Around the world, women are changing the way we see it. Today women are breaking barriers, challenging people’s perceptions, and improving the world one day at a time for other women and young girls around them and generations to follow. No longer are they keeping quiet about the issues that matter to them. For a recent example, actress and activist Alyssa Milano vocally opposed the Heartbeat Bill (for Georgia) along with 40 other celebrities at the State Capitol by stating that “white middle-aged men” had no right to decide what she does with her body, especially her uterus. Another influential woman such as New York Democratic Representative, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, turned heads when she wore her signature red lipstick and hoop earrings during her swearing-in ceremony. Cortez publicly wrote about her decision on twitter, that wearing hoops earrings stood as a political statement in that women should be able to wear what they want without it having any negative connotations.
Powerful women such as Hillary Rodham Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Madeleine Albright, Danica Roem, and Michelle Obama have changed politics not only for their generations but for many to come. Because of Hillary Clinton young girls can aspire to become president. Transgender women now know they have a chance to run for a political primary because women like Danica Roem became the first transgender legislator and won. These women lead the way so others have a chance to follow their dreams and govern the country that we live in today.
However, politics is not the only thing that women are leading in today, the entertainment industry has become a monumental way for women to use their voices to empower the masses and show others that women can do anything. Women such as Rita Moreno (famous for West Side Story and Singin’ in the Rain) became the first Latina to win a Tony, Grammy, Emmy, and Oscar when before her, no one could ever see that happening. Other women such as Shonda Rhimes (famous for TV shows Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and How to Get Away with Murder) became one of the first woman to create three hit shows with more than 100 episodes each. Each of Rhimes’ shows also depict roles in which women have powerful and inspiring roles such as Meredith Grey and Annalise Keating that lead and captivate every scene that they are in. Other women like Ellen Degeneres have spoken on the gay stoning legislatures in Brunei and how people can stop supporting their businesses in America. Others include Michelle Phan, Ava DuVernay, Aretha Franklin, Oprah, and so many more women have impacted the entertainment business by changing a once white dominated industry to be more diverse including many different races and ethnicities.
Women continue to inspire by creating social movements, empowering young girls, and creating a society that is body positive for all body types. Social movements such as #MeToo was created by Tarana Burke who decided to raise awareness for women who also had been sexually assaulted and raped. The MeToo movement has gone on to help more women be open about their stories and show how many women are being assaulted in America today. Young women like Malala Yousafzai started advocating for young girls in third world countries and countries where girls could not get an education when it was necessary because girls are the future of the world and teaching them was teaching the future.
Other activists like Emma Watson have campaigned (#HeforShe) that men should also be advocating for equal rights for women and that gender stereotypes need to be broken – there needs to be changed for women. Watson also advocates in breaking the negativity in the word Feminist. It does not mean that women hate men, it simply means that women want the same rights that men have. Models such as Emily Ratajkowski and Kendall Jenner have empowered women on Instagram to become more positive about having a slender body type and advocated that skinny shaming someone cannot be acceptable if we want to live in a more positive society. Another model, Ashley Graham used her Instagram to empower women who were curvier. She advocated that women should not be ashamed if they “do not fit society’s standards.”
While these are only some of the examples of how women are changing the world, it does not stop with them. Women are continuing to impact the world we live in by changing society’s standards and creating movements that empower more women to use their voices to speak out.
Society will not change women. Women change society.
Photo Courtesy of Her Campus at Cal Lutheran
And besides the future is female and girls run the world.
love a woman,
rae