Welcome to Rebel Daughters
History, as we were taught it, is incomplete.
We heard about kings and conquerors, philosophers and presidents. But the women? The ones who shaped, challenged, and reimagined the world in a thousand extraordinary ways? They were mostly footnotes—if they made it in at all.
Rebel Daughters is my way of changing that.
This space is a growing archive of women from every background, discipline, and corner of history. Women who dared to follow their curiosity, question the status quo, create beauty, save lives, or simply live on their own terms—even when the world told them not to.
Some names you might already know. Most, you probably don’t. And that’s exactly the point.
What to Expect Here
Each post will spotlight one woman - a scientist, artist, warrior, explorer, healer, or quiet disruptor. No dense bios or textbook recaps. Just compelling, human stories that show how far-reaching, brilliant, and varied womanhood has always been.
This isn’t about putting anyone on a pedestal. It’s about making space for lives that mattered - and still do.
I’ll share stories that educate, surprise, and make you feel something. And I’ll also reflect a little on why they moved me. This is personal. It’s passionate. And it’s still evolving.
Look into the future to see the past: A Few Rebel Daughters We’ll Meet
• Maud Wagner – the first known female tattoo artist in the U.S., who turned her skin into a canvas and her art into independence
• Maria Sibylla Merian – a 17th-century German naturalist who sailed to South America at 52 to study bugs (and rewrote the science books)
• Yamei Kin – the Chinese-American doctor who brought tofu to the West and championed women’s health
• Lozen – a Chiricahua Apache warrior and prophet who rode beside Geronimo
• Fatima al-Fihri – the woman who founded the world’s first university in 859 CE
• Claude Cahun – a gender-defying photographer and Nazi resistance fighter
• Sonita Alizadeh – Afghan rapper and activist fighting child marriage through music
And many more—from every ethnicity, religion, era, and discipline. The unsung, the misremembered, the bold.
💛 Want to Support This Work?
All posts are free, because I believe these stories should be shared widely and openly.
But if you love what I’m creating and want to support the time, research, and energy that goes into Rebel Daughters, you can help in two ways:
• Send me a woman I should look into, and tell me why she inspired you. I’d love to include voices and stories that resonate with you.
• Or, if you’d rather just buy me a metaphorical cup of tea (or fund my next rabbit-hole research dive), you can donate directly via bunq.me/nmart.
Thank you for reading, sharing, and cheering these daughters on with me.
Let’s unearth the women history forgot—one story at a time.
Nicky