5 FICTIONAL & REAL FRIENDSHIPS THAT CHANGED HISTORY

“When you meet a woman who is intimidatingly witty, stylish, beautiful, and professionally accomplished, befriend her. Surrounding yourself with the best people doesn’t make you look worse by comparison. It makes you better.” – Ann Friedman

VINAs know that female friendship will absolutely change the world and that Shine Theory is the foundation of all great VINA power couples. Take notes from these 5 female friendships that changed history and get ready to set some serious #squadgoals!

ELIZABETH CADY STANTON & SUSAN B. ANTHONY

Susan B. Anthony is likely the name you know, (she has her own coin!) but her BFF Elizabeth was an equal force in the suffragette movement. Susan ran most of the business parts of the movement, but Elizabeth handled most of the writing. This includes many of Susan’s speeches over the years, speeches that fueled the women’s rights movement of the time. This friendship was so powerful it literally impacted the constitution of the United States. These ladies were the force behind the 19th Amendment which gave white women the right to vote and cleared the path for that freedom to eventually be passed on to black women.

ELLA FITZGERALD & MARILYN MONROE

This friendship is the definition of Shine Theory. The story goes that Marilyn Monroe made a call that opened the door for Ella Fitzgerald to play at the legendary Mocambo club (where Frank Sinatra had his debut!). Marilyn allegedly told the club’s management that she would take a front table every night if they booked Ella. One call, one vina going out on a limb for another, changed the course of Ella’s career and the course of music in America.

THE GOLDEN GIRLS

These vinas prove age is just a number. The Golden Girls was iconic in how it portrayed older women as not just a grandmother stereotype, but as feisty, sexually liberated and sassy, smart women. Although some of the humor does not hold up today, the show was progressive for its time as it touched on some seriously complicated topics (LGBT themes, sexual harassment, menopause, etc.) all through the eyes of older women, and centered around the power of female friendship!

GAYLE KING & OPRAH WINFREY

Name a more iconic due, I’ll wait. Actually, I won’t because you can’t beat 40+ years of friendship! Oprah and Gayle are the ultimate BFF goal.  Oprah owned daytime television for 25 years, but she couldn’t have done it without Gayle (who actually now works for O Magazine!). I love this moment from an interview in O Magazine where Oprah comments on the nature of their closeness, “I understand why people think we’re gay. There isn’t a definition in our culture for this kind of bond between women. So I get why people have to label it—how can you be this close without it being sexual? How else can you explain a level of intimacy where someone always loves you, always respects you, admires you?”  Oprah, the word your looking for is VINA!

CARRIE, MIRANDA, CHARLOTTE, & SAMANTHA 

The women of Sex and The City are iconic for more than their fashion. These ladies were some of the first female characters to shirk the married-with-kids stereotype (even if it was much to Charlotte’s chagrin). They portrayed the complex paths that women of the 90’s were blazing; career focused, sexually liberated and unabashedly dedicated to one another above all else.

This list is incomplete! If you have a friendship that should’ve been listed, we want to hear about it! Tweet it to us at @ilikevina.