The 25 Most Powerful Women of the Past Century

[Odysseus]

TIME surveys the women who have most influenced our world

Full List Leading Ladies:

Jane Addams (1860-1935)
Corazon Aquino (1933-2009)
Rachel Carson (1907-1964)
Coco Chanel (1883-1971)
Julia Child (1912-2004)
Hillary Clinton (1947-Present)
Marie Curie (1867-1934)
Aretha Franklin (1942-Present)
Indira Gandhi (1917-1984)
Estée Lauder (1908-2004)
Madonna (1958-Present)
Margaret Mead (1901-1978)
Golda Meir (1898-1978)
Angela Merkel (1954-Present)
Sandra Day O'Connor (1930-Present)
Rosa Parks (1913-2005)
Jiang Qing (1914-1991)
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962)
Margaret Sanger (1879-1966)
Gloria Steinem (1934-Present)
Martha Stewart (1941-Present)
Mother Teresa (1910-1997)
Margaret Thatcher (1925-Present)
Oprah Winfrey (1954-Present)
Virginia Woolf (1882-1941)

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,2029774,00.html#ixzz17LrYcORf

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A few comments:

Time seems to have equated influence with power. Rosa Parks was certainly influential, but I wouldn't call her powerful. Eleanor Roosevelt's "power" was entirely derived from her husband's power, as was Jang Qing, who was purged the minute Mao died. Why not Woodrow Wilson's wife, who actually wielded power when he was felled by a stroke? Coco Chanel, Martha Stewart, Estee Lauder and Virginia Woolf may have had some influence in specific areas, but none of them could be listed as powerful women in the sense of who we think of as the most powerful men of the last century (FDR, Reagan, MAO, Stalin, Hitler, Churchill, Ghandi, etc.), and Mother Teresa's lack of power is what made her influence such a great example. And while I certainly like Aretha Franklin, was she more powerful than Lena Horne? For that matter, is Madonna more powerful than any other singer of her generation, or previous ones? If popularity is the driving force, why not Marilyn Monroe or Sarah Bernhardt? And Rachel Carson made the list, but for the wrong reason. Her lies about DDT resulted in the deaths of millions of people in the third world, putting her up there with the Marx in terms of having inspired mass death.

Then, there are the omissions. Clare Booth Luce, aside from having been a member of congress, a journalist and a serious woman of influence, was also the wife of the founder of Time, and a critical influence on the magazine for decades. How did they forget her (answer: She was an unabashed conservative)?

Queen Elizabeth II is one of the few remaining female monarchs in the world, and although she does not wield anywhere near the power of her predecessors, she is certainly as influential as Martha Stewart.

Sarah Palin and Geraldine Ferraro, the first vice-presidential nominees of their respective parties, would have been more apropos than Madonna, especially since Palin continues to be a power broker in the GOP, having gotten a number of Tea Party candidates elected in the last election cycle.

For that matter, love or hate her (and I think we all know where I fall on this one), Nancy Pelosi, as the first female speaker of the House, was an immensely powerful woman for four long, painful years. Would putting her on the list have been like rubbing salt in a wound? Perhaps, but who would argue that Virginia Woolf had more power?

This is why Time is rapidly becoming irrelevent.

[Gingersnap]

A little more GD than Breaking News. ;)

[noonwitch]

I'm not a Madonna fan, but she's on the list because she has been very influential in the music industry. Katie Parry and all the other new girls in music are just copying Madonna.

Aretha made more money and is a much more popular singer than Lena Horne ever was, so I would guess that's why she made the list and Lena didn't. Also, for some reason, a lot of black women I know despised Lena Horne. I haven't figured out why, I don't think she was a republican. Most black women in Detroit also hate Diana Ross, although that is because she is a bitch, from what I hear. They also always call her "Diane", because calling herself Diana is just one more example of how she's forgotten who she is and where she's from.

Claire Booth Luce is a glaring omission. I'm not so sure about how much influence QE2 has, and any power she has is due only to the fact that she had no brothers. Thatcher had more power when she was PM.


I don't see Clara Barton on the list. She founded the American Red Cross and she is considered one of the most important people in the development of nursing as a profession. That should be worth a Madonna and a Coco Chanel.


Sarah Palin is younger than anyone on the list, and so far, her accomplishments are being governor of Alaska for a half term and being nominated to be VP on the republican ticket. If she reaches a higher level of power, she will be tops on a future list.

[djones520]

I'm really suprised Clinton made the list, but Rice didn't.

[CueSi]

I'm not a Madonna fan, but she's on the list because she has been very influential in the music industry. Katie Parry and all the other new girls in music are just copying Madonna.

Aretha made more money and is a much more popular singer than Lena Horne ever was, so I would guess that's why she made the list and Lena didn't. Also, for some reason, a lot of black women I know despised Lena Horne. I haven't figured out why, I don't think she was a republican. Most black women in Detroit also hate Diana Ross, although that is because she is a bitch, from what I hear. They also always call her "Diane", because calling herself Diana is just one more example of how she's forgotten who she is and where she's from.

Claire Booth Luce is a glaring omission. I'm not so sure about how much influence QE2 has, and any power she has is due only to the fact that she had no brothers. Thatcher had more power when she was PM.


I don't see Clara Barton on the list. She founded the American Red Cross and she is considered one of the most important people in the development of nursing as a profession. That should be worth a Madonna and a Coco Chanel.


Sarah Palin is younger than anyone on the list, and so far, her accomplishments are being governor of Alaska for a half term and being nominated to be VP on the republican ticket. If she reaches a higher level of power, she will be tops on a future list.

Black women hate Lena Horne because she married a white man , and she was dead honest as to why she did it: she knew she had to do SOMETHING to get ahead in 1940's Hollywood as a black woman. She liked the guy, but the marriage was a straight up "give to get something" move. Would I have done something like that? Probably. :p

But Diana? Diana Ross IS a bitch. She screwed the other members of the Supremes ROYALLY. . . and never had much of a sorry to say about that. I almost regard her on the same level as Hanoi Jane. . . almost.

And I don't understand Clara Barton's not being included either.

~QC

[PoliCon]

I like how the list equates pop culture influence with actual power. :rolleyes:

[Articulate_Ape]

I like how the list equates pop culture influence with actual power. :rolleyes:

It's TIME, what do you expect?

[noonwitch]

Black women hate Lena Horne because she married a white man , and she was dead honest as to why she did it: she knew she had to do SOMETHING to get ahead in 1940's Hollywood as a black woman. She liked the guy, but the marriage was a straight up "give to get something" move. Would I have done something like that? Probably. :p
QC



Well, that explains it. I never could get an honest discussion of it. I loved Lena Horne, my mom had some of her records when I was a kid. My racist grandmother liked her. Even in old age, she was a beautiful and graceful woman. Every time I'd bring her name up to my black female friends, they'd all just say how much they hated her. Obviously, they wouldn't tell me why because I'm white.

And I thought they just hated her because she was pretty.

[CueSi]

Well, that explains it. I never could get an honest discussion of it. I loved Lena Horne, my mom had some of her records when I was a kid. My racist grandmother liked her. Even in old age, she was a beautiful and graceful woman. Every time I'd bring her name up to my black female friends, they'd all just say how much they hated her. Obviously, they wouldn't tell me why because I'm white.

And I thought they just hated her because she was pretty.

LOL, don't tell them you know why now...

~QC

[Odysseus]

I'm not a Madonna fan, but she's on the list because she has been very influential in the music industry. Katie Parry and all the other new girls in music are just copying Madonna.

Aretha made more money and is a much more popular singer than Lena Horne ever was, so I would guess that's why she made the list and Lena didn't. Also, for some reason, a lot of black women I know despised Lena Horne. I haven't figured out why, I don't think she was a republican. Most black women in Detroit also hate Diana Ross, although that is because she is a bitch, from what I hear. They also always call her "Diane", because calling herself Diana is just one more example of how she's forgotten who she is and where she's from.
The point is the amount of power, or influence, that they had (when it comes to power, very few people in entertainment have much, and those who do tend to be studio heads and the like). What makes Madonna more of a power broker in music than


Claire Booth Luce is a glaring omission. I'm not so sure about how much influence QE2 has, and any power she has is due only to the fact that she had no brothers. Thatcher had more power when she was PM.

I don't see Clara Barton on the list. She founded the American Red Cross and she is considered one of the most important people in the development of nursing as a profession. That should be worth a Madonna and a Coco Chanel.

Sarah Palin is younger than anyone on the list, and so far, her accomplishments are being governor of Alaska for a half term and being nominated to be VP on the republican ticket. If she reaches a higher level of power, she will be tops on a future list.
Barton died in 1912, and her accomplishments were during the Civil War, which put her outside of the previous century as a power broker. Palin makes as more sense than Clinton, since the senate is full of women, and she doesn't seem to have much

I'm really suprised Clinton made the list, but Rice didn't.

For that matter, they could have included Albright, who had a lot of leeway from Clinton. For that matter, why didn't Geraldine Ferraro make the list?

The deal with this list is twofold. It celebrates leftist icons, of course, but it also serves to keep those who are in need of a career boost in the public eye. Madelaine Albright and Gerry Ferraro don't need help at the moment, and the libs at Time would rather sew their eyelids shut with barbed wire than cite Condoleeza Rice or any other Republican. Margaret Sanger made the list because abortion is a sacrament to the left.

At least they didn't put Princess Di on the list. That would have been absurd, even for these clowns.

[Rockntractor]

Ginger didn't make the list again.:confused:

[AmPat]

Did Janet Reno miss because she isn't fully female?

[PoliCon]

Ginger didn't make the list again.:confused:

Not to mention shannon . . .

[Rockntractor]

Not to mention shannon . . .

She may have, we don't know her real name!:confused: