A Woman’s Place Is In The Revolution. These Powerful Images From Around The World & Throughout History Prove It

A woman’s place is in the revolution, and it turns out, it always has been. Although many of us are keenly aware that women and minorities have not always enjoyed equal rights, and in many areas still do not have them, there are numerous examples throughout history and around the globe showing women pushing through the societal barriers to pave the way for others.

A recent thread on Twitter, created by user @_Xas_, based in New Zealand, started getting shared quite widely and had other social media users adding to the initial string of images. “Just a wee thread of women who truly don’t have any time for your sh*t” was the status, under which were a number of incredible and iconic images of women being the literal and physical resistance in protests and demonstrations around the world.

Capitalizing on the popularity of the Women’s Marches held in Washington D.C, around the rest of the US and even in other parts of the world, it’s easy to see why so many other Twitter users were inspired to share and add their own images to the thread. Shaun King, Senior justice writer for the New York Daily News, also shared the thread with his 648,000 followers which no doubt added to the viral nature of this post.

We were so inspired by the images and how Twitter users from all walks of life were tweeting about sharing this with their friends, family and kids, that we wanted to create our own post with images of women who have been resisting for many, many years. There are some familiar and iconic images and names: Ruby Bridges, Katherine Switzer, Bree Newsome, Leshia Evans, and events such as the protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline that have been covered well in mainstream media and on social media.

But there are also women in countries where you would not expect to see them on the frontlines of resistance movements, as dictated by stereotypical mainstream newsmedia narratives. The reason we wanted to share these images, giving a brief explanation of the event and giving credit to the photographer, was to encourage and inspire those of us today who are perhaps feeling a bit of fatigue and despair at political and social events happening in our world.

Whether it was the results of Brexit or the US presidential election, or the ongoing conflict in Syria and the Middle East, there is plenty to lose heart over. This is where the powerful images of women taking a stand for causes that matter most to their lives can encourage us to keep going.

These women are young, old and every age in between. They are women of color, and from a range of different backgrounds. Some stand up to the opposition with fierce determination and force, and others stand in defiance, strength and peace. The women who resist are not a monolith, they are from all walks of life. This collection of images we put together are by NO means exhaustive, and we could easily do 2 or 3 more posts in this vein. But allow this to be simply a glimpse of what women have been doing for many years. Long live women of the revolution!