Time's 2022 Women of the Year list spotlights women working to create a better future for all women everywhere and features 12 individuals fighting for a more inclusive and equitable world. Although Time started running Man of the Year at the publication's inception, which only became Person of the Year in 1999, it published the 100 most influential women in 2020 to attempt to correct the record. The issue was so well received that Time Magazine decided to start an annual Women of the Year issue to highlight the impact that women have on the world. On this year's list, the Afro-Latina Pose actress Michaela Jaé Rodriguez is one of the inaugural honorees for rising to the top of her field and striving to make the change she hopes to see.
The Women of the Year honorees include Zahra Joya, the founder of Rukhshana Media and one of Afghanistan's few female journalists, and President Joe Biden's inaugural poet Amanda Gorman. It also includes two-time Oscar winner George Clooney's wife Amal Clooney, a human-rights lawyer and professor, and software engineer Tracy Chou, who founded the online safety app "Block Party" after she experienced relentless abuse on social media. Also honored by Time is Sherrilyn Ifill, President of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. There is also Adena Friedman, Nasdaq's CEO and President, who is working towards democratizing access to capital.
Another Women of the Year honoree, Jennie Joseph, a British midwife based in Florida, views training midwives of color as an investment in Black mothers. There is also Amanda Nguyen, who founded the civil rights non-profit Rise and is training to be an astronaut. Additionally, being honored by Time is Tokyo Olympic champion Allyson Felix, who is the all-time most decorated woman in track, started her own lifestyle line Saysh after her sponsor Nike wanted to pay her 70% less after she had a child. The list also includes actor and producer Kerry Washington who committed herself to leverage her celebrity for political activism and singer-songwriter, Kacey Musgraves.
Michaela Jaé Rodriguez Honored Among Time Women of the Year
Time also honored Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, who recently made history as the first transgender actress to win a Golden Globe for her role as housemother Blanca Evangelista on Pose, an FX series about New York City's ballroom culture in the 80s and 90s (also bagging the first Golden Globe for the series). Rodriguez also broke barriers by becoming the first trans woman to earn an Emmy Award nomination in a top acting category. However, she told TIME that being recognized as Women of the Year.
Time tweeted out cover images of 2022's honorees, including Rodriguez. The tweet included a quote, saying, "Now I feel, as a person who identifies as trans and also as a woman, that there are no barriers for me," @MjRodriguez7 says. "Instead, there are barriers to knock down for others."
In addition to more acting roles, Rodriguez recently released her first EP, with the rest of the album due out this year. Fun fact about the TIME Women of the Year honoree, her former stage was MJ, a nod to her love for Spider-Man's partner Mary Jane. "I'm a comic guru. I love Marvel," she told Broadway.com (via SCMP), "I saw her, and then I saw the movie …, and I was like, 'I want that name. Let's see if I can find those initials in my name.' I found them, and they're mine now."