In celebration of International Women’s Day, I have collated a list of the best moments for women in the last year!
This is the fourth year I’ve written this post for IWD. It is both a labour of love and an opportunity to step back and consider our progress. Last year was so dire I nearly abandoned the cause… then the women’s marches happened around the world. And it seemed to unfurl a sense of togetherness, and power, and anger and determination that perhaps we hadn’t fully realised we possessed so collectively. This year, I felt these stories couldn’t be properly told without doing so chronologically. Because I hope you’ll see what I am seeing: not just a collection of wins and moments to celebrate, but a turning of the tide, a passage of time, a making of history that will render what came before definitively as ‘the past’ and no longer ‘the way things are’.
I invite you to sit back and reflect (and fist-pump and cry and sigh and celebrate) with me on the 29 best moments for women in the last year.
7 March 2017 – Fearless Girl sets the tone
On the eve of International Women’s Day last year, a 4-foot bronze statue of a girl by Kirsten Visbal was installed opposite Wall Street’s famous charging bull. With her hands on her hips, her head held high and a look of defiance on her face, “Fearless Girl” in many ways set the tone for a year of courage, activism and progress for women. “Fearless Girl” was only scheduled to remain in place for a week, but due to her incredible popularity – including 500,000 social media mentions in a single day – she was left in place for the year and will soon find a permanent home in the city.
19 April 2017 – We learn Serena Williams won the Australian Open while pregnant
Last January, Serena Williams won the Australian open for the 7th time, beating sister, Venus for the title. About three months after, the world learned she’d been 8 weeks pregnant when competing in the grand slam where she didn’t drop a single set. That’s right. Not. A. Single. Set.
21 May 2017 – “Zan TV” launches
Afghanistan’s Zan TV is the first TV network to be entirely run by women, for women.This is a pioneering feat in a country known to be one of the most difficult on earth for women, with many female staff risking their lives for the pursuit. Zan’s is building a network by delivering cutting-edge shows on the issues affecting young Afghan women, such as negotiating Islam as a feminist, reproductive rights, managing finances and careers.
1 June 2017 – Wonder Woman is released
The superhero movie genre has been dominated by white male superheroes for some time: think Batman, Spiderman, Ironman. So it was a surprise and a victory when the female-led, female-directed movie about a female superhero, Wonder Woman, became the highest grossing superhero-origin film ever! The film held the title for nearly 8 months and has just this week been overtaken by Black Panther, a worthy successor from a diversity perspective.
22 June 2017 – Larissa Waters moves a motion in Parliament while breastfeeding
In May, Former Australian Greens senator Larissa Waters became the first woman to breastfeed in parliament. In June, she put forward a motion on black lung disease in the Senate while feeding her baby daughter Alia Joy. An incredible legacy to leave in paving the way for acceptance of women breastfeeding at work.
26 July 2017 – Tunisia repealed a loophole that allowed men to avoid rape charges
Tunisia repealed a law under which a rapist could be exempt from punishment if he married his victim. Jordan followed and then Lebanon,
“To punish a rape victim by making her marry the perpetrator of a horrible crime against her – there is no place in today’s world for such hideous laws,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said in a statement.
3 August 2017 – Australian Women’s Cricket Team negotiate a historic pay deal
14 August 2017 – Taylor Swift wins sexual assault lawsuit
21 August 2017 – Chile legalises abortion in certain situations
In August 2017 a decision was made in the Chilian constitutional court to approve a bill which legalises abortion in circumstances where a woman’s life is at risk, in the case of rape or where a foetus is not viable. Chile was previously considered to have some of the strictest abortion laws in the world resulting in an estimated 70,000 illegal abortions being performed every year. The victory was hailed “a triumph of reason” by campaigners and considered an important milestone in opportunities for further liberalisation.
26 September 2017 – Saudi women are given the right to drive
Saudi Arabia made news around the world in September when King Salman decreed that women will be allowed to obtain a drivers license from June 2018. The last country in the world to disallow women from driving, the move was considered to be a significant step in the direction of women’s empowerment. Many working Saudi women have spent significant portions of salary on drivers or relied upon male relatives to transport them, making this change an enormous step toward independence. Saudi Arabia’s first driving school recently opened for registrations and received 165,000 in three days.
5 October 2017 – Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor break the Weinstein story
16 October 2017 – #MeToo
After 10 days of Weinstein and media and questions, Alyssa Milano shared a tweet.
48 hours later, the hashtag #MeToo had been used more than one million times as women (and men) gave the world a live survey on just how widespread experiences of sexual harassment are.
18 October 2017 – Tracey Spicer takes on telling Australia’s #metoo stories
1 November 2017 – Lego releases Women of NASA Lego kit
In 2016 Maia Weinstock, deputy editor of MIT news, pitched the idea for a Women of NASA Lego Kit in Lego’s Community forum. The idea received more than 10,000 votes and was put into production, being released – and selling out – on the same day. The 231-piece set features astronomer Nancy Grace Roman, computer scientist Margaret Hamilton and astronauts Sally Ride and Mae Jemison – four women who played crucial roles in the US space program.
2 November 2017 – Beauty pageant contestants change the conversation
In late October in Colombia, two-dozen women stood on stage the Miss Peru beauty pageant. In Peru, pageants are followed fervently by locals. It reached the part of the program where contestants approach the microphone to announce their measurements. (!? Yes I know, this seemed horrifying to me too.) Instead, one-by-one, the women stepped up, stated their name and followed it with a horrifying statistic about the treatment of women in their country.“The idea was to call attention and get people to react,” said Luciana Olivares, a marketing executive who organized the campaign. “These figures aren’t beautiful at all, they’re very much the opposite.”
14 November 2017 – Mattel releases the first hijab-wearing Barbie
Mattel made history with the release of their first hijab-wearing Barbie, a tribute to American Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad who was the first American to compete and medal in the Olympics while wearing a hijab. Glamour Editor-inChief, Cindi Leive said she challenged every stereotype, which “is the definition of a modern American woman.”
15 November 2018 – Marriage Equality Postal Survey returns a ‘Yes’ vote!
6 December 2017 – Time Magazine names the ‘Silence Breakers’ as Person of the Year
Time gave credit to the women and men shaping the public conversation on sexual harassment and assault.
12 December 2017 – Feminism named Miriam Webster’s word of the year
Word experts, Miriam Webster announced their 2017 word of the year to be: feminism. The word of the year gives insight into the collective curiosity of the public. Feminism was looked up 70% more in 2017 than it was in 2016 continued to be searched in line with major news events.
1 January 2018 – Iceland leads the world in mandating equal pay
7 January 2017 – #TimesUp
18 January 2018 – NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is expecting a baby
It was a high-five moment with our friends across the bay when they elected 37-year-old Jacinta Ardern as New Zealand’s 40th Prime Minister and the youngest female head of government. Fun fact: when in her spare time, Jacinta loves to DJ, you can listen to her set on Spotify here. I’m not even joking.
Jacinta hit Australian news cycles nearly immediately when she offered New Zealand’s help in resolving our ongoing refugee crisis, an offer refused by our government. Her badass status was cemented when she met Trump, who during a light-hearted exchange said she caused a lot of upset in the country when she was elected to which she retorted “well you know, no-one marched when I was elected.” #micdrop
But the spotlight shone most brightly upon her when she and her husband announced they are expecting their first child in June 2018. How possibly will she run the country and be a new mum at the same time? Just watch.
21 January 2018 – SAG Awards all-female presenter line up
31 January 2018 – Formula One Scraps Grid Girls
In a move that had an unprecedented number of men speaking out on the rights of women at work, F1 announced in January announced there would no longer employ walk-on girls at their events, saying the practice was at odds with “modern-day societal norms”. The ‘girls’ will be replaced with kids, giving ‘the next generation’ of F1 drivers the opportunity to engage more closely with the sport.
Plenty of media time was given to the voices speaking out against the decision. Hopefully, the F1 will look for further ways to showcase the many women using their intellectual talent in the sport or look to bring on female ambassadors in a way that celebrates women’s voices, not just appearance.
18 February 2018 – Actresses again support Times Up movement at BAFTAs
The film community again donned black in solidarity as they attended the BAFTAs.
24 February 2018 – Ester Ledecka makes history in Winter Olympics
Czech athlete, Ester Ledecka, made history at the Peong Chang Winter Games as the first athlete in history to compete in both skiing and snowboarding disciplines. Not only did she compete – she won gold in both. With snowboarding her regular jam, her gold in the parallel giant slalom was not an enormous surprise. Her gold in the women’s Super G, however, was a huge upset. After her lightning-fast run, Ledecka stood in shock with her mouth open staring at the scoreboard, waiting for what she thought was an error to be corrected. Later, she refused to take off her ski goggles in her media interviews because she hadn’t put any makeup on before her run, not expecting to be speaking with any media.
1 March 2018 – Nearly-royal Meghan Markle talks about women’s empowerment
5 March 2018 – Women support Women at the Oscars