But then, this is the internet, where we’re not allowed to discuss traditional spirituality because it’s too old-fashioned.

If you want a female from scripture, how about Ruth, a widow who, out of love and loyalty, left her home and her people, penniless and alone except for her mother-in-law, also a widow, and yet her great-grandson was the second king of Israel.

But, Eve? “Let’s tell all our daughters that disobedience leads to happiness.”

I’m wondering what the other amazing members of this list would say about that.

We wimmen need more of this sort of thing… thanks! I’m breathing more fully.

I am a pro-life, committed to marriage, Christian female. That doesn’t mean I necessarily follow along with what is considered traditional church teaching – matter of fact, I don’t even attend an institutional church (I worship at home with my husband and kids). BUT, each to his own as far as I am concerned when it comes to whether one worships in a traditional church or not.

Where am I going with this? It’s this: I don’t necessarily conform but I also don’t have a goal to be a “bad girl.” Exactly what is the point of that? From what I have seen, and experienced when I was young and naive – being a bad girl can have LOTS of negative consequences: STD’s, addictions, bad relationships.

You may have been writing “tongue-in-cheek” but it didn’t sound like it. And like I said, I am just fed up with the whole “bad girls have more fun, make history, blah, blah, blah.” So because I am still married after 28 years and have devoted the majority of my life to parenting and home-schooling my kids I am a failure, in your opinion?

I’ll take being a good girl and have the kids I have, who because of my sacrifices, have turned out to be amazing, responsible, wonderful people.

I look forward to reading more of your work.

Thanks, Jonathan, for having her!

Olgivanna Lloyd Wright – Architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s third wife. She was a force of her own, but also helped reignite Frank’s waning career. Together they built Taliesin West during the depths of the Depression and with Olgivanna’s encouragement, started Taliesin Fellowship, a school for apprentices. Part school, part commune, Olgivanna was extremely invested in developing the “whole person” and education there extended well beyond architecture. Many of Frank Lloyd Wright’s best known works were created during the time he was married to Olgivanna, including Falling Water, the Modern Museum of New York, etc. Interesting side note…Olgivanna’s mother was a general in the Montenegro army. See “Partner to Genius: A Biography of Olgivanna Lloyd Wright.”

Martha Gellhorn – Today she is better known as Hemmingway’s third wife, but during her lifetime, she was a well-known journalist and war correspondent. (Gellhorn resented her reflected fame as Hemingway’s third wife, remarking that she had no intention of “being a footnote in someone else’s life.”) Gellhorn’s career as a journalist spanned over 60 years. She covered the Spanish Civil War, America’s Depression, WWII, and the war in Vietnam. At the age of 81, she went to Panama to cover the American invasion. A favorite collection of her work is “The View From the Ground” (1988)