• Home
  • Meet Sarah
  • College
  • Educational
    • Art
    • English
    • Math
    • Science
    • Social Studies
    • Movie Study Units
    • Lapbooks
  • Reviews
  • Check Out My Shop!
    • Sarah’s Books

Sarah Lyn Gay

STEM Life with a nine-year-old college student

Why Women in History Don’t Get a Lot of Attention

by Sarah

Women are often overlooked when it comes to history. We know about famous men, but not many people know about the women who were just as important – if not more so! The truth is that there have been plenty of iconic historical figures who happened to be female. This blog post will discuss why famous women in history don’t get a lot of attention, and what you can do to change it.

Why Women in History Don't Get a Lot of Attention

Throughout the years, there have been plenty of historical figures who were female – but they often go unrecognized because people are more focused on male icons. This is largely due to the false belief that “women’s accomplishments are not as significant” and that “women’s contributions are less important.” As a result, many of the women who have made major impacts on history often go unmentioned.

Why Women in History Don’t Get a Lot of Attention

Women were supposed to stay home and take care of the kids. That meant their education was usually geared towards domestic duties.

They weren’t allowed to go to college, and once they got married, their husbands made all their decisions for them. They were basically his property.

If they had goals and aspirations, they had to either pretend to be a man, or work closely with a man and let him take the credit.

A lot of famous male authors were really women using a pen name. If they used their own name, they wouldn’t have been able to get published. Some of those great works of literature would surprise you. Just look at these famous authors:

George Elliot, George Sand, Harper Lee, Murray Constantine, and even Vernon Lee were all really women.

This type of bias towards famous men is called gender discrimination – which happens when someone makes decisions based solely on your sex without taking into account other factors such as experience or talent. It’s a form of sexism that has been influencing our society for centuries and is still present in modern culture today.

– In the 1800s, many women were denied access to education because their only goal was seen as domestic duties like cooking or taking care of children. In the 1800s, women were not even able to own property

– Not until 1867 did American woman even have the right to vote

– In the 1920s, women were not allowed to be judges

– It was not until 1964 when a woman first became the U.S. Secretary of State in modern history.

The lack of representation for women has had deep consequences on our society’s perception of them – from which jobs they are qualified for to how they should behave in social situations.

Some may argue that we don’t talk about historical women much because they are too hard for modern people to identify with. Ask yourself this: would you rather read a story about Sally Ride’s life or Neil Armstrong’s?

– In 1977, NASA announced that a woman would be joining the space program. This was after research revealed that women were better suited to handle certain aspects of the job than men.

– Sally Ride’s work with NASA helped make her the first American woman to travel into space. To date, Ride is one of only two women who have been inducted into the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame.

The other female astronaut in this hall of fame was Janice Voss… but she never even flew a single mission.

This is where we get into gender roles and discrimination…We have come so far in this conversation but there is still more to say. SOOO much more to say.

See it in our store HERE: Women In History Flash Cards, Women In History, Flash Cards, Digital Download, Printable Download, Instant Download, STEM, STEM Activity

So – today I have for you some flashcards – of WOMEN who made great contributions in history. Some you may have already heard of – others may be new to you.

Keep in mind that famous women make up less than 30% of historical narrators and biographical subjects. And famous men are three times more likely to be highlighted as notable, according to recent research published by Purdue University. The absence can feel like an erasure – one that takes away from the importance of women in history.

Let’s change that!

Other articles you may find helpful:

  • Life Cycle of a Firefly: A Comprehensive Guide for Students
  • Circle Games for Kindergarten: Engaging Activities for Young Learners
  • Examples of Keywords in a Sentence: Enhancing Content SEO
  • Reasons for the End of the Cold War: Analyzing the Historical Shift in Global Politics
  • Life Cycle of a Mouse: A Comprehensive Guide

Grab My Newsletter

Be my bestie and get the latest on the greatest posts and special offers I share!

Thank you!

You have successfully joined our subscriber list.

.

Filed Under: Educational, Social Studies Tagged With: Social Studies

Contact Us

Want to know more about Sarah or to partner with us? Send an email to DannelleGay (at) gmail (dot) com

Check out our latest articles:

  • Life Cycle of a Firefly: A Comprehensive Guide for Students
  • Circle Games for Kindergarten: Engaging Activities for Young Learners
  • Examples of Keywords in a Sentence: Enhancing Content SEO
  • Reasons for the End of the Cold War: Analyzing the Historical Shift in Global Politics
  • Life Cycle of a Mouse: A Comprehensive Guide
  • Connotation and Denotation Examples: Unpacking Meaning in Language
  • Middle Colonies Economic Activities: Diversification and Prosperity in Colonial America

Tags

art balance bean birds civil war Cold War college English firefly girl scouts hedgehog history homeschool jellyfish kindergarten lapbook life cycle math Middle Colonies movie study mushrooms Northern colonies parenting plant polar bears presidents press reading red panda reviews scholarships science seahorse Social Studies spelling STEM talking to teens talking to tweens Travel turkey unit study World War 2 writing

Check Out Our Other Sites:

Operation $40K started it all and is great for recipes, meal planning, and budget-fiendly tips.
Traveling Cheesehead is about the adventures of a traveling Wisconsinite and her family.
World of Caves is all about Underground Adventures and has FREE downloadable homeschool guides!
Crazy Camping Girl is about hitting the road and the great outdoors.
My Aussie Service Dog tells you about our adventures with our Aussie, who yes – is a service dog!
A Monkey on a Cupcake is all about cupcakes!
Joyful Xmas is all about Christmas – from recipes to crafts, to history, and more!
Bug Out With Dannelle is all about emergency preparation!

I earned my Silver Award!

What Visiters Had To Say

  • URL on Three States of Matter For Kids: Gas, Liquid, and Solid
  • The Tree Life Cycle from Seed to Shade - Sarah Lyn Gay on All About Hummingbirds and the Hummingbird Life Cycle
  • Perennials For Your Prepper Garden - Bug Out With Dannelle on The Dandelion Life Cycle and So Much More
  • The Tree Life Cycle from Seed to Shade - Sarah Lyn Gay on All About the Gymnosperm Life Cycle
  • The Tree Life Cycle from Seed to Shade - Sarah Lyn Gay on All About the Life Cycle of Fungi

Copyright © 2025 Sarah Lyn Gay · Customized by Springboard Creative

Copyright © 2025 · Sarah Lyn Gay on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Privacy Policy