13 Fantastic Feminist Moments From 2014 Entertainment, Because Hollywood Finally Realized Equal Rights Are a Beautiful Thing

“Gender equality is a myth,” Queen Beyonce said in her addition to the Shriver Report in January, and then proceeded to bluntly make so many good points about women not receiving the opportunities they should. As if I needed another reason to be completely obsessed with Beyonce, right?

Guys, one of the most popular action heroes of our time is a teenage girl. How cool is that!? And this year, the second to last installment of Katniss’ adventures in The Hunger Games series was released, and proceeded to make $123 million in its opening weekend alone.

Women aren’t offered roles with the kind of depth men are — it’s just the way it is. And Zoe Saldana didn’t hold back when she highlighted the issue this year.

“To me, a woman is not an incompetent, impotent, inept creature,” Saldana said. “I’ve never met a woman like that. Yet half of the scripts you read in Hollywood have [subservient] characters. I’m not a maid to anybody.”

And just about every single interview she did while promoting her latest album, 1989, involved feminism in some way or another, and it was a beautiful thing. With the serious role model power Swift has, she’s become an incredible influence on her youngest fans who will undoubtedly grow up to be kick ass feminists, too.

Damn, it has a good point: The freest your nipples feel shouldn’t just be when you get home from work and finally get to take your bra off. Why are women’s nipples “indecent exposure” but men aren’t discouraged from walking around shirtless? It’s unfair, and I’m so glad that it’s a conversation that’s been opened up this year.

Image: IFC Films

Thursday nights on ABC — akak one of the most competitive time slots in television — are owned by Shonda Rhimes, the female executive/powerhouse/my personal savior who’s behind Scandal, Grey’s Anatomy, and How to Get Away With Murder… better known as three of the most popular shows on tv. Oh, yeah, and all three shows have female protagonists. And since Rhimes took over Thursday nights, she’s totally owned it.

Beyonce’s 15 minute performance at the VMAs wasn’t epic only because it’s Beyonce and everything she does is epic. She took the opportunity to remind us of the importance of feminism, and now we should all take the opportunity to relive those beautiful 15 minutes all over again in celebration.

Lena Dunham simply existing is a step forward for feminism, but releasing her book, Not That Kind of Girl, this year was an even bigger step forward because of how unflinchingly honest she was. I love that we live in a world where there is a Lena Dunham.

In the mass leak of celebrity nude photos, pictures of Jennifer Lawrence were one of the most high profile leaks — but she refused to apologize. Like all victims of nude leaks and computer hacks should, she recognized that there is nothing to apologize for.

“It is not a scandal. It is a sex crime,” she told Vanity Fair. “It is a sexual violation. It’s disgusting. The law needs to be changed, and we need to change.”

If you haven’t seen Levitt’s video on feminism, prepare to fall in love with him even more than you already are (because let’s face it, who isn’t in love with JGL?). Not only did he talk about his journey with feminism, but also encouraged his fans to join the conversation. How awesome is this guy?!

Frozen may have come out in 2013, but it was HUGE in 2014, and the best part? It wasn’t a love story, and it passed the Bechdel test with flying colors. Anna may have ended up with Kristoff, but Elsa is an independent woman, and for that reason, she’s one of the best role models the Disney machine has ever cranked out. I’ll gladly listen to “Let it Go” nonstop for another year if it means little girls are still being empowered by Elsa.

Image: Disney

Angelina Jolie directing a movie like Unbroken is a huge step forward for all female directors, even if she didn’t get a Golden Globe nod. Go Angie!