Women have the power to change everything. For most of history, women have been oppressed, underrepresented, and considered less than, and it’s exactly because of those things that we are driven and motivated to work for serious change. That said, there are some women who have more courage, determination, talents, and resources to step up and be the change makers and the trailblazers than most of us.
Sometimes, that’s in part because they had parents who empowered them and believed in them. It’s amazing how much influence a parent’s support can have on the success of their child. No one is a perfect parent. We all make mistakes, but in the end, there are things we do that stick with our kids. All of these famous, extraordinary, world-changing daughters had a parent who did or said something that stuck with them and helped them become the important female figures they are today.
Venus & Serena Williams
Simone Biles
Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles leveled up the entire sport of gymnastics when she entered the world arena, and she deserves so much credit for that. But even more importantly, during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, she put the importance of mental health at the forefront, advocating for herself and breaking precedent by sitting out of events so that she could prioritize her health.
Simone was actually raised by her grandparents, Ronald and Nellie Biles, who have lifted her up and prioritized her success and well-being since they adopted her when she was 6 years old. “My parents saved me,” Simone said during a Dancing With the Stars segment, according to Marie Claire. “They’ve set huge examples of how to treat other people, and they’ve been there to support me since day one,” she said.
Malala Yousafzai
Malala Yousafzai changed the world when she was just a young teenager. She had been an advocate for girls’ education in her home country of Pakistan her entire childhood, and one day, she was attacked by a member of the Taliban who boarded her school bus and shot her in the face. She spent 10 days in a coma. That experience only fueled her passion, and she has continued to fight for women’s rights for the past decade, eventually becoming the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate ever.
Despite long-standing traditions and customs, her father, Ziauddin, has stood by her side and encouraged her every step of the way. She says that from the time she was born, he was determined to give her “every opportunity a boy would have.” And he’s done so no matter how much danger it put him in.
Greta Thunberg
Climate change activist Greta Thunberg, who gained international attention back in 2018 when she was just 15, suffered from depression and panic attacks from the time she was just 11 years old. Her parents, who worked as musicians, quit all of their contracts, and spent all of their free time trying to figure out a way to help her.
After months and months of Greta, who has since been diagnosed with Asperger’s, essentially starving herself and countless doctors visits, they finally learned that she was being brutally bullied at school. They advocated for her, proving again and again that they would have her back through anything and everything. That’s the kind of parenting that emboldens and strengthens a person in unimaginable ways.
Frida Kahlo
Iconic Mexican artist Frida Kahlo is known for her talent, but she’s also respected and appreciated for her refusal to conform to societal standards regarding beauty, sexuality, and gender roles. She was ahead of her time, and while it was her life experiences that shaped her ideals, her art was the medium for expressing them. That art was inspired and nurtured by her father, Guillermo. He worked as a photographer, and despite fathers taking active roles in their daughter’s lives not being the norm at the time, he encouraged Frida to assist him in the darkroom and travel with him to various shoots.
Interestingly, Frida is known for her self-portraits, many of which bear incredible similarities to photos her father took of her.
Katherine Johnson
When legendary mathematician Katherine Johnson was a child in West Virginia in the early 20th century, Black children rarely made it past the eighth grade. Katherine, though, was already a freshman in high school at age 10, and that’s in large part thanks to the dedication of her father, who recognized her academic ability early on and moved his family 120 miles just so she could complete her high school education.
Katherine went on to work for NASA, and her calculations of orbital mechanics were imperative in the success of the first U.S. crewed space flights.
Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Sotomayor is the first Latina to be appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, only the third woman in history, and only one of two women currently serving as a Supreme Court justice. She’s opened doors for so many to come, and her impact is undeniable. Her goal has always been simply to help people, and that’s something that was inspired by her mother.
In fact, she wrote a children’s book about it, titled Just Help! How to Build a Better World, in which she credits her mother with teaching her that small deeds and individual acts have the power to change the world.
