VIDEO
Rihanna’s Return To Instagram
Rihanna was banned from Instagram in 2014 for being too racy… But in true RiRi style, the bad girl wasn’t having any of it. Standing up for a woman’s right to be as shirtless as she pleases (because men do it!) and inspiring the “Free The Nipple” movement that saw celebs and fans taking off their tops in support of the humble boob, Rihanna fought her way back to Instagram. Today she’s just as bold and sexy as ever.
Pharrell “Comes Out” As A Feminist
It’s always a win when a high profile male comes out and uses the “F” word. This year Pharell Williams, after the questionable “Blurred Lines,” won back our love by flying his feminist flag high. On Good Morning America , Pharrell said his new album, Girl was a celebration of women not just as sexual beings, but for their resilience, hard work, and the way they’ve inspired and looked after him throughout his life. He said,
“[Women] don’t get paid as much as men do — that needs to change. We’re a species that has a Martian rover on the surface of Mars, but yet we’re still the same species that tries to tell women what they can and can’t do with their bodies.”
Perfection.
Nicki Minaj’s BET Award Acceptance Speech
“I thank God that I’ve been placed in a position to do something and represent women in a culture that is so male-driven.”
Some gossip mongers suggested this was a dig at Iggy Azalea, but Nicki holds fast that it wasn’t intended to be so at all and that she’s all about the sisterhood. And we believe her.
Lorde’s Take Down Of Diplo
Iggy Azalea Standing Up to Eminem
When Eminiem distastefully rapped about raping Iggy Azalea (because rape is so COOL, obvs), Iggy had some choice words to serve up to the offensive rap artist via Twitter. And she managed to bring up a great point about women making it in the music industry too, so kudos for her for not only standing up for herself, but for all women in the face of a largely misogynistic genre.
The Billboard Charts Being Dominated By Women
There were plenty of individual victories for feminism in music this year, but there was also an overall victory given that it was the gals that DOMINATED the charts in 2014. And when we say dominated, we mean women completely Katniss Everdeen-ed that shiz. 2014 marked the FIRST TIME in Billboard 100’s 56 year history that the top FIVE chart spots were held EXCLUSIVELY by women for 6 consecutive weeks. The women at the top were Meghan Trainor, Taylor Swift, Iggy Azalea, Tove Lo, Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj. This kind of thing happens to the boys quite frequently, as was the trend in 2013. The last time women had that kind of chart dominance was fifteen years ago when top 5 domination by women lasted only five weeks.
