We love rebels – at least the ones in books and movies. They break the rules, turn a blind eye to authority, follow their own path, and don’t care what anyone thinks. They are romantic figures, and we imagine we could be like them. In real life, though, most of us trudge along, doing what we’re told, accepting the way things are. And we find real rebels a bit annoying.

Almost all the women in this book are a particular type of rebel. They are activists: people who devote themselves to change. They had the ability to see long before others did that slavery, inequality of women, inequality due to race, discrimination against people considered “different,” cruelty to animals, political tyranny, and more, were terribly wrong. Then they tried to do something about it. Most people didn’t understand what these women were rebelling against. They thought all these things were normal, the way it was supposed to be. And they wanted them to shut up.

None of the women in this book were willing to do that. Some of them lost their lives because of it. All of them put themselves at risk. They did so – and this is the most important point – not for their own sake, but because they saw there was something bigger and more important than their individual lives: a need for justice.

Olympe de Gouges of France was a visionary in the 1700s who called for the kind of women’s rights that wouldn’t be taken seriously until two centuries later. She was executed, and dismissed as insane. Former slave Sojourner Truth fought for the abolition of slavery and the vote for women in the 1800s. She would live to see one, but not the other, achieved.

Others also died before their goals were accomplished. Ruth First was killed by a letter bomb sent by South African police, before the racist system she worked to overthrow was finally dismantled. Sarojini Naidu lived to see the end of British rule in India, a cause she was jailed for numerous times. But she also campaigned for equality between men and women, and between all castes and religions in her country, and those battles remain to be won.

For more than forty years, Gloria Steinem has been a second-wave feminist leader. Although some of the movement’s goals have been achieved, there have also been disheartening setbacks. Pacifist Joan Baez was able to see an end to the war in Vietnam, but there is never an end to war.

All the women in the book have remarkable personal stories and childhoods, but two that stand out are Leilani Muir and Temple Grandin. Leilani’s mother put her in a mental institution, although there was nothing wrong with her. She was sterilized there – made physically incapable of having children – because the government believed so-called mental “defectives” were a threat to society. Temple’s mother, on the other hand, never gave up on her autistic child. She saw her daughter earn her PhD and discover that autism could be a gift. Temple’s autism allowed her to understand animals, whose rights she now fights for.

Michelle Douglas took on the biggest fight of her life with the support of her family. An outstanding officer, she was kicked out of the military because she was a lesbian. Shannen Koostachin’s family taught her pride in her aboriginal heritage. That gave her the strength to organize, at age thirteen, what has been called the largest youth-led children’s rights campaign in Canadian history.

These ten women had a variety of ways to get their messages out, from writing to music, from public speaking to the Internet, from journalism to the court system. Most believed in using non-violent methods, except for Ruth First, who became convinced peaceful means could not achieve her goal. Some were driven to do what they did because of religious faith, and many fought for women’s rights in addition to their other goals. Seeking justice for others, they realized their own gender was not receiving equal rights.

There were so many women and causes that could have been included in Courageous Women Rebels. There simply wasn’t room. However, to read more about environmentalists and other peace, native rights, and political activists, I refer readers to the other Women’s Hall of Fame books.

It sometimes takes years, even centuries, to catch up to rebels whose clarity of thinking and daring action sets them apart. They are shining examples of how people can make a difference. Still, for those of us less-daring non-rebels, every day it is possible to see ways in which we can put others before ourselves, and make the bigger picture more important than the small things in our individual lives. It’s not easy. It’s incredibly hard. But I hope these women’s stories inspire all of us to try.

Joy Crysdale