This year seemed to unleash the inner feminist in a lot of our fave celebs—and we could not be happier. We loved seeing both male and female celebrities alike coming together to help bring the movement to the forefront of the public eye. Below, 7 celebs who really helped the cause:
1. Emma Watson
It should come as no surprise that Emma Watson tops this list. This was the year that Emma became our hero, and her powerful speech to the UN—which launched the #HeForShe movement—was a huge step in bringing a better understanding of what feminism is to the masses.
2. Daniel Radcliffe
Then, we have Emma’s former Harry Potter co-star, who gave a string of insightful interviews earlier this year explaining his position on being labeled a sex symbol. Dan told reporters that he didn’t agree with the idea of the friendzone. One of the best tidbits is when he noted, “The male population has had no problem sexualizing Emma Watson immediately”.
3. Joseph Gordon-Levitt
JGL has won us over many times as the leading man of many great films. The actor made his views plain when he published a video on his Hit Record Youtube channel explaining why he supports feminism.
4. Taylor Swift
Taylor has been having a great year. She not only rose to the top of the Billboard charts twice, but she had what many are dubbing a “feminist epiphany.” Thanks to her friendship with feminist writer/actress Lena Dunham, Taylor explained that she had always supported the movement; it just took her some time to realize it.
5. Benedict Cumberbatch
As Elle UK prepared for its feminist issue, they called on the Sherlock actor to show his support of the movement. And boy did he do so. The Brit was photographed in one of the Fawcett Society’s “This is what a feminist looks like” t-shirts. Swoon.
6. Cate Blanchett
The lovely actress not only took home the award for Best Actress at this year’s Academy Awards, but she also took it upon herself to point out the casual sexism that reigns over the red carpet. She infamously stopped a cameraman from panning up her gown by stooping down and asking, “Do you do that to the guys?”
7. Guys supporting the He for She campaign
Harry Styles, Simon Pegg and Emma’s former co-star Douglas Booth, among others, showed support on Twitter for the #HeForShe campaign. Their simple act of solidarity made us feel incredibly proud.
Here’s to an even bigger push for the feminist movement in 2015!