2017 was a banner year for terrible men, but that’s not what we’re here to talk about. It’s about this time of year, each year when we tip our hats to the women we think are great. Here’s to you, sheroes, both human and animal, for keeping us from gouging out our eyes and locking ourselves in the attic this year!
Tracee Ellis Ross
There are few famous people I turn to for reliable shots of joy, and Tracee Ellis Ross is one of them: visibly effusive, real, and worthy of the term inspiring. Her Instagram posts and stories prove why she’s one of the most underrated (and fashionable) comedians in Hollywood and a ball of fun in a tornado of cynics, including myself. I’m glad this was the year she finally got her Golden Globes dues for being a constant magnet on Black-ish, the best sitcom on television.
—Clover Hope
P.S. Tracee, if you’re reading this, please hang out with me.
Luann de Lesseps
After being named Madeleine Davies’s shero in 2016, New York Housewife and musical genius Luann de Lesseps embarked on such an exceptional year that she merits mention once again. She laughed. She cried. She gloated heavily. She married a man who had cheated on her at the Regency, of all places, and for a brief, golden moment, her name was Luann D’Agostino. Eight months later, it was not. But out of the ashes, in a brightly-lit Sag Harbor kitchen, the Countess rose up again, scarred but empowered by her brief dance with love. She is now “back in the recording studio,” thank god. You would think I’d be tired of delusional and narcissistic reality TV stars at this moment in time, but it hasn’t really worked out that way and I will not apologize—Luann is my shero.
—Ellie Shechet
All of the Women Who Help Me Raise My Child
This is probably a bit of a cheat but I am deeply sincere. During this year’s Women’s Strike, there was a frustrating peripheral conversation about what women with children should do in order to participate in the strike. The overwhelming response from a lot of left-leaning media was something like “Let your husband take care of your children!” The answer that dismissed the over thirty percent of American children that live in single-parent households—households overwhelming headed by women—like mine, negating how interdependent women are on each other’s daily labor. For households like mine, the work of women, both paid and unpaid, is the proverbial glue. My son is raised by a web of women, including preschool teachers and my mother, who is the babysitter, after-school pickup, and grandmother all-in-one. The work of childcare is more often than not invisible, and for preschool teachers grossly underpaid, but without it, my house would not function nor, practically speaking, exist. So thank you to all of the women who have helped me raise my son for the last four years, you’re my true sheroes.
—Stassa Edwards
Meghan Markle
My only happy memory from Election Day 2016 is Prince Harry’s fiery announcement that yes, he was in a relationship with Meghan Markle of the USA Network program Suits and that the tabloids better back off. Because that announcement dropped in the morning, I didn’t yet realize just how much I was going to need the periodic happy headline from these two. The reason I’ve gotten so much genuine enjoyment out of covering them is Markle, who so far seems totally great. She appears to take her philanthropic work seriously, and it’s supposed to have been a big part of their connection; she’s friends with Serena Williams and Priyanka Chopra. For all the American pop cultural fascination with the idea of marrying princes, it seems like an awful job that would destroy a lot of people. Markle, however, gives the impression of someone so poised, so fully formed, with a sufficiently solid sense of her own worth that she can handle it and help Harry use the position for the best. Together, they’ll have an incredible platform, and I find myself optimistic about how they’ll use it.
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