Am I a Shero?

Being recognized for what we do for others

Being a Shero.

The English language does not use masculine and feminine forms of nouns often. We leave that up to French, Italian, and other languages. But sometimes, we do have male and feminine nouns.

Heroine is the feminine form of the masculine word hero as clearly stated by Oxford Languages:

• heroine: a woman admired or idealized for her courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities.

We do not say hero is the masculine word of the feminine word heroine. Oxford's definition of hero includes the following:

• hero: a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities.

This is why the noun shero was born during the suffragette movement. The earliest documented use was in 1836, and it was added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary in 2008.

Classifying what makes a shero is as interesting as the word itself. Does a shero have the same attributes of a hero, or is a shero given more feminine attributes?

If you shut your eyes and think of women who are brave, courageous, compassionate, and groundbreakers, who do you think of? It may be personal, like your mother, female coworkers, friends, or community organizer. Or it may be broader and women you learned about in history books:

The attributes of bravery and courage: Harriet Tubman, Susan B. Anthony, Sally Ride, Helen Keller, Dorothy Lawrence

The attribute of compassion: Mother Teresa, Malala Yousafzai

The attribute of breaking the glass ceiling: George Sand, Florence Nightingale, Frida Kahlo, Marie Curie, Shirley Chisholm, Amelia Earhart

We place different attributes for sheroes than heroes.

Women are classified as sheroes for their bravery, courage, compassion, and abilities to overcome adversity. Often, the articles about women will be titled “Everyday Shereos”. We are given our greatest praises by helping others and being leaders in our homes and communities. We receive less praise for the material or physical. How many female engineers are building our cities or creating a green economy? How often are females on the boards of major corporations?

When we can break down the barriers women face, we will change the definition of shero. It will expand to all forms of challenges overcome, noble acts, and achievements of recognition.