These days, what inspires us most is bravery.
Specifically: We love seeing women use their platforms to state plain truths and push back against wrong-doing by the most powerful among us. And, we love seeing women gather to create change together.
Don’t forget that U.S. history is filled with times of strife and bias attacks. It’s long been women who dug deep and fought back – women like suffragists, for example. Through our 100 Years of Power project, we looked in great detail at their work, and how their bravery became a blueprint. “It’s easy for us now to say, ‘Oh, of course there were just a bunch of women in frilly dresses who were holding signs,’” Rebecca Davis, the founder of New York-based organization Rally+Rise, said of these early activists. “But I think the equivalent today is probably the people who are shutting down Fifth Avenue and getting arrested while protesting ICE.”
Below are six more such women, and women-led movements, that ignite our own fighting fires.
(Credit: Ståle Grut/Flickr)
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
“She’s always been a bad-ass and on the right side of history,” one TSE staffer noted when discussing this list. “But especially given the political landscape right now, I find her energy to keep up the fight truly inspiring.” Indeed, Ocasio-Cortez has always held her colleagues and our leaders to account, often using her social media pages to spread her messages and engage with constituents. Under the administration of President Donald Trump, she has only grown more vocal. These times call for it, because “everything feels increasingly like a scam,” she said in an NPR interview. “Not only are grocery prices going up, but it’s like everything has a fee and a surcharge. And I think that anger is put out at government.”
(Credit: Rachel Maddow, Flickr)
Rachel Maddow
Maddow has always been doggedly committed to not only telling truths to Americans through her role as an MSNBC host and commentator – but also, explaining them in detail. It’s admirable work in and of itself. But we were particularly heartened by the recent stand she took against her own network for its handling of new restructuring efforts, particularly for firing non-white hosts like Joy Reid. “It is … unnerving to see that on a network where we’ve got two … non-white hosts in prime time, both of our non-white hosts in prime time are losing their shows,” Maddow said on live TV. “And that feels worse than bad, no matter who replaces them. That feels indefensible, and I do not defend it.” Good.
(Credit: YouTube)
Jane Fonda
Fonda has been an ardent activist for decades, speaking out loudly about social justice causes like ending wars (when it was a decidedly unpopular stance), combating climate change and refuting government infringement upon women’s rights. (Her highly publicized quip about how to handle anti-abortion legislators is a fantastic reminder of both her fire and her spine.) She also co-founded the Women’s Media Center in 2005 to ensure better representation for fellow women creatives. While accepting a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2025 SAG Awards, she reminded us of her forthrightness once more. “Make no mistake, empathy is not weak or ‘woke’ – and by the way, ‘woke’ just means you give a damn about other people,” she said to the cheering audience.
(Credit: Gage Skidmore, Flickr)
Nicole Kidman
What stuck out to one TSE staffer about award-winning actress Kidman is that she “wants to actually encourage and nurture female talent,” particularly by working with women creatives in Hollywood. It’s a needed effort because, behind the scenes, representation continues to lag. In its latest Celluloid Ceiling report, the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University revealed that, among last year’s top 100 films, representation for women directors had decreased, dipping from 14% in 2023 to 11% last year. Our staffer added: “Like any other artist, if these filmmakers are never allowed to practice, if they’re never actually allowed behind a camera, how can they ever be expected to hone their craft – particularly when the expectations on women filmmakers is already so unfairly high?”
(Credit: Official U.S. Congress website)
Rep. Jasmine Crockett
Talk about speaking truth to power. (And no, we’re not just talking about her now-viral-yet-succinct message for unelected White House higher-up Elon Musk.) Of course, she has more to say than that – for example, specifically going after Musk for securing roughly $1 billion in government contracts after assuming his governmental role. “This is nothing more than a money grab,” she asserted in one interview. It’s not the only time she’s pushed back – not just against members of the current administration, but also against a Republican party that permits the actions of the Trump administration out of self-interest. But she also expressed hope in the GOP’s ability to collectively grow a spine, as she has. “This is their time to rise up and do what is right,” she said in another interview.
(Credit: Mary Claire Haver)
The ‘Meno-Posse’
More a group than an individual – but worthy of mentioning all the same. Startups like Womaness, Kindra and Joylux, women entrepreneurs like Midi Health founder Joanna Strober, and individuals like TikTok influencer Dr. Mary Claire Haver have together taken a once-taboo subject – menopause – and shoved it into the national zeitgeist. They have done so by creating businesses that specifically cater to menopausal and perimenopausal women – and by sparking unflinching discourse about the existence and realities of this phase of women’s lives. As one member of our team noted: “They have literally changed the entire conversation around menopause, which is pretty impressive.”
