The 2010s have seen numerous watershed moments for female empowerment, equal pay and gender equality, while global movements like #MeToo and TimesUp have prompted major societal shifts in just the last two years.
Elsewhere, female leaders have pioneered discussions on key issues such as climate change, education and gun violence.
There are many speeches made by women in the last 10 years worth revisiting, but a few soundbites will stand the test of time in decades to come.
Download the new Indpendent Premium app
Sharing the full story, not just the headlines
Who could forget the moment Patricia Arquette nobly used her best actress speech at the Oscars in 2015 to demand equal pay?
Or when Oprah Winfrey took to the stage at the Golden Globes in 2018, becoming the first black woman to accept the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement? Winfrey’s speech began as a personal reflection on her achievements and concluded with a rousing call to arms against sexual harassment, prompting questions of a potential presidential run.
And award ceremonies aren't the only places to have been galvanised by powerful female voices. Look at this year's United Nations Climate Summit, where teenage environmentalist Greta Thunberg eviscerated world leaders for "betraying" young people through lack of action on climate change.
Thunberg's UN moment came just a few years after Emma Watson made a similarly viral speech in 2014, who up until then was best known as the actor who played Hermione Granger in Harry Potter. Watson has since become an ardent women’s rights advocate, a shift that was undoubtedly led by her spirited words on gender equality at the United Nations that year.
“I have realised that fighting for women’s rights has too often become synonymous with man-hating,” said Watson, who had just been appointedUN Women Goodwill Ambassador. “If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that this has to stop.”
Poignant words from women have also brought light to darker times this past decade, like when high school student Emma Gonzalez urged US lawmakers to act in the wake of the Parkland school shooting, where 17 of her classmates were killed.
"We are grieving, we are furious, and we are using our words fiercely and desperately because that’s the only thing standing between us and this happening again," the then-19-year-old memorably said at the March For Our Lives rally in 2018.
Elsewhere, we've heard inspirational speeches from former first ladies, activists and politicians made in every kind of circumstance, from TED talks to university addresses.
Click through the gallery above for our pick of the 10 best quotes from women in the last decade.
This website or its third-party tools use cookies, which are necessary for analytics and its functioning and required to achieve the purposes illustrated in the cookie policy, including the personalization and analysis of ads and content. If you want to learn more or withdraw your consent to all or some of the cookies, please refer to the cookie policy.
By clicking on Accept you are agreeing to the placement of cookies on your device.
Further use of our site shall be considered as consent. You may view our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy here for more information.
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.