[Editor’s note: Dr Charles Magerison’s new book Amazing Women uses a form of storytelling, which he calls the Bioview. I asked him to explain what this was and why he thought it was a useful way to write women’s history].
What does a man know about how a woman thinks? Well, Dr Charles Margerison, an international psychologist, has boldly gone where few would tread. He has written what he thinks Marie Curie, Florence Nightingale, Coco Chanel, Simone de Beauvoir and other famous women would have said to him in an interview.
I have long had an interest in how people became amazing. In particular, I think it would have been fascinating to have met people like William Shakespeare, Marie Curie and Wolfgang Mozart. In an age when we can send an email around the world in seconds, or speak to someone 10,000 miles away, I explored the idea of conducting a virtual interview to reflect their personality and lives? I developed the idea of a biographical interview, called a BioView®, written and recorded as a virtual interview, based on information available in the historic records.
Instead of writing the usual conventional history from a third person perspective, I decided to use the same information and become the ghost-writer for amazing women from through history. Psychology is about the way we think and act. For this reason, I have looked at the motivations and personalities of amazing women in a personal way. Each of the BioViews® is based on the facts – but like all history, it is the interpretation that is crucial.
Selecting Amazing Women
My goal with the Amazing Women title was to allow people the opportunity to discover how amazing women lived, loved, and worked in their own distinct ways. The book reflects the achievements of some women who are well-known, as well as others who are not household names. Yet all of the women were exceptional in their contributions and achievements.
Women like Florence Nightingale, Helen Keller and Marie Curie are well known and applauded for their contributions, but what did Elizabeth Blackwell, Madame Walker and Margaret Sanger do that was amazing? They all had extraordinary lives that benefited others in many ways, which many people are unaware of. For example: Elizabeth Blackwell became the first qualified female doctor in the USA, and the first woman to be registered as a doctor in England. Madame Walker came from a poor background to be the first African- American entrepreneur. Margaret Sanger was imprisoned for giving women advice on sex education. This amazing group of women overcame the situations in to which they were born. Harriet Tubman was born into slavery and those conditions determined how she had to live her life, before escaping at the age of 29. Coco Chanel was born into a poor family and her mother died when she was young. Coco became an orphan at a convent when her father left the family. However, despite these family problems, she became an entrepreneur and multi-millionaire.
Lessons learned
In studying more than 500 people, I came to a short definition. It is that all the people used their time exceptionally well to contribute in ways that left legacies that are still regarded as exceptional. They produced results. Many did not live to an old age and probably knew that would be the case; therefore they had to succeed as quickly as possible. Motivation was a key factor in success.
Understanding the reasons that people devote their life to causes is important. In many cases, they put their lives at risk for their beliefs. The suffragettes, like Emmeline Pankhurst and others, put their beliefs about equality into action. Other women did likewise to improve women’s health, as in the case of Kato Shizue, the Japanese women’s rights leader, and Margaret Sanger who did the same in the USA and Europe. Women all over the world can learn key lessons from each one of the amazing women included. In particular, their achievements were the result of their determination to continue on, regardless of how difficult the journey.
The reason it is important to study their work is that we learn from the achievements to improve our own performance. That is a topic that has engaged my attention for personal and professional reasons. As a psychologist, a major part of my job has been to help people improve their performance in business, sport and life in general. We must look forward and plan better ways of developing people’s talents.
How to be Amazing
Amazing people produce results rather than excuses. They convert inputs of time into outputs of art, music, science, business and other measurable activity. They manage their work time well. The three key areas that contribute to amazing performance can be remembered simply as the three P’s: Preferences – Find out what interests you and what you prefer to do; Practice – Focus on improving the things that interest you by regular practice, and Performance – Set output standards and dates and produce results. Those who know their preferences and practice usually perform well.
Women who triumphed against the odds
One of the stand-out stories is that of Anne Burras. America celebrates Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Amelia Earhart and many others who have contributed to building the nation. They have monuments and memorabilia named after them, but Anne Burras has generally been forgotten. In my opinion, she was one of the most important woman in American history. At the age of 14, she arrived in Jamestown in 1608, as the maid of Mrs Forrest. They were the only two women amongst more than 200 men. When Mrs Forrest died, soon after arrival, teenager Anne felt very alone.
Not for long however, as John Leyden befriended her. They were the first colonial couple to be married. Anne gave birth to four daughters and so raised the first colonial family America. She and her daughters were the founding mothers of the settlers and in this way I believe she has the right to be called the Founding European Mother of America.
The story of Dr Elizabeth Blackwell is also fascinating. It was very difficult for women to qualify in medicine as it was regarded as a male-only profession before 1850. Indeed, women usually refused to go to a female doctor at first because they did not think they would know as much as a male counterpart. Dr Elizabeth Blackwell started to change this. She became the first female doctor in the USA and also the first female to be registered as a doctor in the UK. Other women followed, despite opposition. Dr Elizabeth Garrett founded a Women’s Hospital in London and Dr Lozier founded one in New York in the latter 19th century. Other examples include:
• Golda Meir who was born in the Ukraine, educated in America, and became the first female Prime Minister of Israel.
• Marie Curie who moved from Poland to France where she studied Science and achieved the distinction of being the first person to win two Nobel Prizes.
• Edith Piaf who lost her eyesight when she was a child, but regained it and started singing on the streets to commence her outstanding career.
Each of these women were trailblazers and I feel it’s important that these achievements are recognised in an accessible way.
About BioViews®
It is the new format that I developed to reflect the link between a person’s biography and an interview. Each of the stories can be told in about 1000 to 2000 words. Each BioView® is a story of inspiration and triumph. I have tried to capture the ups and downs, the good times and the bad times, the successes and failures. All of the women I chose to ‘meet’ were inspirational and I learned a lot as a result. I hope that the women included in my book would feel that my BioViews® of their lives have done justice to their achievements.
Here is an excerpt:
Florence Nightingale 1820-1910 From the age of 17, I knew my destiny lay with many men I said ‘no’ to the proposals of marriage that I received I felt strongly that my role in life was to help others Beyond my education in Latin, Greek, German, French and Italian My first name came from the city of Florence in Italy That is where I was born My parents came from a well-endowed English family They were disappointed and upset when I chose to be a nurse This occupation was seen by my parents as a menial type of work Also, I worked to improve the Poor Laws in England In 1837, God spoke to me and called me to his service Too many people were caught in the poverty trap On a visit to Kaiserwerth, Germany, I saw higher standards of care It showed me that I could help improve nursing standards On returning, Richard Monkton Milnes, an MP, courted me He proposed marriage, but I had to say no My parents again did not approve of my actions© Dr Charles Margerison and Viewpoint Resources Ltd
Inspiration and motivation
Each one of the BioViews® encourages you to look at your own life and be inspired by the often unknown life stories of fascinating characters. I have provided a first-person perspective on some of the world’s most Amazing Women. As a result, both readers and listeners have an easy way of learning about the amazing people who made major contributions to our world. I believe this can also help you achieve your own ambitions, or motivate you, in your journey through life. The Amazing Women series offers inspiration and a new way to celebrate women around the world.
Dr Charles Margerison is a psychologist, entrepreneur and founder of The Amazing People Club www.amazingpeopleclub.com.
