Who Would You Be… If You Were A Woman?
Several days ago, I asked readers the question, “Who would you most like to be? And in one sentence, why?”
I asked this question because a few weeks earlier, I found myself in a similar conversation (in mixed company) and everyone noticed a pattern in the responses:
We all chose men.
No one seemed to be at a loss for ideas, with some people spouting off several notable, enviable figures in only a few second’s time. In all cases, however, the choices were men.
This seemed troubling, so we then changed the question to “What female would you most like to be?” Answering this was orders of magnitude more difficult. The first suggestions out of most guys’ mouths were actually pretty ridiculous. People like Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Aniston. In other words, women we’d most like to sleep with as opposed to most like to be. I suppose if you are somebody, you get to sleep with yourself every night, but c’mon… that’s a kind of neaderthal way to answer the question.
After several minutes, we were able to come up with a few good answers, but nothing approaching the ease at which we were able to answer the original question.
So now it’s your turn to answer. What woman would you most like to be?
You are of course free to use any criteria you’d like. Mine (for both questions) were:
- Made a positive and lasting contribution to the world.
- Led a pleasant, enjoyable life.
- Didn’t die extremely early or in an awful way.
Interesting Note #1: In the original entry, only two three people (Nicole and Melissa and Yvonne) out of 82 respondents picked women.
Interesting Note #2: I really need to get more women reading this blog. Where is Raynisha Marie Cox when you need her?
First on the draw again, it looks like.
I think I would be Queen Elizabeth the First. She was quite cunning, as I understand it.
Well, oddly enough, I had only thought of women when I read the entry. I’m not some sort of rabid man-hater, I just happen to like being female.
I had first thought of such iconic women as Mae West, (because she didn’t care what anyone thought of her behavior and because she lived her life bravely– like a man,) Golda Meir, (because she was one of the first women world leaders, led her fellow Israelis through a horrible time in history and she did it with aplomb) and Marilyn Monroe (most likely because she died just a couple of days before I was born.)
I finally decided that I would want to be Julia Child. She single-handedly changed the way Americans thought of well prepared food, and we all eat better because of her work. She got to travel, learn, teach and write throughout her life. She made a pretty penny doing what she loved, too. I suppose this is some sort of occupation-related decision, really.
Unfortunately most chefs don’t make a lot of money, unless they spend more time collecting recipies and putting them in books and promoting themselves than actually cooking. Not that I’d mind traveling all over the world, eating at the best restaurants in whatever city I was in and appearing on television to cook something simple in ten minutes or less. I could handle that very nicely, thank you. In fact, please!
Well, I would choose Marilyn Monroe because sh–
Oh ;) In that case Queen Liliuokalani of Hawai’i. Strong woman, defending her people.
Well, as you are asking for a female input (yes I do read your blog) – I would like to be Oprah Winfrey. Dealing with weight-issues seems (now that she’s successful anyhow) to be the only downside to her life. Upsides being: tremendous power to do good, inner wisdom to not get carried away by that power, spiritually inspiring and well … rich.
mother theresa aka love
While it’s tempting to name someone famous, I’ll pick a person who is pleasent and enjoyable (most of the time!) and has made a positive and lasting contribution to my life and my kids … which would be my wife.
And yes, I would marry Wendy again even if I were … her! ;-)
Marie Curie
Ada Lovelace. Gifted mathematician, possibly the first computer programmer.
Or maybe Cleopatra – all that power :)
@ Kay Smoljak: Don’t you mean Linda ??? ;o))))
I would personally go for being the Queen in a game of chess – The most powerful piece in the game!
JC
Joan of Arc
but that might just be because I’ve been watching a lot of Joan of Arcadia. Which I do recomend even if the second season isn’t as good as the first.
Amelia Earhart
She did wonders for women in aviation. She did die somewhat early, but to hell with that guideline, only the good die young.
Apparently, information about the final resting place of her plane is forthcoming, researchers supposedly have a very good idea of where to look and are closing in.
I noticed that your responders were largely male to the prior question when I read it. In fact I actually wondered at the time (there were maybe 30 responses at that point I think) if you had female readership.
At the risk of being sexist here, for most people, one of the most important people in the world is your mom. So I guess the answer would be that if I were blessed with kids I would want to be an outstanding mom, period, end of sentence.
Hedy Lamarr.
Spy. Geek. Inventor. Actress.
She escaped from Nazi Germany, invented spread spectrum wireless technology and was known as the most beautiful woman in the world.
She made a positive and lasting contribution to the world – Bluetooth is a direct result of her invention. She led a pleasant enjoyable life once she got to the States. She died of natural causes in Orlando, Florida just six years ago.
Maya Angelou. Thoughtful and funny and has been an inspiration for many.
Sandra Day O’Connor
Extremely intelligent, compassionate, ground-breaking and one of the most important Supreme Court Justices ever.
I only wish she would have stayed a few more years…
Casiana Heredia
My Mother, is a single mother with 3 sons and worked so hard for us.
Make that three people in the first round. I said Georgia O’Keeffe the first time, and I’ll repeat it again now.
The fact that she preferred trousers never negated the femininity of the woman or her art.
Natale Portman … Straight As at Harvard and fluent in five languages … not to mention her other talents.
Hmmmmm…. thinking about it, I guess Sharon Stone would be a big hit as well … But then again I would never get out of bed ;o)))))
Eleanor Roosevelt
An amazingly popular woman in her day, she used her power and influence to bring about social justice by fighting for the civil rights of all Americans. It’s too bad that everyone gets so wrapped up in her appearance and sexuality because that preoccupation belittles all the work she did to make this world a better place:
Condoleeza Rice – One of the most powerful women in the world right now.
She is one of the best articulated, well spoken persons I have ever heard. Maybe a president someday.
Ellen DeGeneres.
Despite the issues she had in the 90s due to her sexuality and choices in girlfriends, she’s turned out to be a true inspiration to both gay and straight people alike. She’s funny, witty, and incredibly likable.
Diana Wynne Jones.
Wonderful storyteller, a major influence on her peers and a lovely person.
I sense a pattern, seeing that my previous answer was “Neil Gaiman”. 8)
Aung San Suu Kyi.
Spending 10 years (and counting) under house arrest for standing by your beliefs in human rights? That’s pretty bad-ass.
Three sprang to mind, and I can’t decide:
Toni Morrison, because of her awesome talent as a writer. If only I could use words as well as she.
Margaret Bourke-White, because she lived a life of adventure, and her pictures spoke with power and compassion.
Peggy Guggenheim, because she lived in Paris during its most exciting years and knew all the best people (the artists) — and then she lived in a wonderful palazzo in Venice (now a wonderful museum).
I would like to be my wife, then I could marry the coolest cat on the planet :D
Seriously I would pick Jeanne D’arc (Joan of Arc). To have the will and resolve to do anything for my beliefs and the beliefs of those around me without fear would be a characteristic of the highest quality.
Although she lived a short life, her maturity and old wisdom guided her. I feel it’s not how long you lived but what you did during that time that decides the quality of ones life. Hers was of the highest.
Marie Curie, no doubt.
Bill gates wife – MWAH HA HA HAHA HA!!!!!
My first thought was Elizabeth I and the more I think, the more I keep coming back to her. Others that crossed my mind: Cleopatra, Boudicca, Anna Notaras Palaiogina, Ada Lovelace, Mary Shelly.
I’d like to be the super hot software engineer whom works at my company (name left off intentionally) for the following reasons…
1. It can’t suck to be ridiculously hot. Think about it no speeding tickets, free drinks. I wouldn’t want to be ugly.
2. She’s uber smart.
3. She gets to work with some wicked awesome guys (me)
4. She is into sports and outdoorsy stuff.
I’d be Molly. :)
Nothing wrong with picking the gorgeous and talented. So that leads to ladies like Ingrid Bergman or June Carter. Then again, being someone more technical like Julie Payette would be pretty awesome, too.
Of course, the other side of question is, what about being a woman close to greatness? It’d be amazing to be Katherine Wright, or even Mary Magdalene.
JK Rowling
(Why not?)
Empress Myeongseong: heroic, intelligent, brilliant, just, and courageous.
Hanna Reitsch. Must be my love of flying, but she set a lot of glider records that still stand today.
If i was a woman ibe Jenniffer Taveras becauser she is wonderfull, and inteligent and more.
Mine’s already been said twice, but I’ll add another vote for Marie Curie. “She is one of only two people who has been awarded a Nobel Prize in two different fields” (wikipedia). Here’s a woman that’s not only famous because of her contribution “as a woman,” or because she was disadvantaged by her birth in any way, she was just flat out brilliant. Too often, we celebrate when a person’s the “first woman to …” which seems to imply that it’s more difficult for a woman to do something wonderful than it is for a man.
If not her, maybe Amelia Earhart, the “first woman to” fly across the Atlantic non-stop. Tragic though her disappearance was, it would have been amazing to be on the forefront of aviation history.
Annie Sullivan
I keep coming back to…
me. i can’t think of a man or woman other than me.
And I guess I missed a week of your blog ;)
Hah…wait… maybe not me at this moment…I’m writing my thesis. way too busy to pay much attention to anything but that.
Ben Byrd: Then you’d have to have sex with Bill Gates… ?
This is honestly a hard question for me. I’d have to say Mother Teresa, only because she’s the only modern woman I can think of offhand that has truly epic qualities and achievements.
Certainly Louise Arbour. Ingrid Betancourt is my second choice.
I just have to say, normally Jennifer Aniston doesn’t impress me, but she looks really hot in that pic you used. As far as which woman would i be, I’d probably go with Mother Theresa. Being selfless in a selfish world is awe-inspiring.
OPRAH!
My wife.
I’d be Rosa Parks; what’s better then to help emancipating your own group of people and discrediting your enemies with one simple action?
Or I’d be Joan Baez for working with Bob Dylan :)
Since Julia Child has already been taken, I think I’ll go with Lauren Bacall.
One of the few remaining true Hollywood and Broadway legends, at the age of 19, she was holding her own against Humphrey Bogart (both on-screen and off). She was (and is) the epitome of Hollywood glamour and style. In her 80′s she still steals any scene she is in. With her distinctive voice and sultry good looks she could have been just another sexy starlet. But she was also a free-thinking and powerful woman who did things on her own terms and is well know for her sharp tongue and uncompromising attitude. Goddess and Bitch all in one – what could be more fun?
Oprah Winfrey — she’s amazing!
I have always wished I had the talent to stand up and sing to people – sadly I don’t. However there is a young singer here in the UK who is clearly a new major talent – Corinne Bailey Rae.
Bonnie Raitt
Besides being socially conscious and active, she’s an awsome blues artist that literally rocks!
Man or woman, attractive or not, I wish I could play slide guitar a fraction as good as she can!
Paris Hilton.
Hear me out here. First I’d pump myself so full of heroin, then have a fling with a known carrier of an STD. This way, when she returns to her body, she’ll suddenly find herself shivering in a corner and pissing fire. Given this hasn’t already happened.
(Editor’s Note: Ok, that is a good one.)
Mary Oliver (poet, won the Pulitzer) or Neko Case (poet/songstress, winner of many a male heart). To be able to write like either one of them would be something else. Two super talented women.
I’d be Savanna Samson.
Maybe Madonna.
Cause Marie Curie already taken guys above I’d like to be Ellen McArthur – youngest woman sailor made world record in round the world trip alone!!!
I think I would temporarily like to be my 5 year old daughter. I’d like to see what I and her mother look like through her eyes.
Laura Bush: I could suck the Bush-licky dick – and bite!
Margaret Thatcher – Britain’s first female prime minister. Livin’ large and takin’ charge ;-)
Annie Leibovitz.
Amazing talent…and has been able to work with some of our time’s more interesting and influential figures.
Hmm…or Michelle Wie. So young and so much to look forward to.
I’d like to be Adriana Lima so I can stroke myself all day while I watch in the mirror :-)
Well, I would choose to be a male because males have more reponsibility and most of the things rely on them. But I think it’s just because we/us males we’re born as males and we never had a chance to be a women or experience their inabilities like unable to run as fast as males, jump, think, etc. May be these are some of the things that make us think to be males. On the other hand who gets more attention? Obvioulsy females they get all the credit even though they are married. This is really something to think about.
I would be Mike Davidson, because she is pretty. :-D
A shame nobody mentioned Grace Hopper. I’d be her.
I would be Judith Butler.
Katie pre-Tom may be on the top5, but I’d go with someone like Sofia Coppola.
Okay, I didn’t think about this one too hard, but I’d have to say Harriett Tubman. Odd choice, I know, but, although I’m white, I still think she made the world a better place. Her actions spawned many civil rights we have today…
Then again, we only have those rights as long as we avoid using them :-P
|Mike|
Michelle Yoeh.
the martial arts actress from Crouching Tiger, and Die Another Day.
Tough, beautiful and successful. And she get’s paid to kick ass on screen!
She said one of the most profound things I’ve ever heard in a interview.
It was something to the effect of “typical, I wasn’t injured doing an elaborate stunt, I was injured doing the same jumping kick I;ve done 10,000 times!! I got sloppy and landed wrong.”
That stuck with me. That’s exactly when I screew up. not when doing something elaborate, but when I’m doing something i’m familiar with.
And I thought she was hotter than Zhang Ziyi.
I wish I were Jennifer Aniston or Lucy Pinder
I wish I were Gwen Stefani. Beautiful, talented in music and fashion, very cool, and of course wealthy.
The question: “What woman would you most like to be?”
My Answer: The woman I would most like to be, would be a woman that is HOT (and young)…. that is, a beautiful woman…. if I had to pick, then I would want to be Alessandra Ambrosio….. Why a HOT (and young) woman? Well, because who wants to be a ugly woman? HOT, young woman have all the benefits in the world…… So, yes, I would most like to be a HOT (and young) woman.