Non-Feminist Successful Women
Modern (feminist) media often quietly reframes “successful woman” into “feminist icon,” even when the woman herself never used the label. Historically, many high-achieving women were driven more by discipline and personal ambition than by feminist ideology. If you look up any successful, talented woman, there is always a debate around whether or not she was a feminist.
Here is a comprehensive list of accomplished women, past and present, who either never identifed as a feminist, or openly rejected the label. Some of these women may be considered feminist icons today, but none of these women actually called themselves feminists, or if they did, came to reject the label of feminist. We have got to stop calling any talented self-sufficient woman “a feminist”. Feminist doesn’t mean “successful woman”. A feminist is someone who actively identifies with the label, and seeks to challenge what they consider to be the male-dominated patriarchy.
Click here to see what a feminist is
Click here to see if you identify as a feminist
If you happen to know any accomplished women who are/were not feminists, comment below and I will add them to this list. This is real women’s history.
Female Leaders
Hatshepsut (ruled Egypt 1478 B.C. – 1459 B.C.)
Cleopatra (Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC)
Wu Zhao (Ruler of Tang Dynasty China (690-705 BC)
Catherine the Great (Empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796)
Boudicca (Queen of the Ancient British Iceni Tribe)
Empress Theodora of the Byzantine Empire
Zenobia (Warrior Queen of Palmyra in the 3rd Century)
Empress Dowager Cixi (Empress of China's Qing Dynasty)
Yaa Asantewaa (Warrior Queen Mother of Ejisu)
Isabella 1st (Queen of Spain in the 1400s)
Queen Victoria (Queen of the UK from 1837-1901)
Queen Elizabeth 2nd (Queen of the UK from 1952-2022)
Indira Ghandi (President of India from 1966-77)
Margaret Thatcher (Prime Minister of Britain from 1979-1990)
Joan of Arc (Military leader and Patron Saint of France)
Ameenah Gurib-Fakim (President of Mauritius from 2015-2018)
Golda Meir (Prime Minister of Israel from 1969-1974)
Giorgia Meloni (Prime Minister of Italy from 2022)
Sanae Takaichi (Prime Minister of Japan from 2025)
Females in STEM, Medicine, & Aircraft
Sofia Ionescu (Romanian neurosurgeon)
Grace Hopper (American computer scientist)
Marie Curie (French physicist)
Alice Ball (African-American chemist)
Florence Nightingale (English nurse)
Asli Hassan Abade (Somali pilot)
Harriet Tubman (African-American nurse and civil rights activist)
Elizabeth Blackwell (British & American physician)
Nettie Stevens (American geneticist)
Maryam Mirzakhani (Iranian mathematician)
Amen Aamir (Pakistani pilot)
Gerty Cori (Czech-American biochemist)
Rosalind Franklin (English chemist and X-ray crystallographer)
Wang Zhenyi (Chinese astronomer)
Valerie Thomas (American data scientist and inventor)
Debra Soh (American sexologist and neuroscientist)
Layah Heilpern (English crypto investor)
Females in the Arts & Humanities
Ayn Rand (Russian-American writer & philosopher)
Hypatia (Ancient Greek mathematician, theologian, and philosopher)
Brigitte Bardot (French actress & model)
Marilyn Monroe (American actress & model)
Caro Emerald (Dutch singer)
Miriam Makeba (South African singer and civil rights activist)
Grace Jones (American singer, dancer and performing artist)
Frida Kahlo (Mexican painter)
Agatha Christie (English author)
Maria Callas (American-Greek Opera singer)
Sylvia Plath (American poet)
Jane Austen (English author)
Janice Fiamengo (Canadian English professor)
Hedy Lamarr (American actress and technological innovator)
Rita Hayworth (American actress)
Cassie Jaye (American filmmaker)
Suzanne Venker (American author)
Erin Pizzey (English social worker and author)
Mona Charen (American author)
Saba Douglas-Hamilton (Kenyan wildlife conservationist)
Enya (Irish singer)
Joan Didion (Writer and journalist)