Wonder Woman of the Week: Bonnie McCarroll

This week's Wonder Woman became a symbol after her death for the advancement of women and girls in civil rights. Bonnie McCarroll grew up having to prove herself as an equal among ranch hands in the American West and competed in small-town rodeo events as a child- especially in the bronc riding events. McCarroll's skill however grew in the arena as an athlete and she rapidly rose through the ranks to become an internationally famous cowgirl. McCarroll competed in showcase events in front of international politicians and monarchs.

During McCarroll's tenure however, the cowgirl was an exception. Women were rapidly losing rights as athletes in the sport during Bonnie McCarroll's career and rodeo organizers were constantly looking for new ways to prevent women from competing. In 1929, McCarroll died in the arena when a horse attempted to throw its rider from the saddle. Rodeo organizers had tied McCarroll into the saddle against her consent and the horse dragged the athlete across the arena to horrified onlookers. Almost overnight, male rodeo organizers banned women from competing in the sport.

Cowgirls fought for two decades to regain the right to compete in the sport, but rodeo organizers continued to isolate women to the safest events. McCarroll had become a symbol of women in rodeo however and her posthumous abuse as a scapegoat for gender discrimination changed into the symbol of cowgirls' relentless pursuit for equal rights. In the 1980's rodeo became the first sport to pay men and women equal prize money- thanks to the continued inspiration McCarroll sent her living peers from the grave. Now, women are starting to compete in traditionally male rodeo events that men spent years attempting to ban McCarroll from competing in.