24 Best Moments For Women in 2017

From ELLE UK

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."

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. #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.

17. Uma Thurman Gives a Chilling, Validating Response to the Weinstein Report