's Christian Bale's step-mom?
Rrrrrr....

Is it horrible that I want to vote for Gloria Steinem purely because she's Christian Bale's step-mom?
Rrrrrr....

Wow, some great names have been listed already! Margaret Sanger is one of my names, too.

But here are two names that I'd like to add - Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King. Even though I was NOT into sports as a kid (very nerdy) I remember being impressed by seeing Martina's physical strength in the newspaper photos.

Many women out there probably take images of physically strong women for granted now. But I'm only a few years younger than Martina. I remember when Title IX was new and the schools were fighting back.

Oh, yeah, Martina is an out lesbian, too. It's a shame that she never got the sponsorship dollars that she deserved in her prime.

Winona LaDuke all the way! She is an amazing Anishinaabe Sister! **kudos to feministing for have Winona on this list by the way** =)

I saw her at a pow-wow when I was 17 years old. I was very shy at this age and told my Mom that I just saw Winona. She told me to go say hi to her. After I got the courage to go and say hello she had darted through the crowds, concession stands and people. She was like magic and gone. I know I will meet her soon!

Ani Difranco has been an icon for me. I really respect the fact that she tries to be honest with herself and the rest of the world, rather than trying to be fill-in-the-blank. I also love that she had a homebirth, and that she defines herself as an artist rather than a businesswoman, even though she is quite skilled as both.

I voted for Audre Lorde because her novel _Zami_ was the first thing I read in college that got me thinking critically about both lesbian sexuality AND feminism - and that got me interested in feminism in the first place. Before that I hadn't really thought about it.

Kathleen Hanna. The woman rocks. If I could spend one day in another person's shoes--they'd be her shoes.

Emma Goldman!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_goldman

Voltairine de Cleyre!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltairine_de_Cleyre

My feminist icon right now would probably be a little-known woman named Hannah Höch. But I'd also add just about any woman who had the ovaries to think she should have a place in the art world alongside men.

Also, I just found out that my great aunt is actually a feminist... I'd always suspected, since she's such a liberal and she just rocks in all kinds of ways, but it makes me look up to her even more.

echoing the DiFranco sentiments!
Ani, for me, is where the passion began...

Since we're talking icons and not feminist activists, I have to mention Mae West. The lady was brazenly feminist, way ahead of her time. Her outspoken sexuality, her unwillingness to censor herself or her art, her defiance of age & gender based social norms... what more can one ask for in an icon?

I say Jessica Valenti. She's young and driven, has guts and intelligence, is very articulate, and may I add, she's quite the hottie! I would support her for political office (I assume she's a Democrat). Your misogynist-feminist, CNBC Sucks

Susan B. Anthony

Her outrageous comments at her trial concerning her voting despite the law, is so perfectly on the mark, and still so fucking on par for today's feminists that she's always spoken to me more than any other woman or man.

Check out her trial here:
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/18281/18281-h/18281-h.htm
And I suggest you start reading at the line ""Has the prisoner anything to say why sentence shall not be pronounced?" That's where she starts to get poetic.

so many names! i agree with all of the above, but while we're giving props to high-profile feminists, i'd like to toss up joss whedon's name as well, just because i haven't seen anyone mention him yet.

Jeannette Rankin (R-Montana).

For those of you who may not know, she was the first female Congress member. She was also a pacifist: was the only member of Congress to vote "nay" or "present" for the declarations of both the First and Second World Wars. She was also a suffragette, a social worker, and a founding VP of the ACLU.

Kathleen Hanna! She is a huge source of daily inspiration for me.

oh, also: Buffy St. Marie, and Carol Queen.

Aww yeah! Wonderful to celebrate the sentiments. Go,Jessica.

On the artist front: Let's hear it for Ani Di Franco, Kathleen Hanna, Queen Latifah, Donita Sparks (L7 and Stellar Moments), Sarah McLachlan, Wanda Coleman, Artemesia Gentilleschi, Ntozake Shange, Jenny Holtzer, Cindy Sherman, Judy Chicago, Frida Kahlo, India Arie, Whoopi Goldberg, Barbara Kruger, Virginia Woolf, and the list stretches on...

ON the political front: Dolores Huerta! Ellie Smeal,Bella Abzug, Carol Mosely Braun, Shirley Chisholm, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Wilma Mankiller, Anne Richards, Wangaari Mathai, Jodie Williams, Shirin Ebadi, Rigoberta Menchu, Michele Bachelet, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

All hail bold women -- including my mother!

Inga Muscio. The woman who changed my life forever.

Inga Muscio. The woman who changed my life forever.

My feminist icon is Warren Farrell.

Oh man! I have so so many to comment on and add to! Te first lady that comes to mind is Emma Goldman. Last year I was in a feminist theory class, and we loved her. She's just so strong at such a young age!

@ Lorgus: along with Jeremy, can we add Harriet Taylor Mill and John Stuart Mill? Now there's a power couple!

@ Hugo Schwyzer and Morgan La Fay: great lists!

@ maryjanefoxie: Yes to mae west! you know she wrote plays as well?? Awesome lady!

My additions:
JUDY CHICAGO---- go see The Dinner Party. It changes your life.
Ellen Degeneres
Pink
Margaret Atwood
Kate Chopin
Lucille Ball
Fredrick Douglas

my mom and dad and brother

my grandmothers

all my women's studies professors

Has no one mentioned Kathleen Hannah yet?

A few more of my personal idols:
-Carrie Brownstein (of Sleater-Kinney)
-Beth Ditto
-JESSICA VALENTI
-Frida Kahlo
-my dad

Dear Feministing Icons:
Hmmm, the Masons suggest that No One Man speaks for Freemasonry, and that's an inside joke from a bunch of Isis Worshipers (or Satan Worshipers depending on your theology and/or politics/humor.)

This list had me hittin' the "Other" button pretty quick, and sent me rushing to get who all was presented as "iconic."...so maybe we need SOME DEFINITIONSPLEASE, and perhaps an "iconoclastic feminist icon" too... -that's different from "Anti-Feminist Icon" (...but I listen to Rush most days as voice that succinctly encapsulates everything I DO NOT believe in.
Jim Hightower suggests that getting progressives together is like shoveling frogs into a wheelbarrow. Isn't Rush Limbaugh foe enough to evoke "the enemy of my enemy is my friend?" (and circle the wagons? Rush is a kind of Feminist Iconic in a Hitler-on-the-cover-of-Time-Magazine sort of way...

Anyway, I nominate "The Venus of Willendorf" as, at least, "A Feministing Icon" ...and maybe that's also a separate category. Notes is Her compelling performance in the recent Hellboy installment (...unless that is perceived as "objectifying a 'Feministic Deity'" -also a seperate category After All, What other of these feminist icons can crush a "tooth fairy?"...sorry, i get nervous posting here sometimes -is that irreverent?
Should I have a less gender specific screen name?
Is there some hazing available?

Related Topic:
Is there a Somewhat Secret Gloria Steinem Autobiography in which Ms. Steinem claims to be/have been a CIA Spy?
and on a tangential note: Are there any Male Feminist Icons? ...and flowers to whomever might suggest that all men are slaveowners, and always have been...

Like I always say: "One person's Icon is another person's archetype." (!)

Kind of Respectfully submitted,
Marlo'

Catharine MacKinnon is probably my favourite feminist, but sooooo many, sooooo many to choose from! Some great people on the list as well, though I'll put in some words thanking Steinem and Friedan for many of their contributions but NOT their stance on a bunch of really key issues.

Also: Chandra Mohanty, Audre Lorde, and Angela Davis. This list could never be exhaustive, so I'll end here.

I'm nominating Betty Dodson.

Harriet Tubman
Sojourner Truth
Arundhati Roy
Susan B. Anthony
Eleanor Roosevelt

artists/ writers/ musicians:
Judy Chicago
Karen Finley
Zora Neale Hurston
Joan Baez
Dolly Parton
Barbara Streisand

ancient/mythical/etc:
Oya
Athena
Isis
Wonder Woman
Storm
Magdalena

YOKO ONO!

Morgan, excellent unexpected pick with John Lennon -- but when it comes to feminism, Yoko is definitely more awesome. Yoko is awesome period. Oh Yoko!

Hélène Cixous and Giles Deleuze.

I haven't delved too deep in to feminist literature, but I'm right there with you, Hydratic, having feminist love for/a nerd crush on Dana Scully.
And while I'm talking about fictional characters, I'm going to have to say Hermione Granger :p It may seem a little silly, but I grew up on those books and reading about her made me really proud to be who I was. Because she was successful by being smart and standing up for what she believes in, I was proud to do the same (and to have a mop of curly brown hair on my head).

I haven't delved too deeply in to feminist literature, but I'm right there with you, Hydratic, having feminist love for/a nerd crush on Dana Scully.
And while I'm talking about fictional characters, I'm going to have to say Hermione Granger :p It may seem a little silly, but I grew up on those books and reading about her made me really proud to be who I was. Because she was successful by being smart and standing up for what she believed in, I was proud to do the same (and to have a mop of curly brown hair on my head).

Oh, and my grandmother: raiser of 7 boys and 1 girl, all knew how to cook, sew, change tires,do basic construction, etc. Because, "they are all useful skills and I'll be damned if my children aren't going to be prepard to do anything they want with their lives just because of stupid gender norms!"

I'm going to have to cast my vote for

CLAIRE HUXTABLE

Yes, of the Cosby Show. Not Phylicia Rashad (great, though she is). I know it may sound funny putting in a fictional character, but I grew up watching the Cosby and have realized in my adulthood how significant that show was for American pop culture, and its progressive representation of black Americans, as well as the history, and proud women, who worked outside the home (as a partner in a law firm, no less), raised children and had a marriage that was an equal partnership, wherein her and Cliff shared the responsibility, the authority, the chores, the decisions, the burden and the joys of their family together. They were a beautiful example of a loving, supportive, respectful relationship and their portrayals impacted and influence me to this day! She is the earliest feminist influence I can recall.

During high school: Ani D, all the way. (And certainly still)

During college: Kathleen Hanna

Mukhtaran Bibi (aka Mukhtar Mai). Wiki link provided (if I did this right) for those who haven't heard of her.

Also, hello, long-time-admirer-first-time-poster, etc.

Looks like it didn't take the first time, so here is the promised link to Mukhtaran Bibi's Wiki page.

I'd like to add Rachel Carson and Rachel Maddow.

I agree with Pro-feminist Male and would nominate my Mum but would also add my Dad. In a house full of brothers, I was never made to feel that I had less opportunities or was worth less because I was a girl.

Outside of my family, I would have to nominate the outrageously outspoken Germaine Greer, who still manages to stir the pot on a regular basis with her comments. Her book, "The Female Eunuch" is a classic of feminist writing. I also admire Marilyn French for writing her book, "The Women's Room". When she first wrote it, finding a publisher brave enough to publish her book was a challenge.

My vote is for slam poet Alix Olson

Nina Hartley