Women Who Make Me Emotional

Almost every time I hear Elizabeth Warren speak I break down in tears. I want to have her energy at 70 years old. The amount of work she has put in to get to where she is now is awe-inspiring, and the way you can hear it in her voice and see it in her actions really speaks to me on a different level.

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it 1000 times more: if I can write half as good as Jia Tolentino in my lifetime, I can die happy. Whenever I read one of her pieces I want to jump up and read it to as many people I can find. Her writing in The New Yorker is so brilliant, thorough and captivating I literally have no choice but to stan, and her book Trick Mirror sits by my bedside as a reminder that she’s the writer I dream of becoming.

I wasn’t that into soccer before I saw the U.S. women’s team take the field last summer. Seeing Megan Rapinoe in her winning stance made me feel invincible. The entire time she and her team were in the spotlight, everything they did made me think, “This is what it means to be a woman.” From her snarky remarks toward the president to her pride in her team’s victory, Megan Rapinoe holds a special place in my heart. 

What can’t she do? The snarky, whip-smart Veronica Mars, the bubbly, naïve Princess Anna, the spunky, good-hearted Eleanor Shellstrop, and of course the seductive, sly voice of Gossip Girl. Plus, she’s got a great set of pipes and looks to boot. I absolutely adore her and will watch anything she’s in, 1000 times over. 

Keiran Deohl is easily one of the funniest people I’ve ever heard and that you’ve never heard of. She frequents some of my favorite podcasts and kills it every time – I never laugh harder than when Keiran Deohl is in my earbuds. Currently, she’s a recurring character on NBC’s Sunnyside, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for her in the coming years.

How could I not include this iconic duo on this list? These two women not only play characters that inspire me to the core, but they also are women that inspire me to the core in their own right. These women have paved their way as the queens of comedy, as legends, and I cannot thank them enough for the dreams they have inspired in me.

I’ve been a fan of Saoirse since The Host (2013) but her work since then has blown me away. Her monologue in her most recent performance Little Women (2019) inspired me to write this article. But of course, she’s relatable in real life too: one of my favorite pictures of her is her ordering McDonald’s after an awards show, still in her fancy dress. Not a day goes by where I can’t relate to her on another level, for something she’s done either on or off the big screen. She’s just brilliant.