Who are your nominees for butt-kicking chicks?

[uk elephant]

What about talking to this girl about great stuff women in her own family/neighbourhood do? Hearing about Marie Curie is great, but a bit out of reach for most of us.....Point out how much fun you can have and how strong you can be using examples of women she knows. Your own cycling feats maybe? If it was my own family, I would give the following examples for starters:

Mom - PhD and full professor and successful career taking her all over the world (That would be Bikeless in WI)
Aunt - cycled the AidsRide twice! I'm scared at the thought of doing it once! And she has a black belt in Aikido (I think) (And this would be Trek420)
Grandma - civil rights and peace activist, arrested for civil disobedience at the age of...not sure....mid 70's? (and she bakes wonderful pies!) (Bikeless and Trek's mom)

Who said you had to be bored and whipmy as a girl? Go out and do what you like! If it's not fun? Do something else!

[yellow]

What about our own Cat Berge!?!!

[Bad JuJu]

I like the idea of identifying close-to-home strong female role models. I had a nice assortment of these when I was growing up (though none of them were athletes, sadly), and I think it really helped to shape my attitude about who I was and what I could be.

But here's another idea as well as an opportunity to show a kid how the internet can be more than just a surfing-for-music-and-shopping tool. Your friend could sit down with her daughter at the computer and do a web search for "strong women" or some other keyword and they could see together what comes up (mom might want to do this on her own first so she can avoid potential hot spots).

And to add to the list, Susan B. Anthony, Edith Wharton, and ... Georgena Terry.

[KnottedYet]

Georgena Terry!!!!

I had no clue she wore a leg brace until I saw it in a pic of her (back when she did a lot of the modelling for the catalog). Those puppies are a pain in the butt, and she bikes like a maniac in hers!

Oh, yeah, and she builds bike frames and has a business....

(geez, healthcare workers and our priorities..... )

[Veronica]

Sarah Burke (MP), Running Mommy and Nanci... mental toughness... or maybe they are just mental.

Yep... I think it's important to point out strong women both "far" and "near."

V.

[Kimmyt]

Lynn Hill.

Probably THE foremost technical rock climber in the world. The first person, man or woman, to freeclimb Yosemite's El Capitan.

Not too bad for a 5'1" chica! Now that girl can kick some butt!

K.

[maillotpois]

Sarah Burke (MP), Running Mommy and Nanci... mental toughness... or maybe they are just mental.

Yep... I think it's important to point out strong women both "far" and "near."

V.

Hey thanks!

I'd put you on the list, too!

What about Jeanne Longo? For women cyclists, there really isn't anyone else...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeannie_Longo

Or, if your French is up to snuff: http://jeannielongo.free.fr/pages/cadres01.html

She's been World Champion 5 times, spanning a 10 year period. She continues to be super-competitive and a force to be reckoned with into her forties.

[Trek420]

uk elephant "Aunt...And she has a black belt in Aikido (I think)" that's 2nd degree BB to you "

Don't forget yourself, my neice, completed your undergrad work in what was it? 3 years? Now on to a dual major Phd.

Other neice is a lawyer and now a new Mom.

Our cousin Dina is a UN translator and speaks G** only knows how many languages.

And UK the other butt kicking thing about your G'ma (and bikeless and my mom) is how she went back to school to complete her Masters with a family with 3 kids. When I was a kid so few Moms worked outside the home, I got a lot of raised eyebrows and was always so proud of her. She's the orriginal Super Mom.

And then there's your Great Grandma....both of them really....

[CorsairMac]

ROFL - I was just in stitches when I read this: growing up my mom kept asking me why I couldn't act "more like a girl"! Now she brags about me to anyone who'll listen coz I'm a bike commuter! My how age changes ones viewpoints!

anyway: how about Rosa Parks?

[li10up]

ROFL - I was just in stitches when I read this: growing up my mom kept asking me why I couldn't act "more like a girl"! Now she brags about me to anyone who'll listen coz I'm a bike commuter! My how age changes ones viewpoints!

I heard that all the time when growing up! Now my mom thinks it's cool that I can ride 50 miles on a bike, that I go backpacking, kayaking and skiing. Now she calls me a strong woman instead of a "tomboy". OOHHH how I hated that word. Just because a girl likes sports doesn't mean she's a boy. I said this in another thread somewhere....if a lady does it then I guess it's "lady-like", right?

[DirtDiva]

I wanted to be a tomboy, but I was too unco-ordinated.

What about books? I don't know how old the girl in question is, so it's a bit hard to make recomendations, but there's plenty of literature around with non-boring, non-wimpy girl characters. One that springs to mind is Lyra Silvertongue (she is a little sneaky, I admit) from Philip Pullman's Northern Lights series. Probably best for a reader of 10-12, and they're enjoyable for adults too, so he could always read it to her if they're a bit hard. There's all plenty of other stuff out there that isn't all Babysitters' Club lip gloss and boyfriends. I should be able to think of lots more examples, but my brain isn't co-operating at the moment.

[rocknrollgirl]

Is for my Mom, who as we speak is fighting for her life against ovarian cancer. She buried two chidren in her life, and has been fighting this horrible disease for three years. We have literally watched her come back from the dead twice.
She is the strongest person I know. This Sunday I am doing a six hour adventure race to benefit the American Cancer Society. Every step of my training and every step of the race I do in her honor.

You rock Mom...you are the original tough chick....

Ruth

[Crankin]

I teach 11-13 year olds and this is a perpetual problem. There are lots of good role models,but the problem is there are even more bad ones. I see the confident, athletic sixth graders come in and within months their egos are deflated and they are giggling idiots, even if they are very smart girls. Some of this is normal developmental behavior, but when i have to talk to 11 year old girls about "dating" problems it seems weird. I was no perfect girl at that age and most of my friends think I was pretty wild compared to their experiences. But, it seems like these girls are about 2 years ahead of where I was, back in the sixties. I also notice that really smart girls tend to want to hang out with immature, not very bright boys and other girls who get in a considerable amount of trouble... I would have never even looked at people like that for friends. I think my mom sort of always told me that I could do whatever I wanted and that I should be able to take care of myself. Even though she was a stay at home mom of the fifties era, she was very athletic and independent. Too bad I inherited my dad's lack of coordination as a kid. Of course, the only sports open to girls then were ballet and ice skating. So, I skated and rode my bike!