Of course you do

How bout Laura Ingalls Wilder as a hero. Or Willa Cather? Or JK Rowling

Harriet Tubman
Harriet Taylor Mill

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Harriet the spy

@brainbomb:

Are you upset that I find something to respect within Ayn Rand's body of work? Is it because she is a woman? Are you a sexist?

Actually, Hillary Clinton is an incredibly accomplished and intelligent woman. She was in fact the most admired woman in the world for a few years running.

Let me guess, shigzeo is under 25.

Well I'm glad Hillary got a bit of love.

And, Ogion, what makes you think I'm under 25? I haven't a problem with that, nor does the idea of ageism hold any water under any circumstance, but what makes you think I am under 25? And, do you think that is an argument?

Am I right?

Then I'll tell you what the tell is, if BB or someone else doesn't tell you first

Maybe because some of us regard an infatuation with the writings & "philosophies" of Ayn Rand as typical of a juvenile Conservative. Like we've seen it before...many times. It's one of the classic rites of passage for young Conservatives. Dont worry, it is curable. Further, wider reading and a critical mind should get you past that stage. Bon chance.

Did I say I was 'infatuated'? And since we're there, what opinions of Rand's are so bad? Can you name one, its context, and are you ready to defend the minority opinions of favourite authors of yours. Further, since this was a thread about females that inspire us, what narrative brings you to challenge a female I respect?

Interestingly, I've met very few conservatives that have actually READ Ayn Rand, but I've met a lot that profess to like her philosophy. That makes no sense to me. As you apparently dislike her or her philosophy, what works of her have you read?

I'm sure that a 'critical mind' is one that dislikes Ayn Rand and agrees with your opinions. That's not a critical mind. A critical mind makes up its own opinions as best it can as it isn't an island.

I read The Fountainhead decades ago. ( & other works ) Ayn Rand was a writer who is still admired. But not by all. My criticism of the writings & philosophies of Ayn Rand have nothing to do with her sex.
Your missing the point I was making, about age. You were asking why Ogion thought you were under 25 and how that was linked with reading Ayn Rand, if I recall correctly.
"Discovering Ayn Rand" is a classic rite of passage of young enquiring readers particularly those with a conservative or libertarian interest. Perhaps not as much these days, but I am sure the phenomenon still occurs. Then they would traipse about the campus waxing lyrically about her genius. I suppose the "left wing parallel" is young readers who discover Marx for the first time.
That was the point I was making...about age & a "cultural phenomenon".
Hey, if Ayn Rand "rocks your boat" then enjoy reading her works and liking them. But expect old fuddy duddy sceptics like myself to respond with disparaging yawns occasionally & don't take that too personally.

@TrPrado.. That is an excellent nomination, imho, Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Which made me think of Margaret Mitchell & Gone with the Wind. I could nominate the Australian writer, Jeanie Gunn who wrote "We of the Never Never".
It's not really in the same league as Uncle Tom's Cabin, imho, but it's regarded as the first time an Australian writer told the story of the difficulties faced by " European" women in "outback Australia" around the end of the 19th century/beginning of the 20th century.

@ shigzeo..if you want my very brief criticism of Ayn Rand's novels take the fountainhead as an example. The character with the qualities and beliefs that Rand approved of, that architect chappy, suffers adversities but ( surprise surprise ) triumphs & the characters with the qualities and beliefs that Rand despises might do well initially, but they ( surprise surprise ) end up coming a cropper ( in actuality or emotionally..like they might have allarent success but they know they are a fraud ) so to speak. Well how convenient. Why not simply read biographies of Frank Lloyd Wright and books about his architecture and dodge Rand's ideological dross ?
If you want a writer who does a better job describing the soul destroying nature of totalitarianism, then read Kafka.
Just my opinions, and you are free to disagree.

It's like comparing Harriet Beecher Stowe & "Uncle Tom's Cabin" with E. R. Braithwaite & "To Sir with Love"
Stowe is way out in front imho..Braithwaite, imho makes a fundamental clanger with his black teacher character.. He makes him way too virtuous..like the only black man deserving of respect is the one who is all virtuous, "whiter than white"
Stowe's negro characters are much better, more real..warts and all.

Going back to The Fountainhead.. Imho, it's all constructed too conveniently to suit Rand's political/philosophical agenda. Her robustly independent architect chappy NEVER compromised..how real is he ? His student mate bereft of genius talent gets Roark's secret help ( simplifies the design ) & the design wins a prize of whatever..remember I read this decades ago.. Well he never shows a flicker of independent action, such as blurting out at an inconvenient point that Roark helped him with the design. ( because that would mess with Rand's agenda )..then when Roark is in his "wilderness years" working in quarries etc..gee wouldn't it have been inconvenient for Rand if Roark had been killed in a blasting accident..like accidents never happen in quarries..
Yes I liked it when I first read it, and it was thought provoking, but for me ..there was just too much of a novelist with an agenda arranging her story far too conveniently.
So shigzeo..do you think I read The Fountainhead ? Do you think my criticisms are influenced by a "sexist bias" ? Or is it just possible that when I compare Rand to Kafka as an example, I think Kafka is "streets ahead" ? Is it just possible that I find the reality of Frank Lloyd Wright's life and work a much more compelling, complex and interesting subject ?

& getting back to the thread.. Elizabeth 1st. She has inspired many people.

@Major:

Thanks for the reply. I had always avoided her, particularly because of my background, again, which was feminist and progressive. I'm no skeptic, nor do I believe anyone can be, but I was skeptical of the 'we are right, you are wrong' narrative and began reading any work that was unilaterally by the left. Hence a few of her novels and essays.

She very obviously constructed her characters, their environment, etcetera were archetypes brought kind of to life. Everyone's faults and everyone's strengths honed to perfection. The only novels of her that aren't like that are her earlier works of speculative and historical fiction. But then she was writing fiction rather than philosophical fiction, which is off. I agree with that. It was very hard to read because it didn't read like a novel. It read like a long, drawn-out, character sketch.

Like with all philosophies, there are bits of her stuff to enjoy, bits not to enjoy or take to heart. I won't get into why or why not I like her stuff, just that I enjoy her. As to sexism, that was a joke. As you know, Brain thinks that a person is their philosophy or ideology and can't be divorced. Ergo, my not being a feminist means I hate women. Parenthetically, in an OP designed to make people think not of minds or capabilities of humans, but of a specific gender and sex, and one in which I have unfairly been condescended to merely for mentioning Ayn Rand, I thought it mete to punch the sexist card. I also love Kafka, but because he can drop you into an unending, drowning world from which neither you nor likely the author can emerge. But his works and hers are ones I'd never compare WRT totalitarianism. Ayn's accounts of it in We The Living and Anthem are more comparable to ideological heavy and sure works like 1984 or A Brave New World, though We is a different sort of novel again.

I don't think they are on a level. But I enjoy her just like I enjoy Ender's Game next to Starship Troopers.

Because: I do like Ayn Rand, and why it is that Brain, who loves women, feminism, and lays ridiculous traps, jumped on Ayn without the slightest self reflection. Had I been a rightwing snowflake of SJW belief patterns, I could attack him as a sexist, a woman hater, and not destroy any logic he has thus far displayed.

I appreciate when a person is willing to chat. Thank you.

Well I think you have to consider Rand, like you do with all.writers, with regard to the world of her life and times & her experiences. She was greatly affected by WW2 and she hated Stalinist Russia. There is a lot about Stalin & Stalinist Russia that was abhorrent. But I think she saw the USA through "rose tinted glasses" simply because she so disliked Stalinist Russia. So I think she has to be seen in that context, and to some degree she was an ideological warrior of the Cold War.
All/most novels are constructs of the author so writers will manipulate characters & plot to suit their purpose. The Fountainhead is a fictional work. It's said to be loosely based on Frank Lloyd Wright. But I think the reality, the real.. Frank Lloyd Wright's life and work are far more interesting than the fictional novel The Fountainhead.
Please don't be so quick to judge Dipbro Brainbomb. When I first joined WebDiplomacy he and I used to have furious exchanges in the forum. That relationship has evolved, changed and these days I have a lot more admiration and respect for lovable Brainbomb. He's something of an "acquired taste". He and I are of different generations, he's virtually a millennial. Whereas I am a Daffy old fuddy duddy. My maternal grandparents were a huge influence on me when I was a young blighter & they were Edwardian.. of the generation that lived before & fought WW1..millennials might read about the Edwardian "world & society" ...but it's like reading about the Punic Wars in many ways.for them. Old grandad would get all fired up if one of us kids mentioned the Germans, and not about Hitler's Nazi Germany, but the "Bloody Kaiser and those bloody Huns"..we kids used to think it was hilarious. India was another topic that grandad would get fired up about..For him, India was an integral part of the British Empire, Ghandi had been a troublemaking upstart and absolutely no good would come of this independence nonsense. It was always worth a caning later on from Dad to disrupt Sunday lunch at our grandparents by getting grandad fired up about what he perceived as the injustices of the world.

Thanks MM

In reality Galy would end up with his head on a pike and quite right too

Apparently shigzeo completely missed the quotes from MLK or is too oblivious to recognize there talking about him.

Yeah, I'm hazarding that shigzeo is white, too, male, and around 20

Ayn Rand comes with a lot of baggage, and in libertarian circles she’s increasingly being deemed as over-rated as an author.

Don't dispute that Hillary's accomplished and highly intelligent.

She's also evil. How anyone can be inspired by that hag is beyond me.

I am a big Maya Angelou fan as well

"Because: I do like Ayn Rand, and why it is that Brain, who loves women, feminism, and lays ridiculous traps, jumped on Ayn without the slightest self reflection. Had I been a rightwing snowflake of SJW belief patterns, I could attack him as a sexist, a woman hater, and not destroy any logic he has thus far displayed.

I appreciate when a person is willing to chat. Thank you."

This is just shit posting. Laying traps? If yer a psychotic sexist loser yer gonna be triggered by a thread honoring women. Fact.

Now you mentioned Ayn Rand and I disputed it, because shes a sub par political author with bogus idealogy. Beyond that shes known for literally nothing else. Thats not a sexist point of view. Its fact.

If you are inspired by bestselling authors who appeal to a fringe lunatic political bias then sure, ill say shes inspiring. To that group.

If youd said Nancy Pelosi or Elizabeth Warren id have probably leapt out if my seat in agreement as theyre not idealogues. Theres some women who have given their lives to furthering democracy.

Supporting feminism does not mean that all women are above criticism, or that nothing a woman says may ever be disagreed with.

I do not feel particularly inspired by the Kardashians for example. They just seem kinda boring and selfish.

Can we start a thread for uninspirational women who have ripped out your heart and crushed your soul?