Women Who Defied Traditional Gender Roles
One lesser-known historical woman who defied traditional gender roles and changed history was Bessie Coleman, the first African American and Native American woman to earn a pilot’s license. Born in 1892 in Texas to a family of sharecroppers, Coleman grew up in an era when both women and people of color faced extreme barriers to education, employment, and opportunities in professional fields like aviation.
Undeterred by these challenges, Coleman pursued her passion for flying, despite the fact that no flight schools in the United States would accept her because of her race and gender.
In 1920, Coleman traveled to France, where she was able to attend flight school, earning her pilot’s license from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale in 1921.
She then returned to the United States as a celebrated aviator, performing daring aerial stunts at air shows and gaining fame as a skilled pilot. However, Coleman’s ambitions extended beyond her own career—she dreamed of opening a flight school for African Americans and promoting aviation within the Black community. She refused to participate in air shows that did not allow African American attendees, demonstrating her commitment to racial equality.
Bessie Coleman’s defiance of traditional gender roles and racial barriers not only made her a pioneer in aviation but also inspired future generations of African American aviators, including the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II. Though she died tragically in a plane crash in 1926, her legacy as a trailblazer in the field of aviation and as an advocate for racial and gender equality continues to be honored.
Coleman’s determination and courage showed that women of color could break into fields from which they had been historically excluded, changing the course of history for future aviators and dreamers.