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Kickass Women

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A young woman working out using boxing gloves and a punching bag in 1890.
ancient

The Women Who Overcame Insults and Even Death to Become Athletes

From bow-wielding Amazons to the trash-talking, 18th-century “Mother of Boxing.”
Sarah Durn February 16, 2024
Concord, Massachusetts

Grave of Anne Rainsford French

The first woman in the United States to get a driver's license is buried here.
High-altitude archaeologist Constanza Ceruti climbs towards the highest archaeological site on Earth at the top of the 22,110-foot-tall Mount Llullaillaco in Argentina.
mummies

In High Altitude Archaeology, One Woman Isn’t Scared of Heights—Or Mummies

Even when those mummies still have skin, hair, and clothing.
Laura Kiniry February 2, 2024
A female astronomer peers through Yerkes Observatory's massive refractor telescope in Williams Bay, Wisconsin.
observatories

Uncovering the Forgotten Female Astronomers of Yerkes Observatory

It all started with a photo of Einstein.
April White January 9, 2024
Two stone tombs on a raised stone platform
New Delhi, India

Razia Sultan Tomb

Delhi's only female ruler is buried in this neglected, forgotten tomb.
A bronze fast of a female face atop a pedestal with a lighthouse in the background
New York, New York

Girl Puzzle Monument

An art installation commemorates journalist Nellie Bly's undercover reporting inside a New York asylum.
An Indigenous Mexican healer, known as a <em>curandera</em>, performs a ritual at El Rancho de Las Golondrinas, a living history museum in New Mexico.
witchcraft

Podcast: Witches and Ritual Around the Globe

Explore the mysteries of Mexico's Indigenous healers and Denmark's gruesome witch burnings with Condé Nast Traveler's Women Who Travel Podcast.
The Podcast Team July 3, 2023
Two women pose wearing their intricate <em>mporo</em> necklaces.
kickass women

Inside Kenya’s Women-Only Village Where Traditional Beaded Necklaces Are Symbols of Power

The women of Umoja no longer need a man to make their mporo marriage necklaces.
Nora Wallaya June 13, 2023
In 1938, Elzada Clover (first row, second from left) and Lois Jotter (first row, second from right) were the first non-Indigenous women to raft the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon.
science

The Historic Grand Canyon Adventure Two Women Had For Science

Botanists Elzada Clover and Lois Jotter braved rapids and steep cliffs to catalog numerous plant species.
Sarah Durn May 29, 2023
Chemist and physicist Marie Curie works in the lab with her husband Pierre in 1896. Curie would go on to win two Nobel prizes for her groundbreaking research on radioactivity.
radioactive

Marie Curie As You’ve Never Met Her Before

The world’s first two-time Nobel Laureate was a nerd’s nerd who broke the law for knowledge.
Sarah Durn April 20, 2023
Before joining the Central Luzon Huks as Commander Liwayway, Remedios Gomez-Paraiso was known in her rural town for her poise and beauty.
military history

Commander Liwayway and Other Filipino Women Who Fought During World War II

The “Huk Amazons” were military commanders, leaders, soldiers, spies, and more.
Sarah Durn March 29, 2023
Rochester, Michigan

Meadow Brook Hall

This museum was once the home of industry titan Matilda Dodge Wilson.
This colossal freedom statue stands in front of Nigeria's Badagry Heritage Museum in Lagos State. Badgery, a small town near Nigeria's border with Benin, was the site of a large slave port.
ships

The Untold Stories of the Women Who Led Slave Revolts

Their inspiring acts of resistance were ignored or erased for centuries—until now.
Sarah Durn March 9, 2023
At a South Pacific hospital, Eleanor speaks with a sailor from Fort Worth, Texas, who was injured while unloading a ship. US Admiral William F. Halsey recalled being awed by the expressions on the men’s faces as the First Lady leaned over them in hospital beds.
presidents

That Time Eleanor Roosevelt Disappeared for 10 Days

She reappeared in World War II's Pacific theater where, for five weeks in 1943, she inspired troops and faced down air raids.
Sarah Durn February 16, 2023
Queen Njinga Mbandi rides into battle against the Portuguese, as illustrated by Pat Masioni for UNESCO's series on women in African history.
military history

Meet Caterina Sforza and Other Warrior Queens History Forgot

From Italy’s fortress-seizing countess to Angola’s battle-hardened Queen Njinga, these women didn’t back down from a fight.
Sarah Durn January 26, 2023
Tana Luciya Joji practices a wheelie on a quiet stretch of asphalt in Kerala, India.
roads

In India, These Trailblazing Female Stunt Bikers Rule the Road

For decades, these women have fought (and won) the right to stunt.
Shubha Menon January 25, 2023
Activist and traditional Mayan beekeeper Leydy Pech fought one of the biggest titans in commercial agriculture—and won.
restaurants

7 Trailblazing Women from Every Continent

In 2022, we traveled the globe to share the stories of powerful warriors, fearless activists, and more.
Sarah Durn December 13, 2022
Queen Henrietta Maria of England was shot at, won battles, and raised an army on behalf of her husband, King Charles I. But history has remembered her only as a villain. Portrait circa 1639 by Anthony van Dyck.
kickass women

The Untold Story of Henrietta Maria, England’s Warrior Queen

The “she generalissimo” nearly won the English Civil War for her husband, King Charles I.
Sarah Durn November 17, 2022