Best of 2017: 6 events that took feminist movement ahead

2017 saw a plethora of activities which led us to believe that gender equality indeed is not a surreal concept and can be reached if we show enough valour. This year witnessed several feminists movements and campaigns on a large scale level. As there are miles to go before we actually achieve gender equality, but looking at this year we can positively say that we have encountered a generation which is now done with being silent.

1. Me Too:

From Harvey Weinstein's abuse and molestation stories in Hollywood till 'Me Too' campaign, we have seen women who are now speaking out openly about their abuses and molestation cases and are eager to see an action taking place. The significant thing about the Me too social media campaign can be said that plenty of women have spoken about their experiences publicly. The one long prevailing thing that 'Me Too' broke was remaining silent. Women started talking and acknowledging their abuse stories, naming their abusers and they have equally encouraged others to speak up. Alyssa Milano, Salma Hayek, Cara Delevingne, Ashley Judd, Rose Mcgowan and many other top Hollywood celebrities have supported 'Me Too' and have shared their stories. TIME magazine featured these women as Person of the Year, 2017 with the cover, 'The Silence Breakers'.

2. Wonder Woman

Wonder Women preceded the 'Me Too' campaign. But it took the world by storm. Gal Gadot became a big feminist icon after leading this movie of DC comics. Also directed by a woman Patty Jenkins, Wonder Woman made millions of dollars gaining commercial success. At the same time, proving how much a woman superhero this patriarchal generation needs. A strong female superhero can influence and encourage little girls to idolize a female who doesn't need to be saved.

3. Women of colour

When we talk about women of colour in Hollywood, we can think of very limited names in our minds whose work has been acknowledged. When Mindy Kaling was first told, "women who look like her, they don't put them on TV", she never let that voice bring her down. Instead, she went ahead, did exactly that. With Mindy project, The Office, Ocean's 8 and A Wrinkle In Time, she now seems unstoppable. We also saw Viola Davis, being the first black actor to win an Emmy, Oscars, and Tony award. With Serena Williams winning the Australian Open title while 8 weeks pregnant, we have these badass wonderful women who show the world that they don't let the world decide their fate. They rather rule the world on their own terms, owning their identity and individuality.

4. Women's march

This was single-handedly the largest rebellion or rather a big movement the world witnessed this year. Started in January 2017, Women's march which initially started to protest Donald Trumps's presidency, soon transformed into a campaign against the injustice of trans and binary women, molestations, equal pay, and equality for all sexes. The ironic thing about this march was, though it is called women's march, thousands and thousands of men have been an active part of it and have hit the streets demanding equality and justice.

5. Nevertheless, She persisted

When US Senator Elizabeth Warren was cut off by Senate majority leader Matt McCollen and was asked to stop reading a letter written by Cornetta Scott King, nevertheless she persisted. This quickly hit off the social media with all the feminists tweeting and standing with Warren with the hashtag, #NeverthelessShePersisted.

6. The Handmaid's Tale and Big Little Lies:

Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale could not have been released at a more appropriate time with abortion bill and planned parenthood being cancelled in a lot of cities in the US. Big Little Lies raised awareness for domestic abuse and molestation against women with very powerful performances from a stellar star cast. While Nicole Kidman bagged an Emmy for her performance in this show, in her acceptance speech, she spoke about domestic abuse and encouraged women to stand together and fight it.

Along with these major movements and incidents, there were a lot of other significant ones that happened. India also saw big step taken towards women rights and justice. With Triple Talaq Bill being passed, India saw major reformations. Raya Sarkar named and shamed predators in academia in India. Young women students of Banaras Hindu University protested against the on-campus misogyny and discriminatory rules. Indian women cricket team reached final of World Cup 2017.

Finally, the year ended as Merriam -Webster declaring "Feminism" as the word of the year. We can certainly say that we are heading towards a year which should only get better and bold and more fierce than this.