lives have changed a lot over time.
In some countries, girls used to have
few rights and now they have many.
In the United States and Europe, girls
of the past couldn't go to college,
get many jobs, or vote. In other countries,
girls had more rights in past times
than they do now, like in some Middle
Eastern countries where girls can't
go to school and women can't work anymore.
the situation depends on the girl's
social class; princesses usually have
more rights than peasants, and wealthy
girls are much more likely to get an
education. Or girls may officially
have rights, but still face sexism
or death. In China, hundreds of girl
babies are still abandoned or killed
because their culture prefers males.
But there have always been times when
an inspiring woman shines, no matter
what her culture expects.
2300 BC East Sumeria (now Iran)-Enheduanna
was the world's first known writer.
She was the also the first High Priestess-the
highest religious office of all. Some
Sumerian girls had the prestigious
job of helping in the temples, but
most learned sewing and weaving cloth.
Enheduanna and others developed a lunar
calendar, which we still use to calculate
the dates of Easter and Passover.
1120 BC Israel-Deborah, a Jewish prophet
and judge, led the Israelites to victory
against the Canaanites. Most girls,
though, were under the strict rule
of their fathers until they married
and became the property of their husbands.
Girls learned Jewish traditions, but
couldn't study the Torah as boys could.
40 BC Vietnam-Two sisters, Trung Trac
and Trung Nhi, masterminded a revolt
against the oppressive Chinese rule,
leading 80,000 men and women, including
36 women generals, to triumph, after
which they ruled as co-queens. Females
at that time were supposed to obey
males, but they did have the chance
to become traders, judges, and political
1370 AD Denmark-Married at age 10,
Queen Margarethe ruled after all her
brothers died. She united Denmark,
Sweden, and Norway and brought prosperity
and peace. Royal girls often married
early because at birth or in childhood
their fathers picked husbands for them
who would increase the country's wealth
and power. The life of a peasant girl
was freer. They usually married around
20 and had more choice in picking mates.
Peasant women could manage land themselves
if their husband died. However, wife-beating
women was lawful and encouraged.
1680 Mexico-At age 3, Sor Juana could
read and learned everything she could.
She begged to be sent to school at
age 7, but her parents refused. At
18, she joined a convent-the only place
where girls could study-and went on
to become one of Mexico's greatest
poets, writers, and intellectuals.
1800 France-Marie Lachapelle became
one of the most important medical researchers
of the century. She stopped the use
of painful tools for births, created
important procedures to help with childbirth,
and trained midwives. Not many girls
of the day would become scientists.
Instead, they worked as dressmakers,
laundresses, and shopkeepers or helped
with their husbands' occupations.
New Zealand-Kate Sheppard helped get
voting rights for women in New Zealand-27
years before women in the U.S. could
vote. She was also a pioneer bicyclist.
Even though girls worked as hard as
their brothers on New Zealand's farms,
many people believed that girls and
women should avoid riding bikes because
it could ruin their "delicate"
India-At age 12, Indira Gandhi began
the children's Monkey Brigade, which
worked undercover to overthrow British
rule. She went on to become India's
first female prime minister, fighting
illiteracy and widespread famine, improving
relations with the Soviet Union, and
sending India's first satellite into
orbit. Girls not born into influential
families were in arranged marriages
by their early teens. The practice
of sati, burning a widow along with
her deceased husband, still takes place
today in some villages.
United States-Angry about the inequalities
that African Americans and women faced,
Shirley Chisholm became the first Black
woman in Congress in 1968. When a student
asked her why there were only White
male presidents, she ran for president
in 1972. Girls at that time who wanted
to be Congresswomen had only 16 women
role models. Today, out of 541 Congress
members, only 75 are women.
Nigeria-In a country where less than
half the females can read, Eka Esu-Williams
found a way to study immune diseases.
In 1988, she founded the Society for
Women Against AIDS because 80% of the
world's women with AIDS live in Africa.
Her group also teaches girls not to
be submissive. Many women still don't
feel they can stop their husbands from
having many wives, so lots of women
become ill and die when their husbands
pass the AIDS virus to them.
thing is consistent-throughout all
of time, throughout all places-things
change. Whether for good or not, everything
is constantly changing, and I hope
that, at some point in all countries,
girls will have every right that boys
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