Happy International Women’s Day! Stop and take a moment to appreciate all the fabulous females in your life.
No, we don’t have a day all to ourselves because we’re super self-absorbed. We have it because unfortunately there are still some pretty major gender inequalities out there.
But luckily for us, there are also some epic female celebrities who are proud to call themselves feminists and are working hard to make sure that the playing field evens out soon.
Men, of course, can be feminists too. But since it’s #IWD, here are some badass ladies who prove that the F-word isn’t so dirty after all.
Beyonce
Who run the world? Girls. Queen Bey is the ultimate ‘Independent Woman’ and has been showing females the world over how to be strong and powerful in whatever way we choose. She’s not afraid of her own sexuality, and just because Mrs. Carter tours with her husband doesn’t mean she’s about to change a goddamn thing – “don’t think that I’m just his little wife.”
Emma Watson
Her impassioned speech back in 2014 got the whole word talking about gender equality and has done a lot to remove some of the negative stigma of feminism. As the UN’s Goodwill Ambassador, Watson has campaigned for HeForShe, trying to remove the us vs. them attitude of women and men and calling for action from male allies to right those wrongs.
Lena Dunham
The Girls writer and actress says she is completely done with being photoshopped, instead giving rise to women celebrating their bodies just the way they are. Many were shocked at her constant near-nudity in the HBO series, but it’s all just part of her crusade to normalize the female body and not succumb to media representation.
Zooey Deschanel
Turning on its head the notion that feminists should look or act a certain way, Zooey put paid to the haters who tell women how to dress. The New Girl star famously said to Glamour magazine, “I want to be a f-king feminist and wear a f-king Peter Pan collar. So f-king what?” Point well made.
Patricia Arquette
The Boyhood star caused quite a stir at the Oscars last year by speaking about the gender pay gap when she picked up her award for Best Supporting Actress. Speaking to “every taxpayer and citizen of this nation,” she said that it was time to have wage equality and equal rights for women in the United States to applause and standing ovations from Meryl Streep and (belatedly) JLo.
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Jennifer Lawrence
JLaw refused to be slut-shamed during the #TheFappening when nude pictures of her and numerous other celebrities were leaked. She also published an unapologetic open letter about the gender pay gap between men and women in Hollywood, saying “I’m over trying to find the adorable way to state my opinion.”
Mindy Kaling
Advocate of women’s rights and writer of The Mindy Project, Ms Kaling is an awesome girl boss who rose to the top of the comedy pile after being a 19-year-old intern on the Conan O’Brien show. Her character in the show is a successful woman in a male field who loves sex and her body — and no, she’s not perfect, but that’s just fine, thank you very much.
Tiny Fey and Amy Poehler
Of course these funny females each deserve a place on the list, but when it comes to feminism, together the pair are unstoppable. Presenting at the Golden Globes, the duo had a whole cannon of on-point one-liners that honed in on Hollywood sexism — in particular noting the discrepancy of George Clooney picking up a lifetime achievement award instead of his human rights lawyer wife.
Amy Schumer
Between her “Last F-ckable Day” sketch with Tina Fey and Julia Louis-Dreyfus that satirized the drying up of roles for females in Hollywood and the “I’m sorry” skit that skewered women’s need to apologize for everything, Amy has become a feminist figurehead telling it like it is. Plus, her shutting down an Australian journalist for trying to shame her character in Trainwreck was pretty boss.
Viola Davis
When the How to Get Away With Murder star won the award for Best Actress in a Drama at the Emmys, she didn’t just make history as the first African-American woman to win. Her speech became an instant classic when she addressed the lack of opportunity and diversity on television for women of colour.
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