in brief: only three women in shortlist for TIME’s person of the year
On Monday, TIME Magazine announced the top ten finalists for their annual Person of the Year award.
The magazine’s Person of the Year has been happening yearly since 1927 and, in that time, only four women have won the title.
TIME selects the person every year based on who their editors think has most influenced the news throughout the year, for good or for bad. Which explains why the President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, is on the list (kind of).
This does not, however, explain why there are only three women on the shortlist.
Out of all the notable women out there in the world, the only ones TIME could come up with for their top ten are HHS Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, gay rights activist, Edie Windsor, and Miley Cyrus.
Over at Feministing they have provided a look at the most-searched for and most-read news stories in the US this year which would suggest ‘Paula Deen, Jodi Arias and The Duchess of Cambridge should also be on that list.’
What is most disturbing about TIME magazine’s title is that, in the 86 years that they’ve been running Person of the Year, only four women have won. That means that, since 1927, 82 men have influenced the news every year more than women.
Even more surprising is that all of those women were named Person of the Year before the 1990s. So not one woman has been awarded TIME’s title in the 21st century.
I have to agree with Chloe over at Feministing when she said, ‘I think TIME can do better.’
