he was referring to this bit of the letter to sinéad:“It’s a Chinese finger trap that reflects the basic problems of our women-times: we’re either scolded for looking sexy or we’re scolded for not playing the game. Those who manage to find a perfect balance are rare, and the culture at large seems hellbent on undermining our ability to create that balance peacefully within ourselves. And weirdly, it’s generally women scolding other women…we’re our own worst enemies.”

responding to the tweet with a few of my favorites (patti smith, diamanda galas, tilda swinton) created a really wonderful dialog and spontaneous twitter-list, with lots of people sending in suggestions of amazing women that should be included.
the internet loves its lists, that’s for sure (THANKS, BUZZFEED)…BUT, it’s actually surprising how at a glance, there seem to be very few notable galleries of awesome females.
(WHADDUP, BUZZFEED?!)

SO…
why not make one? why don’t we ALL make one fer fuck’s sake?
disclaimer: there are a LOT of great people missing here – in fact, this is almost all musicians with a few random badasses sprinkled throughout (it’s just what me and sean put together quick to get us going with a few from neil at the end). there are plenty of actresses and advocates and politicians and AUTHORS we didn’t even broach. and THAT my dear friends, is what the comments are for. know of a particularly good book by a particularly rad woman? you know what to do.

GRIMES (@Grimezsz)

TILDA SWINTON (wiki)

GRACE JONES (@Miss_GraceJones)

PATTI SMITH

TINA FEY & AMY POEHLER

FRIDA KAHLO

MARINA ABRAMOVIC

JODIE FOSTER (wiki)

JOAN BAEZ (@joancbaez)

BITCH (@BitchMusic)

MERRILL GARBUS aka tUnE-yArDs (@tuneyards)

TRACY CHAPMAN

BONNIE RAITT

PUSSY RIOT (@freepussyriot)

BETH DITTO (@oBETHoDITTO)

ARETHA FRANKLIN

MARGARET CHO (@margaretcho)

CHRISSIE HYNDE

“DR. RUTH” WESTHEIMER (@askdrruth)

JANELLE MONÁE (@JanelleMonae)

YOKO ONO (@yokoono)

LAURIE ANDERSON

WENDY DAVIS (@WendyDavisTexas)

FIONA APPLE

MARIANNE FAITHFULL

NATASHA KAHN aka BAT FOR LASHES (@Bat_for_Lashes)

FELICIA DAY (@feliciaday)

GILDA RADNER & MISS FUCKING PIGGY (Gilda’s wiki)

NINA SIMONE

MELISSA AUF DER MAUR (@xMAdMx)

KATHLEEN HANNA (@kathleenhanna)

KIM GORDON pictured w/ thurston moore (@KimletGordon)

KIM DEAL

DOLLY PARTON (@DollyParton)

DEBBIE HARRY

TAVI GEVINSON (@tavitulle)

FLORENCE WELCH (@flo_tweet)

PJ HARVEY

QUEEN LATIFAH (@IAMQUEENLATIFAH)

BJÖRK (@bjork)

BRODY DALLE (@BrodyDalle

TORI AMOS (@therealtoriamos)

KAREN O (@YYYs)

TEGAN & SARA QUIN (@teganandsara)

JOAN JETT

TINA TURNER (aunty entity, mofos)

NICO (wiki)

MARA WILSON (@MaraWritesStuff)

JUNE CARTER CASH pictured w/ johnny (June’s wiki)

SHIRLEY MANSON (@garbage)

ANI DIFRANCO (@anidifranco)

MEOW MEOW (@MeowTopia)

CYNDI LAUPER (@cyndilauper)

NEKO CASE (@NekoCase)

ANNIE LENNOX (@AnnieLennox)

ELLEN DEGENERES (@TheEllenShow)
(bonus awesome via KRISTEN BELL and LOLA the SLOTH – video)

DIAMANDA GALAS

KATE BUSH

JANIS JOPLIN

last but not least…
SINÉAD O’CONNOR

neil wanted to add these fine women: ELAINE STRICH, DAME JUDI DENCH, MAGGIE SMITH, JUDY COLLINS, GERMAINE GREER, DILLIE KEANE, and GLORIA STEINEM

 * * * * *

My own additions to this list, which I imagine will continue to grow: Elizabeth Warren, Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary Shelley, Margaret Atwood, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Emma Goldman, Isadora Duncan, Toni Morrison, Maya Stein, Rama Jyoti Vernon, and Sharon Gannon. 

Oh my, I am feeling a slew of new posts brewing . . . thanks again to Amanda Palmer. (Oh yeah, she needs to be on the list, too).