Top Ten Women Who Changed the World

There are of course countless women who changed the world. This article gives my personal top ten - these ten women are not only amazing human beings, but they have made a real change in the world for the better. In the field of politics, science, art and media, these ten women have had a lasting impact on how all of us live.

For anyone looking for positive female role models, these women are inspiring examples of how a woman can change the world for the better. Each of these ten picks shows that a woman with passion and purpose can change history, something I hope will inspire women of all ages who are facing self-doubt or lack of confidence.

When I was growing up the only 'strong woman' I was officially aware of was Margaret Thatcher - not a role model I personally wanted to emulate! Positive female role models are increasingly important for girls and women in a world where the media seems determined to tell us that the only value of a woman is her appearance. This is far from being the truth, as these ten woman prove. Women can -and do - change the course of history!

You will have a chance below to vote in a poll for the most inspiring living woman, and to leave a comment to share your favourite female role model. We all need positive role-models - women who changed the world and kept their feminity while doing it. So tell your friends, and let's get the conversation started!

Since ancient times until the last forty or fifty years, history has mainly been written by men. This has given a natural bias to what has been recorded over the years, which events were considered historical and which were seen as unimportant. The history of conflict and battles, individual leaders and political movements. The changes which affected men were the changes which were recorded.

Yet if I think to myself who has changed the way we live today more - Marie Curie or Napolean, I personally would pick Marie Curie. Her research into radiation has resulted in life-saving technology, and alternatives to fossil fuels. Napolean's empire, while it led to many dramatic battles, has had little lasting impact.

With the rise of feminism in the 1960s more scholars have started to review history from a female perspective. They have searched for evidence of how women lived, how they were treated by society in the past, and how they found creative ways of influencing their world without being seen to do so - the infamous 'power behind the throne'.

It turns out there have been many women who have shaped the course of history, sometimes quite quietly and subtly because their gender meant they could not be publically seen to be the one pulling the strings. Many women in medieval Europe, for example, exercised great power in courtly circles whether through intrigue, sexual bargaining or ruthless power politics.

Women have never just been 'one way'. There have always been all sorts of women who have shown courage in leadership in a variety of different ways. I hope you have been inspired by this list to celebrate women's contribution to changing the world.

Add a comment below to let readers know what women who changed the world most inspires you ...

Women's history month is celebrated worldwide each year. In the United States and the United Kingdom it is celebrated in March to co-incide with International Women's Day. This marking of women's history month began with the creation of International Women's Day in 1911. In 1981 the US congress passed a bill to recognise women's history week annually - recognising the growing popularity of the event.

Each year a different theme of women's history is celebrated. In 2010 the theme was 'Writing Women back into History', in 2011 it was 'Our History is Our Strength'

For more information on Women's History month you can check out the National Women's History Project website: click here.