6 badass women who made the news in 2021

EThey work in politics, music, sport or cinema, they come from all over the world and in 2021, they set an example.

Julia ducourneau

In 2016, she gave nausea at the Cannes Film Festival with Serious, his first film on cannibalism. In 2021, she returns the jury headed by Spike Lee with Titanium, his second film, which won the Palme d’Or. We meet the survivor of a car accident, a firefighter obsessed with the death of his son, murders, sex with cars, self-mutilation, flesh that mixes with metal, genres that collide and inspire each other. “Myself, I have never had the feeling of belonging to one sex, I have the impression of being able to be masculine as well as very feminine, explains the young French director to AFP. My films, I see them like crossovers: comedy, drama, horror. “

A mixture of genres, it is the case to say it, which clashes and marks the spirits, bringing the 37-year-old director directly into the big leagues.

Peng shuai

It took courage, to dare: at the beginning of November, the Chinese tenniswoman Peng Shuai broadcasts on the social network Weibo a message accusing Zhang Gaoli, former first vice-prime minister, of rape. Of course, the man denies it and quickly the message is censored. But he was heard. At what price ?

For six weeks, we won’t hear from Peng Shuai again. She ends up reappearing online, without knowing where she is speaking, or under what pressure, and reconsiders what she said. Unfortunately, she could expect not to be able to continue to express herself freely. Before her, all those who tried to denounce sexual violence were silenced.

However, his act will not have been in vain. In retaliation, the boss of the WTA announced the suspension of his tournaments in China, which represent more than a billion dollars in revenue. We still do not know if Peng Shuai expresses himself in a truly free way today.

Billie Eilish

She is just 20 years old, and already seven Grammy Awards: singer Billie Eilish never ceases to amaze us, with her first successes at only 18 years old. At the end of the year, she looked back on her porn addiction that she started when she was only 11 years old, explaining how much she had changed her life and her outlook on sexuality.

“As a woman, I think porn is a shame. I’ve consumed a lot of porn, to be completely honest. I started when I was, like, 11“Says the singer who claims to have done this to give the impression of being cool.”I think it really destroyed my brain, and I’m devastated to have been exposed to so much pornography“.

According to her, it is because of this porn consumption that she then did not dare to say no to certain practices during her first intercourse, imagining what she should like from what she saw in line. She also points to the stereotypical bodies found there: “The way vaginas are portrayed in porn is completely crazy. No vagina looks like this. Women’s bodies don’t look like that.“

Britney spears

Admittedly, she did not release an album, but she gave voice: this year, Britney Spears was released from her father’s tutelage after 13 years. 13 years old having to ask him to manage his accounts, obtain his authorization for the color of his cupboards as for his associates. 13 years old not even having the right to remove his IUD. But 2021 was a different year. The star was able to change lawyers, and her fight has seen renewed interest with the release of the documentary Framing Britney Spears.

Behind the hashtag #FreeBritney, his fans rallied. Is that what played out? May be. In any case, her guardianship has finally been lifted, and the young woman is now relatively free to live her life.

In an Insta post, the star explained why the music world has turned her off: “So much time wasted embarrassing and humiliating me. I guess most people find it strange that I don’t. even make more music People have no idea the horrible things that have been done to me personally… and what I’ve been through. I’m scared of people and business. They’ve really hurt me. ” So, what comeback for 2022?

Josephine Baker

She was born American, but she was quickly adopted by France, and her entry into the Pantheon at the end of 2021 was a real symbol. Already, because she was only the sixth woman to enter this “republican temple”. But also the third black. And, finally, the first black woman. It is rare that a proposal for pantheonization meets with such unanimity in France. It must be said that the leader of the review, supports the resistance, activist committed against racism, had little reason to displease. It is now part of the “Eternals”.

Zarifa Ghafari

She is 26 years old, and she was the youngest mayor of Afghanistan until this year. But the simple fact that she was able to occupy this position, despite her gender, is already a tour de force in itself.

Appointed in 2018 – she had just obtained the best results in a competition where she was the only woman – mayor of Maydan Shahr, she could not take office until 8 months later, her office being occupied by opponents of the idea of ​​having a female mayor. However, she did not give up. It was only the Taliban’s resumption of power last August that forced him to leave the country to go to Germany with his family. There was no question of stopping the fight, however: she offered to negotiate with the Taliban, so that the fight for women’s rights does not fall into oblivion.