Gertrude Bell

The Queen of the Quagmire By Rory Stewart in the New York Review of Books.

[In talking to an Arab nationalist leader] I said complete independence was what we ultimately wished to give. "My lady" he answered—we were speaking Arabic —"complete independence is never given; it is always taken."

Problem/Solution

Problem: while a woman was working construction her male co-workers would help themselves to her tools.
Solution: she painted her tools hot pink.