Each year, Time magazine surveys the women who have used their power and influence for good, and announces their selection for the Time Women of the Year list. For 2023, Time selected 12 outstanding women who have in their own way made their mark and used their voices to fight for a more equal world. This year, the women chosen have had a significant impact across activism, government, sports and the arts.
The list includes Quinta Brunson, Phoebe Bridgers, Cate Blanchett, Angela Bassett, Megan Rapinoe, Ramla Ali, Ayisha Siddiqa, Masih Alinejad, Olena Shevchenko, Makiko Ono, Verónica Cruz Sánchez and Anielle Franco.
Time gave its reasons for each of the women they chose and how their contribution benefited society. Many of the women have faced challenges that have inspired them to push for change.
Ayisha Siddiqa who appeared on one of the covers, saw the devastating effects of climate change on her community, and spoke up in a powerful speech at the U.N Climate Conference in Egypt on the urgency of climate justice.
Anielle Franco turned to politics after her sister Marielle, a city councillor was assassinated in 2018. She is now the Minister of Racial Equity in Brazil. Now she is turning that grief into action. “I lost my fear when they killed my sister,” Franco says. “Now I fight for something much bigger than myself.”
Of Phoebe Bridgers, Time said that she's “blended her art with activism, came forward last year to share that she’d had an abortion. In an interview, she spoke about the value of transparency, a key aspect of her songwriting. ‘The more honest I am,’ she says, ‘the world just keeps opening up for me.’”
Time cover star and Academy Award nominee, Cate Blanchett, made her mark through her powerful role as the eponymous protagonist in the film Tár. “We are brave, we are noble, we are generous, we are collaborative,” Blanchett says. “But we are also the dark side of that, because women are complex beings.”
To see the complete profiles of Time's Women of the Year, read on.
