1. Women's Marches Around the Country Became the Largest Single-Day Protest in U.S. History
Since there were hundreds of marches in cities and towns all over the country (and hundreds more around the world), it's hard to get a good estimate for just how many people participated in Women's Marches the day after Donald Trump's inauguration. The Washington Post put forth extensive effort to arrive at a number and guesses there were more than 4 million marchers in the U.S. alone, or or 1.3 percent of the country's population. Regardless of the exact number, the volume of people who marched in protest of the newly elected president set the tone for an entire year of record-breaking moments in feminist history.
2. Beyoncé Announced She Was Pregnant With Twins
On Feb. 1, Beyoncé released some of the best news thus far in 2017 in an iconic Instagram post that will never be forgotten — she was pregnant. With twins. The two newest Carters were born in June.
3. "Nevertheless, She Persisted" Is Born
If 2016 was the year of "nasty woman" — a phrase used by Donald Trump to describe Hillary Clinton during the third presidential debate — 2017 was the year of "nevertheless, she persisted." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell uttered the phrase on the Senate floor when talking about a recent speech by Senator Elizabeth Warren, who tried to read a letter written by Coretta Scott King during the debate over Jeff Sessions's confirmation process for Attorney General. "Sen. Warren was giving a lengthy speech," he said. "She had appeared to violate the rule. She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted." Feminists quickly turned McConnell's phrase into a battle cry on protest signs and T-shirts that would resonate throughout the year.
4. Adele Dedicates Her Album of the Year Grammy Win to Beyoncé
In an incredibly tense moment at the 2017 Grammy Awards, Adele won Album of the Year for her third album, 25. She used her acceptance speech to dedicate the award to Beyoncé, whose album Lemonade was nominated but did not win. "But I can’t possibly accept this award, and I’m very humble and very grateful and gracious, but the artist of my life is Beyonce and this album to me, the Lemonade album is so monumental, Beyoncé. So monumental," Adele said, as Beyoncé watched tearfully. Adele added that the way Beyoncé makes "her black friends feel is empowering," in a moment that Cosmopolitan.com columnist Brittney Cooper heralded as an example of what white women's solidarity with black women should look like.
5. Viola Davis Breaks History By Becoming the First Black Actor to Win the "Triple Crown of Acting"
Upon winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Fences, Viola Davis became the first black actor or actress to achieve a "triple crown" — or winning acting awards at the Oscars, Emmys, and Tonys. Her beautiful and inspiring speech evoked emotional responses from celebrities and fans who praised her on the well-deserved win. "People ask me all the time, what kind of stories do you want to tell, Viola?," she said. "And I say, exhume those bodies. Exhume those stories. The stories of the people who dreamed big and never saw those dreams to fruition. People who fell in love and lost. I became an artist — and thank God I did — because we are the only profession that celebrates what it means to live a life."
6. Wonder Woman Smashes Box Office Records
Wonder Woman made more than $100 million in its opening weekend and then secured its number one slot in theaters into its second weekend. The record-breaking box office numbers were monumental for a few reasons. It marked the biggest opening by a woman director (Patty Jenkins), and became the biggest live-action box office ever by a woman director.
7. Rep. Maxine Waters Coins the Slogan "Reclaiming My Time"
When Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin hijacked Waters's speaking time in a House committee meeting, Waters patiently repeated the phrase, "Reclaiming my time" to interrupt him and ... reclaim her speaking time. The moment sparked viral hashtags and memes, and later became the official theme of the Women's Convention held in Detroit later in the year.
8. Taylor Swift Wins a Symbolic $1 in Her Countersuit for Sexual Assault
In 2015, radio host David Mueller sued Swift over losing his job after she spoke publicly about how he allegedly groped her at a meet-and-greet on her 2013 Red tour. Swift countersued for a single dollar this year to make a point about harassment and consent. The resulting trial was filled with powerful accounts of the event from Swift, who was unwavering in her testimony. "He had a handful of my ass, I know it was him," she said. "I am not going to allow your client to make me feel like it is anyway my fault because it isn't." The jury ruled in Swift's favor, awarding her the symbolic dollar from Mueller.
9. The Handmaid's Tale and Big Little Lies Make Emmy History
In winning the Emmy for drama series directing, The Handmaid's Tale director Reed Morano broke a 22-year streak of men winning the award. And in another victory for women-helmed television, Big Little Lies won eight Emmys at the 2017 awards. "The fact that we created four roles for women that all got nominated is a real win here," Reese Witherspoon said backstage.
10. Lena Waithe Wins an Historic Emmy Award
Waithe became the first black woman to win the Emmy for best writing in a comedy series for her work in the second season of Master of None. The award was given to her co-writing credit on an episode that shows her character, Denise, growing up and coming out as gay to her family. She thanked the show's co-creator and her co-writer on the episode Aziz Ansari for pushing her to write and finished her speech with a shout-out to her "LGBTQIA family." "The things that make us different, those are our superpowers," Waithe said. "Every day you walk out the door and put on your imaginary cape and go out there and conquer the world, because the world would not be as beautiful as it is if we weren't in it."
11. A Female Marine Successfully Completes the Notoriously Tough Infantry Officer Course for the First Time
The Marine Corps opened its infamously grueling Infantry Officer Course to women just last year, in April 2016. Over a year later, in September, a female Marine successfully completed the 13-week course for the first time. It's one of the toughest courses in the military, according to NPR, and includes carrying 152 pounds of equipment, hiking, obstacle courses, navigation, and weapon assembly.
12. Saudi Arabia Allows Women to Drive
For the first time in the country's history, the Saudi Arabian kingdom announced it will lift its ban on female drivers. Prior to the ruling, Saudi Arabia was the only country in the world with a gendered ban on driving. Activists had been pushing for the rule to be overturned since the 1990s.
13. The New York Times Breaks the Harvey Weinstein Story
In what we now know to be the first of many continued allegations of assault and harassment by powerful men, on Oct. 5, the New York Times published an extensive and detailed report of allegations of serial assault by Harvey Weinstein. The report revealed previously untold stories from women who'd interacted with the director at various stages in their careers. The common thread among each of the stories was a continued fear of Weinstein's power and an alleged abuse of it on his part. In effect, the Times story tore the lid off a long-existing whisper network of allegations about Weinstein in Hollywood and kicked off an ongoing domino effect of powerful men falling from power amid an unprecedented outpouring of allegations.
14. Cardi B Breaks Records With "Bodak Yellow"
In news that was good for literally everyone, Cardi B became the longest-running solo female rapper to have a song at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for her single "Bodak Yellow." The song also topped streaming count charts, which helps to explain the absolute explosion of joy that happens every time the song's opening line," "Said little bitch..." plays over a speaker anywhere, at any time.
15. #MeToo Is Reignited to Monumental Scale
A tweet from Alyssa Milano after news about Weinstein broke reignited the "Me, Too" movement, which was originally started by Tarana Burke 10 years ago. In the spirit of the movement, Milano's tweet encouraged women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted to post "Me, too" as a status to give a sense of the magnitude of the problem. Within the first 24 hours, tens of thousands of replies of "Me, too" had been posted. Burke is currently working on a documentary about the movement, its history, and the ways its currently helping to remove abusive men from power.
16. The Women's March Creators Host the Women's Convention
In timing that couldn't possibly have been planned, the creators of the Women's March held a three-day Women's Convention in Detroit just days after #MeToo swarmed social media. The convention was a resource for women to learn things like how to more effectively organize, run for elected positions, and practice feminism in a wholly inclusive way. It was significant for continuing the energy kicked off earlier in the year by the Women's March and showing that women were still just as dedicated to enacting progressive change at the local, state, and federal level.
17. Unprecedented Numbers of Women Run for Office
In October, at the Women's Convention, Emily's List founder Stephanie Schriock said more women than ever before signed up for trainings on how to run for office in 2017. In December, the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers announced that the number of women running for office in the November elections increased at every level. Many women running for office told the New York Times that they were directly encouraged by the Women's March and election results. No matter the reason, 2017 saw an unprecedented number of women on ballots at the local, state, and federal level.
18. Uma Thurman Gives a Chilling, Validating Response to the Weinstein Report
In a short clip that went viral, actress Uma Thurman gave a measured and chillingly calm response when asked by a red carpet reporter when she'd break her silence on the Weinstein allegations. "I don’t have a tidy soundbite for you, because I’ve learned I’m not a child and I’ve learned that when I’ve spoken in anger I usually regret the way I express myself," Thurman said. "So I’ve been waiting to feel less angry. And when I’m ready, I’ll say what I have to say." Then in an Instagram post on Thanksgiving, she wrote: "I said I was angry recently, and I have a few reasons, #metoo, in case you couldn’t tell by the look on my face. I feel it’s important to take your time, be fair, be exact, so... Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! (Except you Harvey, and all your wicked conspirators - I’m glad it’s going slowly - you don’t deserve a bullet)."
19. Shalane Flanagan Wins the New York City Marathon
In an extremely feel-good moment, Shalane Flanagan was the fastest runner in this year's New York City marathon. She won the race with a time of two hours, 26 minutes and 53 seconds, and in doing so, became the first American woman to win the race since 1977. It was also the first major marathon win for Flanagan.
20. Danica Roem Historically Wins a Seat in the Virginia Legislature
In unseating an incumbent who frequently tried to use her gender identity against her, Danica Roem was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates. She will be the first openly transgender person to be elected and seated in a U.S. state legislature. Her campaign gained national media attention before the race in November, and in the wake of her victory, Demi Lovato invited Roem as her guest to the American Music Awards. The Virginia election was also notable for turning the state blue, and seeing the election of the first Asian-American woman and first Latina women to the House of Delegates.
21. Woman Unseats an Incumbent Man Who Made a Sexist Joke
In another gratifying victory, Ashley Bennett won a local election in New Jersey against an incumbent who posted a sexist meme making fun of the Women's March to his Facebook page earlier this year. Although Bennett had never run for office before, she unseated Republican John Carman in his position on the Atlantic County Board of Chosen Freeholders in the November elections.
22. Tiffany Haddish Makes SNL History
Just in general, 2017 owes a lot of its best moments to actress and comedian Tiffany Haddish. But one standout moment is her historic hosting of Saturday Night Live, which makes Haddish the first black female stand-up to host the show. She used her opening monologue to talk about growing up in foster care and address sexual harassment and assault. "Listen fellas, listen, if you got your thing-thing out, and she got all her clothes on, you’re wrong. You’re in the wrong," she said, hinting at recent allegations against Louis CK. "Wait till she takes her own clothes off, then pull your thing-thing out!"
23. Olympic Fencer Ibtijaj Muhammad Gets Her Own Barbie
Muhammed made history in the 2016 Olympics for being the first American to compete while wearing a hijab. A year later, she made history again, in a more roundabout way, by inspiring the first ever Barbie doll to wear a hijab. The Barbie goes on sale in 2018 and is part of Mattel's Shero line that includes dolls based on prominent women like fellow Olympic athlete Gabby Douglas, ballerina Misty Copeland, and Zendaya.
24. Jesmyn Ward Makes History By Winning Two National Book Awards for Fiction
In November, fiction author Jesmyn Ward became the first woman to win two National Book Awards in fiction. She won this year for her novel Sing, Unburied, Sing, which is about a black family's journey in rural Mississippi. "I still find myself having uncomfortable conversations with reluctant readers who initially didn’t want to read my work because they said, 'What do I have in common with a pregnant 15-year-old?'” she said in her acceptance speech. "They said, 'Why should I read about a 13-year-old poor black boy? Or his neglectful, drug-addicted mother? What do they have to say to me?' And you, my fellow writers and editors and publishing people and National Book Foundation folks, read my work and you answered, 'Plenty.' You looked at me and the people I love and write about, you looked at my poor, my black, my Southern children, women, and men, and you saw yourself." Her second novel, Salvage the Bones, won her first National Book Award in 2011.
25. Federal Judge Once Again Rules a Texas Abortion Law is Unconstitutional
After the Texas legislature attempted to ban dilation and evacuation abortion procedures — the safest and most common second-trimester abortion method — a federal judge ruled the ban unconstitutional. It's one in a string of overturned bans related to abortion in Texas and is a significant follow-up to the historic 2016 ruling from the Supreme Court that overturned most of Texas's omnibus abortion law, H.B. 2.
26. The First Baby Is Born to a Woman Who Had a Uterus Transplant
For the first time in the U.S., a woman who'd previously had a uterus transplant successfully gave birth to a healthy baby. She gave birth at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, a hospital that has an ongoing uterus transplant clinical trial. "We've been preparing for this moment for a very long time," Dr. Liza Johannesson, an OB/GYN and uterus transplant surgeon told TIME. "I think everyone had tears in their eyes when the baby came out. I did for sure."
27. TIME Names Women Who Spoke Out About Assault As Its Person of the Year
TIME awarded its annual Person of the Year to what the magazine calls "the Silence Breakers," or the now-countless people who've spoken out against sexual assault and harassment this year. The cover features five women — Ashley Judd, Taylor Swift, former Uber engineer Susan Fowler, lobbyist Adama Iwu, and Isabel Pascual, a strawberry picker and Mexican immigrant who requested her name be changed to protect her family. But an anonymous fifth arm is seen on the right side of the cover. It belongs to a hospital worker in Texas, who contributed her story under the promise that she could remain anonymous. Her arm represents "all those who are not yet able to come forward and reveal their identities." The cover story includes several more people who've made public accusations of assault, including "Me, Too" creator Tamara Burke.
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