A rich but provocative irony suffuses Angella M. Nazarian’s latest book, “Pioneers of the Possible: Celebrating Visionary Women of the World” (Assouline: $45).
Recent headlines across the world, in America no less than Israel and the Islamic world, confirm that women are hardly secure in their right to live their lives as they choose,
or even in their right to decide matters of marriage, health, reproduction and career. Indeed, the same point is powerfully made in an exhibit now on display at the Skirball Cultural Center titled “Women Hold Up Half the Sky,” which identifies gender equality as “the human rights issue of our time.”
Yet Nazarian is celebrating the fact that, for some women in some places, the opposite is also true. “Today, perhaps more than any other time in modern history, women feel empowered to follow their true callings,” she writes in “Pioneers of the Possible. “[N]o matter where we are headed, learning about the lives of pioneering women is an inspiring way to honor who we are and to encourage each other toward greater possibilities and deeper lives.”
To illustrate her point, she has selected 20 stirring success stories of women, some living and some deceased, who have made a difference in our world. The list includes writers, artists, politicians, performers, spiritual leaders, business moguls, architects, athletes and activists, each offered as a role model for women who want to make a difference. “Each one has her own special way of expressing her spirit — whether through painting, politics, environmentalism, architecture or esthetics,” explains Nazarian. “Every one imagined what did not yet exist — but might someday.”
Story continues after the jump.