Sunday night’s 75th Annual Golden Globe Award show was not tone deaf. In fact the blackout downplaying whose gown, the Louboutins, and the Cartier resulted in style taking a back seat. It was refreshing to see it not trying so hard. Instead the outward beauty was a result of the totality of the emotion it contained, underpinned by inner strength, action, and sisterhood.
Looking at photographs from the event I could see an intensified beauty, radiance to these influential women. Glam at the Golden Globes no doubt bolstered the women, but it was equity that made her. I’ve noticed in myself (and it’s a general theory) that I’m more photogenic when I’m happy and free. It showed on the faces of the women who have broken ground, over decades, to gain power and their rightful place. It was there too in the younger women who do work that matters, and find parity to be a more natural assumption of their generation.
There was an evident shift in cultural attitudes on Sunday night, one that is sweeping the nation. Strategies are developing to harness the energy, and this time there is realistic hope to latch on to. It seems like we might have a chance to get back to the expectations of the Women’s Movement from 50 years ago. It’s as if we went through decades with our eyes glazed over to the injustice of being second-class citizens.
I am inspired and motivated by these women who have not only raised a voice, but put together a strategy for change the likes of which hasn’t been seen, for example, in politics the last year. The Time’s Up campaign, organized by Hollywood’s leading women, is an initiative to fight against sexual harassment, putting muscle and some $15 million behind it to support women who don’t have the means to take action on their own. Below, reminders of how accomplished the force, looking for a reckoning ahead.
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Helen Mirren: 1 Academy Award, 3 Golden Globe Awards.
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Nicole Kidman: 1 Academy Award, 5 Golden Globe Awards, Co-Founder of Blossom Films, Executive Producer Big Little Lies.
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Viola Davis: 1 Academy Award, 1 Golden Globe Award, Producer, Activist.
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Allison Janney: 1 Golden Globe Award.
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Oprah: Goddess.
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Big Little Lies Cast: Laura Dern, 4 Golden Globe Awards, Activist; Nicole Kidman; Zoë Kravitz; Reese Witherspoon, 1 Academy Award, 2 Golden Globe Awards, Co-Founder of Blossom Films, Executive Producer Big Little Lies, Owner of Draper James clothing company; Shailene Woodley.
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Sarah Jessica Parker: 4 Golden Globe Awards, Founder of production company Pretty Matches, Activist, Philanthropist.
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Halle Berry: 1 Academy Award, 1 Golden Globe Award, Producer.
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Sally Hawkins: 1 Golden Globe Award; Frances McDormand: 1 Academy Award, 1 Golden Globe Award, Producer.
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Barbra Streisand: Legend, One of the Best-Selling Recording Artists of All Time, 2 Academy Awards, 9 Golden Globe Awards, First and Only Woman to Win Golden Globe Best Director, in 1984.
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Salma Hayek: Actor, Producer, Director, Activist, Philanthropist, Wrote “Harvey Weinstein Is My Monster Too,” New York Times; Michelle Williams: 1 Golden Globe Award; Ashley Judd: Actor, Activist, Humanitarian.
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Alfre Woodard: 1 Golden Globe Award, Producer, Activist; Mary J. Blige: Queen of Hip-Hop Soul, Record Producer, Actress.
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Octavia Spencer: 1 Academy Award, 1 Golden Globe Award; Jessica Chastain: 1 Golden Globe Award, Founder of production company Freckle Films, Activist, Philanthropist.
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Carol Burnett: Icon, 6 Golden Globe Awards, Writer, Producer, famously won a libel suit against The National Enquirer for intimating that she was drunk; Jennifer Aniston: 1 Golden Globe Award, Producer, Director.
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Geena Davis: 1 Academy Award, 1 Golden Globe Award, Producer, Activist, Philanthropist; Susan Sarandon: 1 Academy Award, Producer, Activist, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, Philanthropist.
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Isabelle Hubbert: 1 Golden Globe Award; Angelina Jolie: 1 Academy Award, 3 Golden Globe Awards, Writer, Director, Producer, Activist, UNHCR Ambassador, Philanthropist.
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Meryl Streep: 3 Academy Awards, 8 Golden Globe Awards, Activist, Philanthropist. Several actors brought female activists as their dates. Pictured here with Ai-jen Poo, Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance.
Powerful Women Revelling in Change:
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Check out our pick for a great blackout dress, in our Flock To This section.
Cover Photo: StarTraks, Top Photo: Dreamstime.com