International Women's Day: Who inspires you?

Who inspires you? Perhaps it's a famous woman, or maybe it's someone from your family. Watch some people talking about this question in the video.

Do the preparation task first. Then watch the video and do the exercises. Remember you can read the transcript at any time.

Transcript

A woman who has recently inspired me is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is the youngest woman ever to be elected to Congress. She's going to become a fantastic role model for both young women and young men.

A woman who really inspires me is Leslie Feinberg. She was a feminist and gender theorist. She was brave enough to live her truth in an unforgiving world, to live as a butch lesbian in '70s and '80s America despite all the discrimination and violence that she faced.

My friend Kate is a real inspiration to me. When I first met her she had a stable, regular job. Then she surprised all of us by moving to Guatemala to help young women who are experiencing sexual violence find a place of safety in a refuge.

A woman who inspires me is Marie Colvin. She was an American journalist and paid the ultimate price for discovering the truth. She was killed in Syria doing her job and was perhaps the bravest woman to ever be a journalist.

JK Rowling. When she wrote the Harry Potter books she was in a really difficult place in her life. She managed to make this contribution, a massive contribution to children's literature.

A woman that inspires me is my grandmother. She moved from London to South Africa and worked at a newspaper. She was a kind, loving, amazing human being and she set up a life for myself and my family.

Phillis Wheatley. She was born in West Africa and was sold as a slave at the age of eight and she went to the US, where she learned to read and write. When she was 20 she wrote her first book of poetry – and it was the first book to be published by an African American woman ever – and lived the rest of her life as a free woman.

A woman that inspires me is my aunt. She's had a couple of really rough years with my uncle having ALS and she always puts on a brave face and she always puts her family first and is just always super positive.

Another woman that inspires me is Dian Fossey, just a phenomenal woman, when conservation wasn't cool it wasn't trendy and she actually got killed for something that she believed in and she just really inspires me, and I cry every time I hear the music.

A woman who's really inspired me is my mum.

A woman that has inspired me my whole life is my mother, Anita.

A woman that inspires me is my mum.

Because she has always told me to go after what I want in life and take every opportunity given to me.

She always inspires me to go after what I want, no matter what roadblocks stand in my way.

She's tough but caring and she's a great fashionista.

She was the first person in her family to get a degree and she got that degree when she went back to school at 36 years old, and she was pregnant with me. 

Also she has the best chorizo pasta recipe and she's passed it down to me, so, yeah, for that I am thankful.

She just inspires me with her capability basically.

© Mumsnet

Discussion

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Submitted by jyoti Chaudhary on Sat, 07/05/2022 - 12:59

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Which women inspire you and why?
the woman who really inspires me is my mother. because she always asks me for opportunities for my study and she always tells me for my better life.

Submitted by SALA on Wed, 30/09/2020 - 20:12

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Hello everybody, as a most of the speakers in this presentation, I think that Mum was the first women who inspire me because she is brave and kind woman. She likes helping others and never be discouraged. she had a lot of problems in her life, but she was able de get through

Submitted by mcambindo22 on Thu, 24/09/2020 - 12:49

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A woman who inspires me, and whom their actions have motivated is my mom. She is a brave woman because always has put the life from others first for helping them instead of her own life. Furthermore, I'm as a copy of her so I have gotten all their values regarding faced life, falling down and standing up again over and over. Her influence on me is complete, I want to reward a few the effort that she has done for me and their family, the majority of people is thought that is not mandatory but I think that is my the right trail as her son, this is not about money, this is about more dedication about her, sharing spare time with a certain quality, and so on. Definitely, she is a role model for me and I know that she is an inspiration to others through their social work in the community, helping poor people that lack education, health, and living place.

Submitted by Moe Rabiee on Sat, 20/06/2020 - 10:29

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the woman whom inspire me else than mum is ag young girl her name is a ghdeer hamdi she is a graphic designer , this girl have her own idea for every thing in live , she had a lot of problem in her life, but also she always want to fix the other problems , she is always a positive motivator.

Submitted by senes19 on Tue, 16/06/2020 - 17:45

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In my life my mother inspires me of course. She is unbelievably talented and has a wide range of patience. She has very good behavior not only for her children but also everybody who she knows. If she faces a hard situation, she always begs only God. She is aware of the this life is temporary.

Submitted by Lila Naem on Mon, 01/06/2020 - 12:07

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The woman that inspires me is my mum, she is always positive, she is a strong brave woman, she has chased her dreams and inspired me for that. She keeps telling me to go after what I want in life and never stop trying. And on top of that, she has a big and forgiven heart. I really love her.
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Submitted by Josh on Tue, 31/03/2020 - 16:45

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I'd really like to know.. If it's possible and I don't ask too much... The different accents (and countries who are they from) of the different people in the video... I'd be very grateful, indeed to be able to recognize the different English accents is one of my personal goals. Listening to the video I was able to understand some people better (Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez and Dian Fossey clips for example) than others (Phillis Wheatley and the young blond woman speaking about the "chorizo pasta" for example... In different words, I'd like to know too which English I can understand and which not... Tank you!
Thank you Peter! I'll come along with your youtube address