Women have made significant contributions to society throughout history, and continue to do so today. Despite facing challenges and obstacles, women have broken barriers and paved the way for future generations to follow. From the suffragettes who fought for the right to vote to modern-day activists fighting for gender equality, women have been instrumental in shaping the world we live in.
Women have excelled in a wide range of fields, including science, art, literature, politics, and more. Many women have been trailblazers in their respective industries, paving the way for others to follow and breaking down gender barriers. Some of the most influential women in history include Marie Curie, the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the first person to win two Nobel Prizes in different fields; Rosa Parks, who played a key role in the Civil Rights Movement; and Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani activist for women's education and the youngest Nobel Prize laureate.
So, whether you are a feminist or simply interested in learning more about the contributions of women to society, test your knowledge with these women's trivia questions. Can you answer questions about influential women in history, the struggles they faced, and the impact they have made on the world?
112 Women's Trivia Questions Ranked From Easiest to Hardest (Updated for 2024)
- Actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas's ventures have included a large investment in what dating app that requires women to make the first move in an opposite-sex match?
Answer: Bumble
- The first woman to hold federally-elected office in the U.S. was Jeannette Rankin, a Representative from Montana. Rankin was famously the only member of the U.S. House to vote against a declaration of war against what Asian nation in a 1940s vote?
Answer: Japan
- In 1999, what women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts officially consolidated with Harvard to become one and the same?
Answer: Radcliffe College
- A 19th-century African American woman who escaped from slavery and successfully sued to get her son out of enslavement, also becoming a long-lived abolitionist and women’s rights activist, was Sojourner _______. Fill in the one word last name blank, also the opposite of lies.
Answer: Truth
- The word "Lesbian" comes from the Greek island of Lesbos, home to what ancient poet, whose lyric poetry remains an enduring symbol of love and desire between women?
Answer: Sappho
- What is the four-letter word for a women's garment from India made of an unstitched drape up to nine meters in length that is typically wrapped around the waist with one end draped over the shoulder?
Answer: Sari
- What serial killer, who killed at least 30 young women in the 1970s, grew up in Tacoma, Washington and went to college at the University of Puget Sound and the University of Washington?
Answer: Ted Bundy
- In 1893, New Zealand was the world's fist nation to pass what suffrage-related measure?
Answer: Women's right to vote
- Sarah Ann Curzon, Jessie Turnbull, Emily Stowe are all women famously associated with a Canadian movement that had achieved most of its political aims by the 1920s (Quebec was the only exception.) What was the cause championed by these women?
Answer: Women's suffrage
- The fictional Atlanta interior decoration firm of Sugarbaker and Associates was the center of the action of what sitcom of the 1980s and 1990s?
Answer: Designing Women
- Chicagoan Gwendolyn Brooks became the first African-American woman to win what literary prize in 1949?
Answer: Pulitzer Prize
- Famed American author Louisa May Alcott lived in Boston for much of her life, but based her most famous novel on events from her childhood in Concord, MA. This novel about the March sisters had its eighth film rendition released in December 2019. What is this novel?
Answer: Little Women
- What tennis star, whose last name is the same as the Japanese city where she was born, won the women's singles competition at the 2021 Australian Open?
Answer: Naomi Osaka
- What 1929 Nella Larsen, whose title refers to how the main characters are black women pretending to be white, is also a groundbreaking portrayal of LGBT lifestyle in the Harlem Renaissance, as the nature of Irene and Clare’s friendship is questioned? It was adapted into a 2021 film with Ruth Negga.
Answer: Passing
- Although kissing runners was not allowed in 2021, the "scream tunnel" is an iconic portion of the Boston Marathon in which runners pass through the campus of what all-women's school?
Answer: Wellesley College
- One of the very few sports that the United States has never won a medal in at the Olympics (men or women) is what sport described as "a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the goal of the other team."
Answer: Team Handball
- What slang term for marijuana is also the name of a style of women's shoes that have a strap across the top of the foot?
Answer: Mary Jane
- What woman with an alliterative name was the first female UFC champion?
Answer: Ronda Rousey
- In 1972, Ruth Bader Ginsburg co-founded the Women's Rights Project within what broader organization? A year later she became the Project's general counsel and within two years the group had participated in more than 300 gender discrimination cases.
Answer: ACLU
- As of November 2020, there have been 53 different people who have served as justices on the High Court of Australia. How many of these 53 have been women?
Answer: 5
- Sojourner Truth decried anti-Black racism at the 1851 Women's Rights Convention in a speech known as "Ain't I a ___?" What five-letter word goes in the blank?
Answer: Woman
- What Irish boxer is the undisputed women's lightweight champion of the world, and also the winner of the women's gold medal in boxing at the 2012 Olympic Games?
Answer: Katie Taylor
- In 1843, Margaret Fuller, an American transcendentalist and women’s rights activist, challenged gender roles, such as women’s assumed subservience to men, in an essay called “The Great ______.” Fill in the one word “L” blank, a dispute brought to a court of law for adjudication.
Answer: The Great Lawsuit
- What international competition has been won by women from the Philippines on four occasions: Gloria Diaz in 1969, Margie Moran in 1971, Pia Wurtzbach in 2015, and Catriona Gray in 2018?
Answer: Miss Universe
- Cary, North Carolina is home pitch for a National Women's Soccer League team with what team name that the lion in "The Wizard of Oz" would love?
Answer: Courage
- At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Australia took home gold medals in both the men's and women's coxless four events in what water sport?
Answer: rowing
- Celebrated by many on November 13th, what holiday on which women ask men out originated from the Al Capp comic strip, "Li'l Abner?"
Answer: Sadie Hawkins Day
- What organization, founded by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912, has almost three million members across all age groups and raises over $750 million between January and March each year with their annual fundraising efforts?
Answer: The Girl Scouts
- There are three unsolved murders of women in Scotland believed to have been committed by a "Bible John" killer. In which Scottish city did these crimes occur?
Answer: Glasgow
- Jenny Craig is the sister nutrition program of what women's-only gym chain, which promotes its 30-minute total body workout?
Answer: Curves
- A 2014 Reality TV show featured a group of American women thinking that they were competing to marry which member of the British royal family, who would actually go on to marry an American woman in 2018?
Answer: Prince Harry
- The belladonna, also called the "deadly nightshade," is a poisonous plant which received its name from its usage among women in which European country as a beauty treatment to make their pupils larger?
Answer: Italy
- Although some individuals could vote earlier, which decade saw women and Native Americans given the right to vote throughout the US thanks to the adoption of the 19th Amendment and the Indian Citizenship Act?
Answer: The 1920s
- Which biennial men’s sports competition that was originally contested between Great Britain and the U.S. is named after a British seed merchant? The equivalent women’s competition is called the Solheim Cup.
Answer: Ryder Cup
- Hidilyn Diaz, who won the women's 55kg class in weightlifting, is the first person from what Asian nation to win a gold medal at the Olympics?
Answer: Philippines
- Which 2015 Netflix comedy stars Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda as two older women whose husbands have just left them—for each other?
Answer: Grace and Frankie
- Who was the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court?
Answer: Sandra Day O'Connor
- What popular global sport was discontinued at the Olympics following the 1904 games until being restored for the 2016 Games in Rio at a newly built course? The Women's medal winners in 2016 were Inbee Park (South Korea), Lydia Ko (New Zealand), and Shanshan Feng (China) and the Men's medal winners were Justin Rose (Great Britain), Henrik Stenson (Sweden), and Matt Kuchar (U.S.)
Answer: Golf
- Adrianne Curry, Yoanna House, Eva Pigford, and Naima Mora were the winners of the first four seasons of what fashionable reality show that debuted in 2003? The show has filmed most of its 20+ seasons in Los Angeles although a handful have been in New York.
Answer: America's Next Top Model
- Which women's musical group had Number 1 hits in the 1980s including "Walk Like an Egyptian" and "Eternal Flame"?
Answer: The Bangles
- The men's sports teams at the University of Central Arkansas are nicknamed the Bears. What one word is added to the nickname of the women's teams?
Answer: Sugar Bears
- What famous women's apparel, lingerie and beauty brand is operated by the L Brands parent company based out of Columbus, Ohio? In addition to its main line, the company operates the popular Pink brand aimed at a younger audience.
Answer: Victoria's Secret
- The CLUW is one of six constituency groups of the AFL-CIO and is the only American labor organization exclusively for women union members. What does CLUW stand for?
Answer: Coalition of Labor Union Women
- What four-letter initialed organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland offers programming for, in its own words, "the empowerment, leadership and rights of women, young women and girls in more than 100 countries"? Hint: a similarly spelled, though officially unaffiliated, organization is the title of a 1978 hit by musical group Village People.
Answer: YWCA (Young Women's Christian Association)
- In 1997, Madeleine Albright became the first woman to serve as the U.S. Secretary of State. Albright served as the U.S. Secretary of State under which U.S. president?
Answer: Bill Clinton
- In 2017 Amazon launched a line of casual mens and womens wear known as ______threads. Fill in the one word blank, which would make you think the clothes are not bad.
Answer: Good
- Walmart is a sponsor of what Festival, started in 1995 as an African-American culture and music festival, named after a magazine targeted at African-American women. The magazine was co-founded in 1970 by Edward Lewis and Clarence O. Smith, among others.
Answer: Essence
- What 20th century female psychologist with a “C” name challenged sexism in books such as “The Myth Of Women’s Masochism”, and criticized the value of psychological labelling and how it helped patients in “They Say You’re Crazy?”
Answer: Paula Caplan
- Tarana Burke is known as the founder of what women's movement, whose five-letter hashtag went viral in 2017 after a tweet from actress Alyssa Milano?
Answer: #MeToo
- What founder of the Women’s International League For Peace and Freedom, which she founded in 1919, who was also a Nobel laureate, is often considered the foundation of social work in the United States? She is often associated with Chicago and Hull House.
Answer: Jane Addams
- DuPont first produced what thermoplastic polymer material at one of its plants in Seaford, Delaware in 1935 that is synonymous with a piece of women’s undergarment?
Answer: Nylon
- In 2004, Unilever launched a campaign for what soap brand, using the slogan “Real Beauty”, showing women of all shapes and sizes in their advertisements?
Answer: Dove
- Near Juodkrante, Lithuania, there is an outdoor sculpture gallery known as the Hill Of ______. Fill in the one word “W” blank, a plural group of magical women such as Glinda, Ursula, and Hermione Granger.
Answer: Hill Of Witches
- In 1649, Sarah Norman and Mary Hammon were the first women in the US convicted of lesbian behavior in the American colonies, being convicted in what Massachusetts town famous for a rock that was a pilgrim landing site?
Answer: Plymouth, Massachusetts
- What “t” is term of Persian origin that is used for a jeweled, ornamental crown traditionally worn by women?
Answer: Tiara
- Born in Copenhagen in 1958, which Danish-British comedian (and co-founder of the Women's Equality Party) presented Fifteen-to-One, The Great British Bake Off, and QI?
Answer: Sandi Toksvig
- The name of what Portland-based team in the National Women's Soccer League pays homage to its "City of Roses" nickname?
Answer: Portland Thorns FC
- Torrey Peters became the first trans writer to be nominated for the Women's Fiction Prize in 2021, when she was nominated for what bestselling novel?
Answer: Detransition, Baby
- While working for Du Pont in Delaware, chemist Wallace Carothers invented what petroleum-based polymer famously used in women's stockings?
Answer: Nylon
- Which former actress and Duchess launched a podcast called "Archetypes" in 2022, in which she has inspiring conversations with women about overcoming gender stereotypes?
Answer: Megan Markle
- They’d have to wait until 1920 in the USA and 1971 in Switzerland! Thanks to the work of Kate Sheppard, among others, New Zealand was the first country in the world to give votes in national elections to what group of people?
Answer: Women
- What famed Boston author of "Little Women" was previously taught by Henry David Thoreau and even penned him a poem titled "Thoreau's Flute?"?
Answer: Louisa May Alcott
- The "Hello Girls" were women sworn into the U.S. Army Signal Corps during World War I, tasked with operating what piece of technology?
Answer: switchboard
- Known as a chadaree in Afghanistan, a veil that conceals the entire face and body is more commonly known as what religious garment that is traditionally worn by Muslim women?
Answer: Burka
- The Nineteenth Amendment, which granted women the right to vote in the U.S., was passed more than 40 shameful years after the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled explicitly against early women suffragettes. Who was president when the Nineteenth Amendment passed?
Answer: Woodrow Wilson
- Although her life tragically ended at the age of 30, what American poet and short-story writer is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for collections such as "The Bell Jar?" She posthumously won a Pulitzer Prize in 1982 for her collected poems.
Answer: Sylvia Plath
- On August 2, 2021, Jade Carey's spectacular tumbling passes earned her an Olympic gold medal in what individual women's gymnastics event?
Answer: floor exercise
- Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital was in the news in January 2022 for refusing to perform a transplant of what vital organ on a patient who was unvaccinated against COVID-19?
Answer: Heart
- Danica Patrick, the most successful woman in the history of American open-wheel racing, is originally from the town of Beloit in what midwestern American state?
Answer: Wisconsin
- What American novelist was born in 1931 and is known for her prolific writings including "The Bluest Eye," "Song of Solomon," and "Beloved?" That last book was made into a 1996 movie produced by Oprah Winfrey. This Ohioan won both a Nobel Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Answer: Toni Morrison
- What American businesswoman wrote a book encouraging women to "Lean In" to their work and stated the following? "A truly equal world would be one where women ran half our countries and companies and men ran half our homes."
Answer: Sheryl Sandberg
- Named in Forbes magazine's Top 10 Most Powerful Women every year since 2010, which Dallas-born former computer scientist only received about 2% of her former husband's roughly $100 billion wealth when they divorced in 2021?
Answer: Melinda French Gates
- The Scotties Tournament of Hearts is Canada's national women's championship in what sport?
Answer: Curling
- What retired FIFA Women’s World Cup champion goalkeeper for Team USA has a name made of words from the titles of two different “Star Wars” movies?
Answer: Hope Solo
- Susan Kiefel is the current Chief Justice of Australia's High Court. Prior to Kiefel's appointment in 2017, how many women had previously held this role?
Answer: Zero
- In humans, the clavicle and scapula connect the skeleton to the arm in what is known as the shoulder ______. Fill in the one word “G” blank, also a name for a form fitting lower torso garment, sometimes worn by women for support.
Answer: Shoulder Girdle
- Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, who has a superhuman sense of smell, becomes a serial killer who murders women to create the titular substance of what 1985 novel by German author Patrick Süskind?
Answer: Perfume
- In the 19th and early 20th centuries in America, what two-word term was used to describe two women living together without financial support from a man -- often, but not always, a lesbian partnership?
Answer: Boston marriage
- What Southern Hemisphere nation, still technically a British colony at the time, was the first to grant the right to vote to women in 1893?
Answer: New Zealand
- "The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous, & Broke" and "Women & Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny" are books by what longtime CNBC host?
Answer: Suze Orman
- By 1940 all Canadian provinces had passed their own laws granting voting equality for women and men, however the vast majority of provinces had done this between 1916 and 1922. Which province was the final one to grant women equal suffrage rights on April 25, 1940?
Answer: Quebec
- The women figure in New Zealand's official coat of arms was somewhat based off of what American actress when it was designed in the 1950s?
Answer: Grace Kelly
- The inaugural women's international Test cricket match was between the English side and what other country in December 1934?
Answer: Australia
- What is the name of Mount Holyoke's 18-hole golf course, which, among other events, notably hosted the 2004 U.S. Women's Open?
Answer: The Orchards
- Indigenous women and their allies founded the Native Women's Association of Canada, and Ralph Steinhauer became the first Indigenous person to hold vice-regal office in Canada. Within one, that was what busy year of the 1970s?
Answer: 1974
- What “S” convention, held in 1848 in its namesake New York hamlet that presumably had some Falls, featured Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and other women’s rights leaders discussing gender equality, and signing the Declaration of Sentiments, formally agreeing to fight for women’s rights?
Answer: Seneca Falls Convention
- By winning the women's 55 kg category at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which weightlifter became the first athlete from the Philippines to win an Olympic Gold?
Answer: Hidilyn Diaz
- Jeannette Rankin of Montana served as the first woman in what role in the US?
Answer: Congresswoman
- In what year did New Zealand become the first country to grant women the right to vote?
Answer: 1893
- In 1924 she was born in Brooklyn to Caribbean immigrant parents. In 1968 she became the first black woman elected to the United States Congress. Who is this woman? She served seven terms in Congress, was the first woman to appear in a Presidential debate, and most recently had a namesake state park opened in Brooklyn in 2019.
Answer: Shirley Chisholm
- After admitting four women as full-time students in 1837, what Ohio college became the first coeducational collegiate institution in the United States?
Answer: Oberlin
- Which U.S. state was the first which granted women the right to vote? When women were enfranchised, it was not yet a state but a territory. Suffrage came in 1869 and statehood in 1890.
Answer: Wyoming
- As its full name indicates, it operates both in the USA and globally. Which multinational insurance corporation has sponsored both The Women's Open in golf, and the New Zealand national rugby team?
Answer: American International Group (AIG)
- The reality TV show Terrace House is a franchise consisting of five series and one theatrical film. The show tracks the lives of six strangers (three men, three women) that live together in the same house while getting to know one another platonically and romantically. The show developed a cult popularity in the U.S. via Netflix even though it is filmed in what country?
Answer: Japan
- What U.S. Olympic track and field star in 2000 was the first woman to win medals in five different events at the same Olympics?
Answer: Marion Jones
- Author, activist, and professor bell hooks started writing “Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism” when she was just 19. She was born and raised in which Kentucky city in Christian County that’s also home to the Alhambra Theater?
Answer: Hopkinsville
- A 1982 George A. Romero horror anthology film, with screenplay by Stephen King, was called ______show. Fill in the blank, also a 1994 TLC hit about women sleeping around in order to get attention from their unfaithful lovers.
Answer: Creep
- Writer Maya Angelou, Cherokee leader Wilima Mankiller, and Chinese-American actress Anna May Wong are three of the women who, in 2022, appeared for the first time where?
Answer: Quarters
- What school was founded by four men and women in 1895 (one of whom was writer George Bernard Shaw!)? Starting in 2008, this public research university began awarding degrees in its own name rather than awarding degrees of the University of London.
Answer: London School of Economics
- What was the name of the Seinfeld character that allegedly found a loophole in life by going on dates asking women out directly?
Answer: Todd Gack
- Fill in the blank in the following 1896 Susan B. Anthony quote: "I think [the bicycle] has done more to ______ women than any one thing in the world."
Answer: Emancipate
- As of December 30, 2020 there have been 16 seasons of "The Bachelorette" with 17 total "Bacherlorettes." According to Wikipedia, how many of these women are still in a relationship with the show's "winner"?
Answer: Five
- What famed medical woman was born in Massachusetts in 1821, never married, and spent much of her childhood undergoing attempts from her parents to "overcome shyness?"
Answer: Clara Barton
- Women's suffrage was legalized at the federal level in Australia in what year? A few clarifications are in order. First, the act continued to exclude "aboriginal natives" so it was not truly universal suffrage. Second, this legislation was passed as Commonwealth Franchise Act ______. The year in which it was passed fills that blank. We'll accept responses within five years of the correct answer.
Answer: 1902 (1897 - 1907 accepted)
- She made her fortune by developing and marketing cosmetics and hair care products for black women. She's also listed as the first female self-made millionaire in America in the Guinness Book of World Records. Who is this woman?
Answer: Madam C. J. Walker
- What Caribbean country has the highest adolescent pregnancy rate of all the countries in Latin America and the Caribbean? Public health data shows 20.5 percent of girls and young women ages 15 to 19 in this country become pregnant in their teens.
Answer: Dominican Republic
- "A Raisin in the Sun," the first play written by an African American woman to be produced on Broadway, opened in March 1959. The author was a 29-year-old woman who won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play. Name the author.
Answer: Lorraine Hansberry
- Name the entrepreneur who initially started with a networking group for women named SoGal and now runs the largest female-led millennial venture capital firm. Both her first name and last name are also common nouns in English.
Answer: Pocket Sun
- Located about 100 miles east of Charlotte, what North Carolina golf course that has played host to four U.S. Open women's tournaments is named for features of an evergreen tree?
Answer: Pine Needles
- What “S” American writer, author of books such as “History Of Woman Suffrage” and “The Woman’s Bible”, was a key figure in the mid-19th century women’s rights movement in the US, helping to organize the Seneca Falls Convention with Susan B. Anthony?
Answer: Elizabeth Cady Stanton
- Born in Cambridgeport, MA, the first full-time American female book reviewer in journalism wrote "Woman in the Nineteenth Century" which is often considered the first major feminist work in the United States. Who was this native New Englander?
Answer: Margaret Fuller
- In what 1995 poem did Maya Angelou declare, "Pretty women wonder where my secret lies / I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size?"
Answer: Phenomenal Woman
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About the Author
Eli Robinson is the Chief Trivia Officer at Water Cooler Trivia. He was once in a Bruce Springsteen cover band called F Street Band.
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