MARIA GRAZIA CHIURI
Remember those t-shirts emblazoned with “We Should All Be Feminists” that came down Dior's runway last year? That was Chiuri.
“Putting words on a T-shirt will not change the world, but words do matter,” said Adichie. “Words can begin the process of change."
Upon accepting, Chiuri addressed her daughter, telling her to "be proud of who you are."
MUZOON ALMELLEHAN
Often called the “Malala of Syria,” honoree Almellehan fled the civil war in Syria with her family when she was 14. She was told to take merely what she could carry with her, and she decided the most important thing she owned were her ten schoolbooks. Now, she’s the youngest-ever UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, traveling the globe advocating on behalf of her fellow refugees and ensuring they have access to the education that will provide them a brighter future.
MAXINE WATERS
When Congresswoman Maxine Waters snapped, “Reclaiming my time,” to an interrupting Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin—a line from standard Parliamentary procedure—she could have had no idea that she had just uttered a rallying cry for all American women. And anyway, she’d already done a ton for American women, having spent 37 years (and counting!) as a public servant. That’s why she received the Woman of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award, presented to her onstage by Zendaya (a 2016 Woman of the Year Award recipient).
GIGI HADID
Already an Oscar winner, Kidman won an Emmy this year for her wrenching portrayal as a victim of domestic abuse in Big Little Lies, in addition to being a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador.
NICOLE KIDMAN
Already an Oscar winner, Kidman won an Emmy this year for her wrenching portrayal as a victim of domestic abuse in Big Little Lies, in addition to being a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador.
SAMANTHA BEE
“I have been surrounded by amazing women my entire life,” said Bee (though she also shouted out to her “outstandingly woke husband, who is not here tonight because he is taking care of our children, of which we have many”). And though she mentioned there were times she was hardly able to “take another minute of this fucking administration” (she apologized for “potty language”), she also said that she valued the times she could dress up and be with other women and talk about other things. “We need to be in every room and every conversation, and if we don’t like the room that we are in, let’s change the conversations going on in them.”
PATTY JENKINS
“She got the essence of Wonder Woman,” Carter gushed, “Because it lived inside her...She made the ‘she’ become the ‘we’ on the big screen all over the world.”
Accepting the award, Jenkins focused on what Wonder Woman meant to this current moment for women: “I see a world where we need a new kind of hero. She stands for something very new, where she is strong and can fight the bad guy but she can fall in love.” She also mentioned her mother, who “never let me believe that I couldn’t” achieve her dreams.
WOMEN OF METOO
Anita Hill, Ann Cardenas, Aly Raisman, and Cameron Russell—four women who stepped forward to speak out against men who had sexually harassed and abused them. They invited the audience members for whom sexual harassment and assault were personal—because it had happened to them or someone they loved—to stand.
PEGGY WHITSON
The most spacewalks by a female astronaut (10); at 57, the oldest woman in orbit; first female chief of NASA’s Astronaut Office; first woman to command the International Space Station (which she’s done twice). And with her latest mission, which touched down in September, she has set a new record: 665 cumulative days in space—more than any American astronaut, male or female, young or old.
SARINYA SRISAKUL
Firefighter Sarinya Srisakul is the first-ever recipient of the Freedom Award, presented by Netflix and The Crown. Not only is Srisakul the New York Fire Department’s first female Asian American firefighter, she’s the president of the United Women Firefighters (UWF), where she’s made it her job to not only handle some life-altering disasters but guarantee that more women have a chance to be heroes, too. The 37 year-old former art school student realized after 9/11 that putting out disasters was her life’s calling, and thanks to her outreach with UWF, the number of women in the NYFD has more than doubled—from 37 in 2013 to 68 today.
CINDI LEIVE
“Glamour’s increasingly powerful voice is Cindi's own, and her departure is a bittersweet moment for all of us,” said Wintour. “Whatever organization she ends up joining—or creating—will be as lucky as we readers of Glamour have been these past sixteen years...And I’m not the only one who thinks so.”
THE FIRSTS
First up was Ibtihaj Muhammad, a fencer, and “the first Muslim woman to compete for the United States in the Olympics while wearing hijab.”
Then, there was Sarah Weddington, thought to be the youngest person ever to argue a case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. “I was 26, and that case was Roe V. Wade.”
Next was the icon Katie Couric, the first solo female anchor of a network nightly news program.
Then, Laverne Cox, “the first transgender woman to be nominated for a primetime Emmy in an acting category for my role in Orange is the New Black.”
And finally, receiving a standing ovation before he even opened her mouth, was Ruby Bridges. “Exactly 57 years ago tomorrow, I became the first African-American child to desegregate the all-white William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans.”
SOLANGE KNOWLES
“When I was about 11 years old, you’ve got to shoot for the moon and even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars,” she said. “Well, I wasn’t interested in either one. I was interested in the journey there.” She explained, “We as women are told from the second that we come into our own that we must not only shoot for the moon but hold it in our hands, turn it until the morning, nurture all of its rings...and feel and look like a goddess. That is not my journey.”
THE ORGANIZERS OF THE WOMEN'S MARCH
Accepting on behalf of the 25 women onstage was Mia Ives-Rublee. “I knew the world would roll over me if I stayed silent,” she said. “So I found my voice.” She then turned it to the women with whom she shared the stage: “My story is intermingled with the amazing stories of the women who put their blood, sweat, and tears into the Women’s March.”
She concluded with a call to action: “Our improbable march was just the beginning—2018 is a big year.” She urged everyone to call voters, turn out, and be politically active in the next year. “Our political movement must be grounded in a moral one.”