The greatest people – well, men – of the 20th century

Posted on August 19, 2003 by Ampersand

Right Wing News has released its poll of lefty bloggers – “Left-Wing Bloggers Select The Greatest Figures Of The 20th Century.” I was disappointed with the paucity of women on the list – Eleanor Roosevelt and Marie Curie both deserve to be on such a list, I’m sure. But shouldn’t at least one suffragette be on the list? (I would have voted for Alice Paul). And how about Ella Baker – a woman who was arguably just as important to the civil rights movement as Martin Luther King Jr., who was the figure the most left-wingers voted for?

When the right-wingers came out with their list, there was some criticism of how sexist it was. I’m disappointed – but not surprised – that the left-wing bloggers polled didn’t do any better.

Ah, well. Check out this post (and the comments following) for more women who should be included on lists like this one, but are too-often left off. (Admittedly, not everyone mentioned in that post is from the 20th century, and no non-Americans are included… but I’m feeling too lazy to make a “great 20th century not-necessarily-American women” post right now.)

UPDATE: Matthew Yglesias comments:

Where Are The Women: The only woman on the rightwing list is Margaret Thatcher and the liberals named only Marie Curie. Moreover, neither of these people strike me as particularly significant figures in world history, though Thatcher is obviously a major figure (for better or for worse) in British history. Feminism seems to have gone missing. This is odd, because apart from the essentially negative accomplishment of not succumbing to Nazi rule, the revolution in gender relations is probably the signal political achievement of the twentieth century. Not to slight Civil Rights, but this was basically a parochial American issue, whereas the impact of feminism has reached everywhere and continues to send shockwaves throughout both the developed world (largely, though not exclusively, under the guise of the campaign for gay equality) and the developing world where the basics of sex equality remain controversial.

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4 Responses to The greatest people – well, men – of the 20th century

  1. madprophet says:
    August 19, 2003 at 7:04 pm

    I was dissappointed that Mother Jones didn’t make the list. And what about Rosa Parks? I can’t believe she didn’t make it. Mother Theresa, why didn’t anyone think of her? And Aung San Suu Kyi is another notable absence, considering she’s been in the news recently.

  2. Roy McCoy says:
    August 20, 2003 at 7:18 am

    “Thatcher is obviously a major figure (for better or for worse) in British history.”

    It was like the curates egg – good in parts. Good that she faced up to Argentina, bad that she waged war on the Trade Unions to the extent that workers lost rights and employers were able to ride roughshod over them.

    She created the greedy, grabbing society that we still have. Her government wrecked the economy and thousands of people lost the homes they had worked for all their lives.

    Margaret Thatcher is not looked on kindly in hindsight and Thatcherism is now a dirty word. The old bat is senile now and there will be dancing in the streets when she pops her clogs.

  3. Denis Thatcher's Ghost says:
    November 11, 2004 at 6:04 am

    Yes, Thatcherism is indeed a dirty word. Her legacy has destroyed decency in Britain and millions of lives too. People will dance on her grave once she is dead!

  4. Timothy (TRiG) says:
    April 21, 2013 at 2:52 am

    In what bizarre world is “civil rights” a parochial American issue? Were the Catholics in Northern Ireland not marching for civil rights when they were shot on Bloody Sunday? Were the trade unionists opposing Thatcher not working for civil rights? Were the suffragettes not campaigning for civil rights? Is the work on gay rights, and on trans rights, today not a form of civil rights?

    TRiG.

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