There are 50 women among the 100 most influential people of 2023

For the first time, the annual Top 100 Most Influential People of 2023, published by Time, is split between men and women in the name of equality. The American magazine selected a list of artists, athletes, singers, politicians, activists and writers whose "stories and ideas help shape and improve the world" and divided them into 6 categories: artists, icons, pioneers, leaders, titans and innovators. Many well-known names, from actor Pedro Pascal, who is having a golden moment thanks to The Last of Us series, to King Charles III, whose coronation is scheduled for 6 May, or the ubiquitous Elon Musk, but above all the many female personalities who have fought for women's and queer rights and empowerment throughout the year and, each in their own way, are helping to shape our present and future.

At the top of the "pioneers" is Doja Cat, who Baz Luhrmann, with whom she collaborated on the Elvis soundtrack, describes in a short tribute as "a rapper, singer, performance artist - she is the canvas on which she expresses a character or an idea", highlighting her ability to be creative, unpredictable and always connected to her fans through her social media presence. Joining Doja in this category are supermodel Bella Hadid, an 'it' girl who is not afraid to show her weaknesses, journalists Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi, who were arrested by the Tehran regime for espionage, shortly after they broke the news of Mahsa Amini's assassination, but also skier Mikaela Shiffrin and Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, a Tanzanian leader and biodiversity advocate who is currently deputy director of the United Nations Environment Programme.

Impossible not to mention among the "leaders" Olena Zelenska, the Ukrainian First Lady whom Jill Biden remembers as "a director who works behind the scenes and never demands media attention. A mother who never asked to become the beating heart of a nation at war. Olena Zelenska did not expect to become a fighter for the Ukrainian people, but she answered the call with indomitable courage." She is joined by current US Treasury Secretary Janet Louise Yellen, Pakistan's Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman and European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager.

The Icons category is dominated by Jennifer Coolidge, the American actress who is finally reaping the rewards of a long career thanks to the success of The White Lotus, followed by American basketball player Brittney Griner, who was unjustly held in Russian prisons for ten months and became a symbol of resilience, strength and equality in sport. Also on the list are sisters and swimmers Yusra and Sara Mardini, who fled Syria in 2015 and saved a boat carrying asylum seekers from drowning in the Aegean Sea. The first one is now an ambassador for the UNHCR, the second one is a human rights activist.

The names that are best known to the general public belong to the categories "artists" and "titans". In the first category are 90s icon Drew Barrymore, actresses Salma Hayek, Lea Michele, Zoe Saldana and Aubrey Plaza, comedian Ali Wong and Suzan-Lori Parks, the first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in 2002. The second, however, features Beyoncé, former model, now activist and TV face Padma Lakshmi, and actress Angela Bassett, who recently won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Ramonda in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

The final category, "Innovators," includes actress Natasha Lyonne, tennis player Iga Swiatek, architect Kate Orff, journalist Sarah Kate Ellis, who is president of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, and Monica Simpson, Black queer activist, artist and executive director of SisterSong Women of Colour Reproductive Justice Collective, the largest organisation in the United States working for reproductive justice for Black women.