10 massive moments that shaped 2015

Date December 24, 2015

“Because it’s 2015,” were the words uttered by Canada’s newly elected prime minister Justin Trudeau when asked why his cabinet featured gender parity. These words keep coming back to us because in reality, a lot happened in 2015. From a socio-political and justice standpoint, 2015 was a powerful year filled with heartbreak (Syria), triumph (Trudeau) and progress (Caitlyn Jenner). We could go on and on…

Who gets to share?
As 2014 drew to a close, the Uber car-sharing service seemed a new and novel tool for getting around. To date, the mobile tool used to circumvent traditional public modes of transportation has sparked violent protests around the world but seems here to stay. Yes, our smartphones are indispensable, but in July the New York Times talked of how tech ambitions have moved from the nebulous and into our physical space, “industries like hospitality (Airbnb), transportation (Uber and Lyft), office space (WeWork) and more, bringing a set of tech-inflected values with them.”

Call me Caitlyn
When Bruce Jenner spoke with Diane Sawyer in April about transitioning to female, it was bold and brave. Come July, when Caitlyn Jenner chose Vanity Fair to reveal herself, the applause was greater. But when Jenner accepted the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPYS in front of her athletic peers, past and present, dressed in a beautiful white gown, she was boss.

Alyn Kurdi
The body of a Syrian three-year-old washes up on a Turkish beach and gives context to the largest global refugee crisis since World War II.

Online is real
The Sony hacked emails scandal started in late 2014 but continued to roll out well into the summer and reveal juicy, cringe-worthy missives about Angelina Jolie, Michael Fassbender and pay inequity for stars. Around the same time Hillary Clinton was taken to task for conducting Secretary of State business on her personal email account, and, in August, the names of those using the Ashley Madison dating service were exposed. It’s a reminder that what happens online cannot be deleted and, even if URL doesn’t feel IRL, it is.

The American Actress
Once upon a time if you were an actress with an opinion, you were considered difficult or spoiled. But in 2015, American actresses spoke out. Patricia Arquette and Jennifer Lawrence both talked pay equity, at the Oscars and in Lenny Letter (the latter due to Sony leaks), while Viola Davis spoke about lack of diversity and casting after becoming the first black actress to win an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a drama. Strength in numbers.

When the "other" girls drop a video that breaks records and impacts culture they get that nomination. ??????????????????????????????????????

— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015

Tone policing and Nicki Minaj
So while Viola Davis was praised for her talk about a lack of diversity in film parts, Nicki Minaj used Twitter to ask why her “Anaconda” video was not nominated for the VMA’s Video of the Year.

After twenty-seven thousand retweets and an on-camera rustle with Miley Cyrus at the show, people cut through the ‘tone’ and found the issue: “Women of color in music are often overlooked and under-rewarded for the work that they do.”

#MMIW
In 1991 the CBC ran a mini-series Conspiracy of Silence, which told the story of Helen Betty Osbourne, an indigenous teenager murdered in Manitoba, and how it took 20 years to find her killers despite the fact that people in the town knew who the killers were. It’s hard to believe how many more women have died or gone missing since that crime occurred and the film was made (over 1000). In the fall, the newly elected Liberal Government announced it would proceed with a National Inquiry into the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Woman.

A photo posted by Justin Trudeau (@justinpjtrudeau) on Nov 5, 2015 at 11:34am PST

Because it’s 2015
No matter what your stance on politics might be, you have to admit that past Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper got pretty miserable toward the end of his reign. When George Bush was up against Al Gore for the American presidency, one question that kept getting tossed about was this: “Who would you rather go on a road trip with?” A bit of that applies to Trudeau and Harper. Sure, Trudeau’s win was lauded all over the world (partly due to his looks), but he moved fast to thaw the Harper chill. He walked on foot to his swearing-in ceremony. He brought gender parity and racial diversity to a fresh-faced cabinet and parliament that finally looks an awful lot like the country it represents.

Bill Cosby
In July, New York Magazine ran a stunning feature with 35 women who allege they were sexually assaulted by comedian and television superstar Bill Cosby at the height of his fame. A “Culture that Wouldn’t Listen” read the piece that has helped keep the topic of sexual assault in the public eye despite a shame and suspicion when a famous person is involved. Cosby recently countersued one of his accusers, model Beverly Johnson.