Who is the Greatest Female Role Model of the 21st Century?

In this world full of uncertainty, one thing that can maintain certainty is a ‘Female Leader’. Women all around the world are very capable of throwing down gauntlets towards any challenge. Topics related to women are not only a highlighted subject in the contemporary world but also hold a great amount of pre-eminence in history. Virginia Woolf, an English writer of the 20th century stated that— “Women have served all these centuries as looking- glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size.”in her book : A Room of One’s Own . The statement is not only true but is also very persuasive as women have practically as well as literally proven to be great leaders throughout the time being.

When the question is asked, “Who is the Greatest Female Role Model of the 21st Century?” to an individual, a thought might escalate in his/her mind about his/her role model. The 21st century is a great era which possesses the world’s most influential female figures of all time. Among all the great female leaders, Oprah Winfrey is the greatest. Oprah Gail Winfrey is an American talk show host, a philanthropist, a billionaire, an actress, an activist and an author. She is best known for her talk show ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’, not to mention of her being the richest black woman on earth.

Despite having an atrocious childhood, Oprah’s perplexingly pragmatic personality never ceases to wonder. In her book’ What I know for sure’ she apprised her audience that she was born in 1953 with an unwanted pregrancy by a single mother and later on was raised by her grandmother. She stated that her birth was marked by regret,hiding and shame. She has stated that she was molested during her childhood and early teens and became pregnant at 14; her son was born prematurely and died in infancy. Furthermore, she is one of the only people to have appeared in Time’s list of most influential people ten times. Winfrey is also an extemporaneous and a motivational speaker. Even though she has been critisized for having an emotional-centred approach and promoting controversial self-help ideas, she has been praised for being helpful in overcoming tribulations and setbacks and has become a benefactor to others. Oprah has talked a lot about her struggles of being “black”. She has inspired various people to fight the prejudices against black people- by telling her own life stories like how she wasn’t allowed to sleep in her house with her mother and had to sleep outside because of her skin colour. Moreover, she has been called “the most powerful woman” by CNN and Time.com.

Above all, it seems pertinent to remember that the success story of Oprah is too wide and overwhelming to put into words. With a very frivolous and funny personality she teaches an important lesson to embrace life and taking our happy moments seriously- “ I take my pleasures seriously. I work hard and play well; I believe in the yin and yang of life”

1) Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own, September1929,Pg. No. 35

2) Oprah Winfrey, wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oprah_Winfrey

3) Oprah Winfrey, What I Know For Sure,US(2014), 31-32.

4) Oprah Winfrey, wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oprah_Winfrey

5) Mrianne Stenger, 10 of the most influential women of the 21st century, 5 Mar.2018 https://www.bobbooks.co.uk/blog-post/10-of-the-most-influential-women-of-the-21st-century#:~:text=Michelle%20Obama%20is%20the%20ultimate,supporting%20education%20opportunities%20for%20women.

6) Oprah Winfrey, wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oprah_Winfrey

7) Oprah Winfrey, Belief 2015, documentary

8) Oprah Winfrey, Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oprah_Winfrey

9) Oprah Winfrey, What I Know For Sure,US(2014), 6..