Makers of History

     "You shoot like a girl." "You should be barefoot and pregnant." "You can't do that. "You're just a woman."

We've all heard these cliches before. Culture, media, and even our own mindsets have convinced us that men are to world changing as women are to homemaking.

But this domestic image of a woman is not the only erroneous example. Hollywood often portrays strong women as femme fatales who utilize seduction to lure the enemy into his demise. Some films suggest that a woman's greatest weapon is her ability to fulfill a man's sexual needs.

And while this may sound like "girl power," all this is merely objectification. This idea reduces women to something much less than who they were created to be.

But history's take on female heroism is a stark contrast altogether. Dating back to the earliest age, women have played a fundamental role in how global progress unravels.

Where would the nation of Israel be without Queen Esther? Selected to be nothing more than the king's bed partner, Esther seemed an unlikely candidate for any valiant feats. But despite her perceived insignificance, Esther stepped up to the plate and rescued her nation from the hands of wicked Haman.

Thus proving that God uses "little women" to take down the "big bad men."

Consider the likes of Harriet Tubman. Born into slavery, who would've thought this woman would go on to become a warrior in the battle for liberty? Beaten and scarred in every way possible, Harriet not only found the strength to rise up out of her pit but also the courage to bring others like her to freedom at the risk of her own life.

These escapades of valor and acts of compassion earned her the nickname "Moses" after the Biblical icon for deliverance from enslavement. Even when it meant questioning the president, Harriet refused to be satisfied until the snake called slavery was good and dead.

On February 25, 1986, Maria Corazon Cojuangco Aquino was sworn in as the 11th President of the Philippines. The first woman to hold that position, Cory considered herself a simple housewife. Yet, despite her inexperience, she proved to be instrumental in bringing the 20-year dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos to a well-deserved end. It was this exploit that caused her to be regarded, internationally, as the Mother of Democracy.

These amazing and inspiring accounts have shown that women are not solely lights for the home but sparks for the future. And so I beg the question, why can't women be trailblazers? Why can't we take monumental strides in the field of politics? Why can't we impact society? Why can't we make history?

Let us, like our predecessors, embrace the call to disrupt the status quo, challenge tradition, and change the world!