15 Moments in 2014 That Made Our Feminist Hearts Burst With Joy

She's the creator and executive producer of Grey's Anatomy and Scandal and now serves as an executive producer of this year's breakout hit How to Get Away With Murder. It doesn't look like there is any end in sight to Shonda Rhimes's success, and her continued representation of women, people of color, and the LGBTQ community is and should be an inspiration to other writers and producers in Hollywood. Shonda recently spoke at The Hollywood Reporter's Women in Entertainment event, where she gave a heartfelt (and incredibly badass) tribute to women. Here's a snippet:

"If I had broken through any glass ceilings, I would know. If I had broken through a glass ceiling, I would have felt some cuts, I would have some bruises. There’d be shards of glass in my hair. I'd be bleeding, I'd have wounds. . . . My sisters who went before me had already handled it. No cuts. No bruises. No bleeding. Making it through the glass ceiling to the other side was simply a matter of running on a path created by every other woman's footprints."

Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani child education activist who was shot by the Taliban in 2012 for her work, became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. At just 17 years old, Malala has shown the world how much people can do to make a positive change, and her inspiring words continue to empower others worldwide.

Comedian Amy Schumer spoke at the Gloria Awards and Gala in May and shed light on her personal life, sex, being a confident woman, and body-image issues that many females face. The whole speech is incredibly honest and inspirational, with key lines like this one:

"I am a woman with thoughts and questions and sh*t to say. I say if I'm beautiful. I say if I'm strong. You will not determine my story — I will. I will speak and share and f*ck and love, and I will never apologize to the frightened millions who resent that they never had it in them to do it. I stand here and I am amazing, for you. Not because of you. I am not who I sleep with. I am not my weight. I am not my mother. I am myself. And I am all of you, and I thank you."

Much like his former Harry Potter costar, Daniel Radcliffe simply does not have time for sexism and gender double standards. In an interview this year with the Associated Press, Radcliffe was asked his "unconventional" sex symbol status now that he has played a lead in a romantic comedy, and his response pretty much says it all:

"Around the time of What If, the rom-com, a lot of people were saying 'You're a really unconventional romantic lead.' Eventually I got bored of hearing that, so I kind of picked someone up on that, so I was like, 'What about me is unconventional? Tell me.' She said, 'Well, I think it's probably the fact that we associated you with playing Harry as a young boy for so long.'"

To that, Daniel replied: "The male population has had no problem sexualizing Emma Watson immediately." BOOM.

Abortion is a topic that is often avoided — especially in movies and television. This year, Jenny Slate starred in the first-ever "abortion rom-com," Obvious Child, a film that not only touches on the topic of abortion but embraces the reality of its existence and instead approaches the subject head on — a far cry from Hollywood's typical way of dealing with it. Dawn Laguens, executive vice president and CXO for Planned Parenthood, weighed in:

"Make no mistake: the abortion is central to the film — it isn't incidental, and it isn't the one serious scene sandwiched between laughs. But Obvious Child isn't only a movie about a woman who gets an abortion . . . it's just an adorable, funny movie about a woman taking charge of her own future and her own destiny — and, as part of that, making her own decisions about whether and when to have children."

With GamerGate a prominent and disturbing movement in the spotlight this year, it was reassuring to see how one young woman handled her Internet harassers. Alanah Pearce, a 21-year-old game reviewer and YouTuber from Australia, was no stranger to rape jokes and threats from anonymous commenters. She decided to take a new approach to the sexist trolls and sought out the commenters' own mothers on Facebook. She easily found their information and sent the messages the young boys were harassing her with to their moms, one of whom was mortified and apologized profusely.

Alanah's approach has shed light on the problematic nature of the gaming world in regard to women and has inspired conversation on how to make changes within it.

Columbia student Emma Sulkowicz made major waves across the US for her very vocal protest of her alleged rapist. She carried her mattress through campus to all her classes with the intention of highlighting an issue that plagues colleges nationwide and vowed to continue to haul the weight with her until the male student accused either left school or was kicked out.

That same month, California's state legislators passed the "yes means yes" bill, which requires college campuses to follow the standard of "affirmative consent" when dealing with sexual assault cases.

Emma Watson has always been a vocal proponent of equality and feminism, but this year she took another step toward making a real change. In September, Emma, who serves as the UN women global goodwill ambassador, launched the HeForShe campaign. The movement aims to get men involved in the pursuit of equality for women, and her powerful speech at the United Nations called attention to issues like gender, feminism, and human rights. A highlight of Emma's speech was her emphasis on what feminism really is rather than how many perceive it. She said:

"The more I have spoken about feminism, the more I have realized that fighting for women's rights has too often become synonymous with man-hating. If there is one thing I know for certain: it is that this has to stop. For the record, feminism, by definition, is the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. It is the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes."

This year was a big year for gay rights. In October, the federal court rejected appeals from five states challenging the legalization of same-sex marriage, meaning that as of Oct. 6, same-sex marriage is now legal for more than half of the US population.

Jennifer Aniston is no stranger to the spotlight, but she finally opened up about the issue of sexism in Hollywood in an interview with Allure magazine. Jennifer touched on her definition of feminism, stating that it's simply "believing in equality between men and women" and made the assertion that this idea is really "pretty basic." Truth! She also talked about the pressures on women to have children:

"I don't like [the pressure] that people put on me, on women — that you've failed yourself as a female because you haven't procreated. I don't think it's fair. You may not have a child come out of your vagina, but that doesn't mean you aren't mothering — dogs, friends, friends' children. This continually is said about me: that I was so career-driven and focused on myself; that I don't want to be a mother, and how selfish that is. Even saying it gets me a little tight in my throat."

After a mass killing at the University of Santa Barbara rocked the nation, details began to unfold about the nature of the murders. The assailant's apparent motive behind the act was to "punish" women he believed were not attracted to him. The #YesAllWomen hashtag then rose from the conversation the situation sparked, and other women began to share stories of harassment and gender-based discrimination and violence. One supporter of the hashtag spoke about what it means:

"#YesAllWomen hashtag showed all women everywhere that they are not crazy. They are not alone. They are not 'dirty' or 'broken' for experiencing these things. Women are not wrong for thinking of their own safety and they are not wrong for trying to protect themselves in mundane situations."

At the Human Rights Campaign's Thrive Conference, actress Ellen Page came out in a powerful speech where she declared that she was "tired of lying by omission" and spoke passionately about that lead to the announcement.

"I'm here today because I am gay," Ellen said, "and because maybe I can make a difference. To help others have an easier and more hopeful time. Regardless, for me, I feel a personal obligation and a social responsibility."

This year was the year that many female and male stars alike came out as proud feminists, but perhaps one of the most memorable displays of this sentiment was Beyoncé's performance at the MTV Video Music Awards, where she displayed an iconic image of the simple word "feminist" with her silhouette standing proudly in front of it.

In an interview with The Daily Beast, Joseph Gordon-Levitt got candid about what feminism meant to him and why he stands behind the word that some shy away from. Here's a powerful quote from Gordon-Levitt:

"However you want to define yourself, you can do that and should be able to do that, and no category ever really describes a person because every person is unique. That, to me, is what 'feminism' means. So yes, I'd absolutely call myself a feminist."

The Twitter hashtags #WhyIStayed and #WhyILeft began circulating earlier this year after the release of the violent video of NFL player Ray Rice assaulting his then-fiancée in an elevator, and the hashtags encouraged honest and open discussion about rape, victim blaming, and the many layers of domestic violence.