A Twitter Thread Celebrates Badass Women Through Time

Recently, a Twitter handle posted a seemingly rhetorical question. It had an Image of pop star Taylor Swift, one of the most followed celebrities on Twitter mind you, in her new Gothic ‘good girl gone bad’ avatar. The pic was captioned ‘Name a bitch badder than Taylor Swift’. A seemingly innocuous fan statement. But the Twitterati love to take things out of context. So this fan’s appreciation for the diva’s reinvention of her image, sent tweeples actually looking for ‘bitches badder than Taylor Swift’.

Let us first admit that this statement is cringe-worthy. When did it become cool to address a gutsy woman as a bitch? Call me old-fashioned, but no amount of arguments will make it seem awesome to address a female human as a female dog. Then again, I am outdated and old enough to list ‘reading books’ as my favourite pass time! Anyhow, keeping the curious use of a profanity as a badge of honour, this tweet led to an amazing thread.

People actually dug out unheard stories of bad-ass women from the motley pages of history books.

These women make Taylor Swift sound like a whimpering teenager out to revolt against her mommy and daddy.

From a World War Two spy

Nancy Wake, A spy from WW2 who was wanted by the Gestapo. Once when parachuted into France she landed in a tree. When the resistance greeted her remarking, "I hope that all the trees in France bear such beautiful fruit this year." she replied, "Don't give me that French shit." https://t.co/VMvZGYkNJa

— Steven Herod (@sherod) December 2, 2017

To a French widow who turned into pirate

Jeanne de Clisson, murderous French aristocrat-turned-pirate who named her ship My Revenge after the French king executed her husband. She spent the next decade killing all the French crews she encountered, sparing only 1 sailor to relay her message of vengeance ☠️⚓️⚔️ https://t.co/7JGPo3qNjj

— Greg Jenner (@greg_jenner) December 1, 2017

To the first female field engineer

pic.twitter.com/YkEMzfGOax

— Pharaoh Hatshepsut FUTRUMP Wadjrenput Maatkare (@Netjeretkhau) December 4, 2017

These tweets paid a long overdue tribute to women who showed courage and free will in times when many women were not even allowed to vote.

But these tributes were not just restricted to women from past. Many shared iconic photos of modern women, who challenged authorities openly

pic.twitter.com/4ZIkoCuuEF

— Kali Devi (@GoddessKaliDevi) December 2, 2017

Safiyyah Khan, British-Pakistani girl who smiled down on an ultra right protester.https://t.co/4G22Ot9wI8

And she's wearing FREE PALESTINE t-shirt while at it. pic.twitter.com/vAOnp6to0F

— (tadinya) kesayangan Tuhan™ (@pitoist) December 3, 2017

Many also shared personal stories of triumph and grit

My grandmother survived Auschwitz, came to America w/nothing, taught herself perfect English, was an accomplished seamstress. She lost her only child, my mom, to suicide. She lived to her 90s, sharp as a tack + full of light to the end. Bad bitch does not begin to describe her.

— Allison Nazarian 🖤 (@AllisonNazarian) December 4, 2017

My friend Lynn, who celebrated her 90th b'day 2 weeks ago, was diagnosed with Stage 4 ovarian cancer and given 2 months to live. In 2013.

— Αλεξάνδρα Σάμος (@Xanboni) December 4, 2017

My sister, who is a hippie farmer, EMT & forest fire fighter, still, at 71 years of age.

— Black Lives Matter, MoFo. Fascism Sucks So Bad (@Rick_Geissal) December 4, 2017

There are days when Twitter transforms into a gold mine of awesome posts and trivia. This thread is one of them. It's still debatable whether all the humdrum around Taylor Swift's new 'image' is a mere campaign or an actual transformation. But one thing is for sure. Sure there are 'Badder bitches' in town. And every woman struggling to make her mark in this man-made world with man-made rules, can give the diva a run for her money.

Also Read: Dear Men, Here’s Why We Should Not Scrap Section 498A Yet