That’s iconic: women who have challenged the world

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez challenged Ted Yoho after he called her a ‘fucking bitch’.

Cher challenged an interviewer who called her ‘mean and bitter’ for saying that men are a luxury, not a necessity.

FKA Twigs challenged her ex-partner by suing him and challenged a world in which women struggle to come forward after experiencing violence.

Greta Thunberg challenged world leaders for failing to stop climate change.

Julia Gillard challenged misogyny running rife in the Australian parliament.

Lisa Wilkinson challenged the police force’s use of victim-blaming after the tragic murder of Eurydice Dixon.

Miranda Tapsell challenged racism in Australia and the harmful stereotypes surrounding Aboriginality on the Get Krack’n Show.

Samirah Raheem challenged what it means to be a ‘slut’ at Slutwalk.

Millions of women in India came together to form the ‘women’s wall’ to challenge the Sabarimala Temple’s ban on women of menstruating age.

Betty Pack challenged Nazi Germany and the notion that men were the only war heroes.

Rosa Park challenged Montgomery’s discriminatory bus laws – and the deeply embedded systemic racism in the United States.

Mayim Bialik challenged an interviewer who didn’t think she was smart enough to solve calculus.

Lauren Conrad challenged sexist, objectifying interview questions.

Rihanna challenged the idea that women “need a man” to be happy and successful.

Malala Yousafzai challenged the Taliban and the sexism that prevented her from accessing education because of her gender.

Emma Sulkowicz challenged rape culture on campuses, the lack of accountability for perpetrators and lack of justice for survivors.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg challenged the gender makeup of the Supreme Court in the US.

The Juliana Plaintiffs challenged the US government’s environmental action plan (or lack of) by suing them.

Nina Gualinga alongside hundreds of Indigenous women from the Ecuadorian Amazon challenged the government to stop the destruction of Indigenous territories & violence against Indigenous leaders.

The Torres Strait 8 challenged the Australian government to change its inaction regarding the climate crisis, by taking a climate change complaint against Australia to the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations – the first case of its kind.