Every year since 2004, Time has released a list of the 100 Most Influential People in the world for that year. The people listed range from world leaders to artists to innovators, and thus Time organizes the chosen few into five categories: Titans, Pioneers, Artists, Leaders and Icons.
I am not usually one to pay attention to this list, but for some reason, this year, I took the time to really look through the list at length. I didn’t recognize a good portion of the names, though there were still things that caught my eye about those who were chosen. Here is a list of some of the things I found interesting about this year’s Time 100 list:
1. 41 of the 100 people listed are women. Since the list became a tradition for Time a decade ago, this year marks a record-breaking number for women on the Time 100 list. In the 1999 feature of the Most Influential People of the Century, there were 19 women listed. In 2004 when the list became an annual listing, there were only 24 women listed. From Hilary Clinton appearing for the seventh time to Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai, this year’s list marks an important step in recognizing women around the world.
2. One winner is chosen by the readers. In the Reader’s Poll, Time readers vote their response to some of the candidates up for consideration. Time posted the voting statistics for this year’s list, which reveal an interesting amount of negative votes in comparison to the number of positive votes cast in the poll. You can check out the 2014 Reader’s Poll results here.
3. Laverne Cox is not on the list. With the idea of the readers’ voices being heard through this poll, Tumblr brought to my attention the controversy arising about the absence of actress Laverne Cox on this year’s Time 100. After receiving an overwhelmingly positive number of votes, she was not placed (and still remains off) the list. With all of the support she received and as one of the transgender community’s most visible members and activists, I can’t understand how she could be overlooked. By disregarding Laverne Cox, Time’s possibly flawed reading of the poll stats seems blatantly transphobic. Buzzfeed outlines the controversy nicely here.
4. Miley Cyrus is on the list. While I am not the biggest Miley fan, I can respect her presence on this year’s list. Miley Cyrus has been working tirelessly to break away from the Hannah Montana image that brought her to stardom. Her fearlessness and confidence are incredible, especially as she sustains in the face of immense backlash and criticism for her behavior. I am not condoning her behavior, because I do agree that she pulls some ridiculous stunts. However, she is also young. She is searching for her identity, and that revelation does not occur all at once. It happens in phases, with Hannah Montana as one and evolving over the years until now. She is in control of who she is; she chooses what she does (and does not) do, how she dresses and more. I find that ability to have power over oneself extremely admirable.
5. No Oprah? Though she did appear in the 1999 list as a major influence in the twentieth century, she is absent from the 2014 list. Any thoughts?
6. John Green is on the list. As a fan, I was ecstatic to see that author (and, who could forget, Kenyon alum) John Green made the list this year. Naturally, there have been negative responses to his place on the list, but I think he is a fitting choice. The buzz around film adaptation of The Fault in Our Stars starring Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort releasing this year aside, John and his brother Hank have created a movement through YouTube to mobilize people around the world for numerous projects like Project for Awesome. The brothers raise awareness about important causes and current events, and use their influence to start other educational outlets on YouTube such as Crash Course, SciShow, the Brain Scoop and Sexplanations (just to name a few they have had a part in).
I really enjoyed going through the 2014 TIME selections. What do you think of the TIME 100 list this year?