Women Of The Week: Iranian Chess Player Sara Khadem, Greta Thunberg And Brazil’s New Amazon Activist Ministers
We’re only a few days into 2023, and women are already making waves around the world, making history and shutting down misogyny.
We’re only a few days into 2023, and women are already making waves around the world, making history and shutting down misogyny.
Here are all the inspiring women you should know about this week.
1. Iranian Chess Player Sara Khadem
Sara Khadem, a 25-year-old Iranian chess player who currently ranks 10th in the country, played without a hijab during a competition in Kazakhastan for two consecutive days on Dec. 27 and 28, defying Iran’s women’s dress code.
Iranian women athletes are required to wear a covering on their heads and modest clothes when representing Iran in international competitions.
Out of fears for her and her family’s safety after she defied the dress code, Khadem – who is ranked 804 in the world – will not return home and will move to Spain, two sources told Spanish news outlet El Pais.
The sources added she will “never play for Iran again”.
2. Swedish Climate Activist Greta Thunberg
Thunberg, the 20-year-old climate activist, perfectly clapped back at misogynistic British influencer Andrew Tate after he shared a tweet taunting her about his 33 cars’ “enormous emissions”, which eventually led to his arrest for alleged human trafficking and rape.
“Hello @GretaThunberg. I have 33 cars. My Bugatti has a w16 8.0L quad turbo. My TWO Ferrari 812 competizione have 6.5L v12s. This is just the start,” Tate tweeted. “Please provide your email address so I can send a complete list of my car collection and their respective enormous emissions.”
Thunberg then quote tweeted his tweet and wrote, “yes, please do enlighten me. email me at smalldickenergy@getalife.com.”
Tate then posted a video rant in response to Thunberg’s viral tweet.
In the video, he asks for someone to hand him pizza and make sure the boxes were “not recycled.”
A rumor then suggested the pizza boxes, which came from a chain in Romania, had disclosed his location and led to his arrest.
Thunberg responded to news of his arrest with another iconic tweet, writing, “this is what happens when you don’t recycle your pizza boxes.”
3. Brazil’s First Indigenous Minister Sonia Guajajara And Environment Minister Marina Silva
Marina Silva and Sônia Guajajara, two dedicated Amazon activists, have been named as the new environment and Indigenous ministers for Brazil’s new leftist president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The two are looking to revert the former far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro’s anti-environment policies and protect Indigenous people’s rights and land.
48-year-old Indigenous woman, Sônia Guajajara, will lead the country’s first ever Indigenous ministry.
Guajajara was featured in TIME’s list of most influential people of 2022 for her campaign against Bolsonaro’s policies.
Meanwhile, 64-year-old Silva will reassume the role of the environment minister, which she had held between 2003 and 2008 during Lula’s previous presidency.
As environment minister, she had help cut down deforestation dramatically in the Amazon.
