Carolyn McDade - songwriter and singer

I have removed my list. But if anyone wishes to view the video, it is avalable on my Youtube channel.

My mother (teacher of sex education, of detoxifying swearing and general good and kind treatment of animals of all sorts, including the domesticated primate kind)

My Oma (survived occupied Holland and up and moved everything with her hubby to Canada and thrived there.  had an awesomely wicked sense of humour and sharp as a vorpal sword)

My grandmother (what she did to survive when her husband just up and left her with her being a housewife and 3 kids and the fact that her Catholic church treated her like unclean caca is amazing)

Aunty Teresa (not my aunt but that is what she was, part of the Kowalski extended clan in the wilds of the OK.  good storyteller -- i still remember her one of winning a pissing contest with some bois in winter.  brought up a gaggle of fine children)

Aunty Holly (showed me that one could be as bizarre as they wanted and still have a fulfilling life)

Amazing Grace the heterosexual male born again Christian crossdresser

I would have to go with the "Famous Five" suffragettes - and in particular Nellie McClung. I really admire the way she, in particular, spoke up and acted for woman's rights in this country. When I first moved to Victoria, I knew that she had lived here for awhile and that she had a connection with the United Church. A couple of years after I moved here,  I did some research into her local connections - and discovered that my congregation had elected her to become the first ever female United Church deacon/elder! You can imagine my excitement when I discovered that! I have since become a member of my congregation's historical team and have discovered that we have quite a number of items that once belonged to her.

Women I admire would include my mom,  who went back to school and then to work when I was a child and was the first working mom in our neighbourhood.  

-My grandmother who loved me unconditionally.

-Jean, who worked for me for twenty years and is one of the finest women you could ever hope to meet. 

-Audrey Hepburn, actress and humanitarian.

-My girlfriends, Deb and Val, who continue to persevere with hope and grace despite the significant struggles they have faced in their personal lives.

Welcome Baylacey! I'm glad you've jumped into the conversation here!

There have been so many fine women that have "shown me the way".

My darling Nana, whom I loved and adored - and is still a role model for me even though she died in 1974....

We both loved the outdoors, a sense of humour, and valued wisdom.

As a small child I was amazed how Nana talked to everyone - friend and stranger alike.

Guess what, I now find myself doing exactly the same thing!

Two women who readily spring to mind were women I met in one of my darkest times - when I was a patient in a psych hospital in my twenties.

One was a nurse - a mentally and emotionally strong woman - who saw in me a resilience that I didn't know I possessed.

Thanks to her, I now know that, despite the many problems my depressive illness causes me, I WILL bounce back.

The other was a young woman doctor - who was doing her residency at the hospital.

I got to meet her in an unusual way. .....

I wanted to use the toilet, and the women's toilets were occupied. I saw that the staff toilet was empty so I went in there....

One of those crabby nurses that all hospitals seem to have saw me - and told me off.

I said, "What's your problem? I don't think there's a lot of difference between a doctor's bottom and mine."

She was livid....

It was then I noticed that the woman at the next basin was one of the doctors. "Oops" , I said.

She grinned at me and said, "As far as I'm concerned, you can use our loo whenever you want."

And so began a sort of friendship.

We had a lot in common - and, through her, I saw the life I could have had.

It many ways, she became a role model - so imagine my surprise when she confided in me that she had her difficulties too - and she could see very easily how our positions could have been reversed.......

Germaine Greer introduced me to feminism - and there is something so quintessentially Aussie about her that appeals to me.

Intelligent, but plain speaking, loves to laugh and has a sense of the ridiculous - even knows how to send herself up.

I don't always agree with her - but even at her wackiest she's good value........

When it comes to actresses - my role models depend on my age.....

I've now left Susan Sarandon behind - and it's now Judi Dench.............

I think they all count, the past ones and the current ones. Judi Dench is neat! I haven't heard of Germaine Greer, is she famous? That's neat about the doctor. You were probly an inspiration to her too. People we meet are important. I didn't know my grandma very well. I'm sure she had an influence, but we didn't speak the same language.

Welcome BayLacey, Thanks for your contribution. I like that an employee was such an inspiration to you. How it can go either way.

How neat for you Somegal! Was she a role model in your childhood as well?

I cna't get behind admiration for film stars, musicians......  they are just doing a job.

an easier jop than many working women.

Not as hard to be a working woman with a stafff, a publicist, staff of all kinds and money.

I think of my mom

Flora McDonald

Alexa MCdonough

Queen Elizabeth

Marie Curie

Queen Mary of Scots

the rest are women that i like but I don't admire them

Elanorgold - I first became aware of Nellie McClung in my high school Social Studies class. The more I learned about her, the more I liked her!

Lastpointe - thank you for reminding me of Flora McDonald. I had the opportunity to hear her speak - what an incredible, inspirational woman she is!

Another woman I really admire is Emily Carr. I just love how independant and eccentric she was!

At the moment my inspiration is a young lady named Sarah Reed.  A ministers wife (with all that entails including people coming and going in the house every day of the week)), she also works in a school as a teaching assistant, does floral arrangements for funerals and weddings, transports her sons 10 miles to and from school and cathedral,  helps with junior church and is a worship leader.  She also sings, acts, is very crafty, organised events and probably lots more I dont know about.

She has also been diagnosed witl fibromyalgia.

I have only once seen her look anyhing other than cheerful.

Sarah, I would raise my hat to you if I wasn't so lazy!

Hmmm

Nellie McClung for sure

Dr. Margaret who was sunday school superintendent for years as I went through Sunday school. I'm the same age as her grandchildren. She was a physician at the time few women were. She married a Dr. as well and so became known as Dr. Margaret and Dr. Bill.

Her daughter was also a working mom-quite the exception-she became a librarian and worked as well as raising 4 kids with her husband.

emily stowe

Wow. Are you sure you lovely people are Canadians?

What about Maude Barlowe? Margarets Atwood and Laurence? Doris Anderson? Michelle Lansberg?

Those are some of my role models. Also my godmother, who was a librarian with great taste in books, a wicked tongue, and a sympathetic heart for teenage girls. She died a few years ago, crusty as ever, and I still miss her. And my 'Auntie' Jean (no relation), who showed me that you could love to cook and love ingredients and use seasonings beyond salt & pepper, ketchip & mustard, concepts foreign in my family.

Now listen up Bette, you can be lovely even if you're not Canadian..........

p.s. I'm a Margaret Atwood fan.

Lastpointe, Why couldn't you have just listed Your role models without saying you can't get behind admiration of actors and musicians. Mine are what they were due to the life I had, and they are special to me for what I learned from them, and the parts of me that they, and the characters they played, formed. Remember I asked for no dissing?

I also find Queen Elizabeth I inspiring.

Lastpointe, I'm not really one to have celebrities as role models, but there are many that I respect.  Sure, some of them are doing a job, but many also work hard to get there, have overcome many obstactles and have a true passion for what they do.  I probably would question someone who had a celebrity like Snooki as a role model though.

Bette, many of the names that have come up are Canadian.  I don't know a great deal of the background of many writers, so they aren't my role models.

Like others, many of my role models aren't well known people, it's people I have personal interactions with.

Elanor,   I did give a list of some women and I gave a reason why I don't think celebrities are worth admiring.

i am sure you have reason s why you do like them.  but I see no reason why I cna't give my reasons why I don't.

I understand I insulted you and for that I am sorry.

i swear that one of my sister's role models growing up was Miss Piggy.  She would actually do the HIIII-YA! with the effective punch as well :3

Free speach on this forum is what we want of cource, but we still have the right to ask for things not to be said in our own threads. Perhaps I shouldn't have started it. I waited for quite some time before I felt the moment was right, as it's so personal to me. But I have been feeling sensitive recently.

To try and make amends, I'll say that I have admired what these singers have said in their songs, especially Pat Benatar, who has been a champion for women's rights in many of her songs, empowering young girls from a source they have easy access to, and is theirs from the start, their pop music. Musicians have great power, and I have noticed several taking use of that power to send out a positive message. That, I admire. Some of them have also presented a confident way of thinking about yourself through their body language, image and how they present themselves in interviews, that girls may not have otherwise come to on their own. To be clear, I don't admire everything all of them have ever done, but for the aspects that inspired me.

Actresses have two ways to be a positive influence, through the roles they choose, and how they are as people. A role in a film can be as much an influence on a girl as a book an authoress has written. And the work an actress puts into a role and her career can be as inspiring as the work an authoress puts into her writting and promotion of her book.

A role model can be anyone who influenced you and you wanted to emulate in some way, and is determined by what influences you were exposed to through your life, be it books, local people, relatives, politicians, historical figures, fictional characters, even a still image with no voice. And yes, even Miss Piggy. Inanna, I considdered her for my list. She was one sassy, confident pig! I was a kid fan!

It's not allways a concious choice either. You may realize it much later, that you emulated someone or some character. I spent a long time thinking about mine and formulating my list. I was honest with myself, and I searched my soul and learned yet more about myself. (I have a penchant for doing that!) I had a pop culture heavy upbringing, and didn't hear much about people like Curie or the Suffragettes. I am thankful to those women I emulated and who guided me in whatever way they did, intentionally or not, because I like who I ended up as thus far.

Pilgrim, Saw Judy Dench in Jane Eyre last night, and I revise my earlier comment, she is more than neat, she's cool and strong! Thought of you as I watched her.

Anyway Lastpointe, we do share one role model in Elizabeth I, though I'm still learning about her, hence why I didn't put her on the list. It was Cate Blanchett who led me to her story. Marie Curie did some great stuff didn't she? Was it radium? I'd like to learn more about her too. I'm also interested in science. And she did it in a time when there weren't many female scientists. That must have had it's difficulties.

Elanor, you must be the only person on the planet who watched Judi Dench and thought of me.

You made my day. possum!

Judi's great in  "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel".

She plays a  widow who takes to blogging and travels to India. (rather like me when I think about it - except Canada was "foreign" enough for me -lol)

I saw the trailer for The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel in the theatre a couple of months ago and worried, after reading your post,  that I had somehow missed it.  It looks like a fabulous film it you like stories about relationships.  It opens May 4th.

I hope it's o.k. for a guy to chime in. One woman I admire greatly is Margaret Sanger.

I don't know who she is. What did she do, how did she inspire you? I'm ok with switching this over to the guys now. I had male role models too!

Margaret Sanger was a very early advocate of birth control and women's rights, particularly as they pertain to health. I just think she was a pretty awesome person, she had the right ideas long before anyone else.