What a year to be a woman! As with every year, there were highs and lows for members of the fairer sex but globally, women who grabbed the news headlines did so for positive reasons.
There were women who inspired action through their own actions, stirred up debate on topics that were previously left untouched, changed stagnant cultures whether at home or in the workplace and generally sparked joy wherever they went.
Here are some of those women who made a historically huge impact on the world in 2019 – may we know them, may we be them, may we raise them:
This 16-year-old climate change activist from Sweden became the youngest person ever chosen by Time magazine as their Person of The Year. She led the largest climate strike in history this year and even spoke at the UN Climate Action Summit in New York where she gave an impassioned speech to world leaders.
The world’s youngest sitting Prime Minister at 34-years-old, Sanna heads Finland’s governing coalition of five parties – all of which have female leaders under the age of 35. She comes from a “rainbow family” of same sex parents and was the first person in her family to attend university.
This Japanese actress and freelance writer started a viral movement (#KuToo) after campaigning against women having to wear high heels at work. “Little by little, the campaign has made society start to change. Some major companies changed their rules. But there’s still a culture of seeing women as ‘flowers’ at the office, rather than as employees. I just want everyone to realise how much it limits the potential of women when you impose beauty standards on us at work,” says the gender equality activist.
NASA conducted its first all-women spacewalk on October 18 featuring astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir who made history in the process. This was Koch’s fourth spacewalk and Meir’s first. Koch will also aim by the end of the year to set a new record for the longest amount of time spent in space by a US woman.
India’s fastest female sprinter, Dutee revealed this year that she’s in a same-sex relationship. She faced intense backlash from the public but continues to be vocal about perceived gender roles in the traditionally conservative country.
Katie is a 30-year-old computer scientist who led the development of an algorithm that can photograph black holes. She used her data to generate the first photo of a black hole ever. As of June 2019, she joined the California Institute of Technology as an assistant professor.
At just three feet and five inches tall, Sinead has achondroplasia – the most common form of dwarfism. She first made waves with her TED Talk, Why Design Should Include Everyone, and has been pushing for more representation of individuals with disabilities in the fashion world. She walk the Met Gala red carpet in 2019 wearing custom-made Gucci.
This sexual assault survivor wrote a memoir this year and came forward as the victim from the Stanford rape case. Through her book, Know My Name, Chanel takes us through the night Brock Turner sexually assaulted her behind a dumpster and the trial, media coverage, trauma, and healing that followed.
New Zealand suffered its deadliest-ever mass shooting in 2019 after a shooter opened fire in two mosques in the city of Christchurch. In the wake of the tragedy, 39-year-old prime minister Jacinda Ardern showed us what a compassionate leader she was and truly lead by example when she announced that she was changing gun ownership laws after the deadly incident.
In December, Zozibini became the first black Miss South Africa to wear the Miss Universe crown. An advocate for natural beauty she chose to showcase her natural afro-textured hair during the pageant despite pressure for her to wear a wig. Zozibini isn’t the only woman of colour to bring home a pageant title this year: Cheslie Kryst is Miss USA 2019, Nia Franklin is Miss America 2019, Kaliegh Garris is Miss Teen USA 2019 and Toni-Ann Singh from Jamaica is Miss World 2019.
