It is easy to recognize amazing achievements, but what of those who were the quiet inspiration behind those achievements — the authors, songwriters and actors?
Often we take for granted the encouragement we draw from a song or story, neglectful to give credit to the unsung heroes whose own creativity provided the encouragement needed to launch the careers of so many fantastic entrepreneurs and inventors whose achievements we praise today.
Helen Redding may not have helped identify radiation as did Madame Marie Curie or create the Ice Cream Maker like Nancy Johnson, but her song “I Am Woman” has taken on a life of its own inside the feminist movement.
Originally considered by her record label to be career suicide, Redding forged ahead with the song she co-wrote with Ray Burton, even calling radio stations to beg for air time.
It took perseverance, but once Redding got her song on the airwaves, radio stations were flooded with women callers all requesting to hear “I Am Woman” just one more time.
Typically not a songwriter, Redding says she wrote the song in response to her interest in the feminist movement and for all of her female relatives she watched suffer through abusive relationships, World Wars and the Great Depression. She also wrote it in response to demeaning comments she received from men in the music industry. Redding knew she wasn’t alone in feeling and experiencing angst in regard to her gender, but she did not feel there were any songs that accurately reflected her own personal experiences — so she decided to write her own.
Following in the footsteps of artists such as Leslie Gore, Nancy Sinatra and the great Aretha Franklin, Redding sat down and started writing about the issues affecting women as she saw them, and the rest is history.
By the end of 1972, Redding’s song rose to number one on the Billboard charts and won her a Grammy for Best Female Vocal Performance, though no one had any idea then the women’s liberation mantra the monster music hit would become.
Redding’s song opened the door for other artists to take a crack at lightning striking twice, and the 1990s and 2000s saw a resurgence of female empowerment ballads from artists like TLC, Kelly Clarkson, Destiny’s Child, Katy Perry and several other female artists.
Many might not see Redding’s accomplishment as, well, much of an accomplishment, however, her words continue to inspire women of every generation, not with a whisper but with a roar, “If I have to, I can do anything, I am strong, I am invincible, I am woman!”