In 80 years, no American woman has won Time’s ‘Person of the Year’ by herself
ANALYSIS | Usually, it’s powerful white men
Adapted from a story by The Washington Post’s Philip Bump.
For 89 years, Time magazine has awarded “Person of the Year” to people who’ve influenced news the most.
On Wednesday, the magazine announced its 2017 winner, as you’ve probably heard: “The Silence Breakers,” a reference to the women (and a few men) who spoke out about sexual harassment, precipitating a remarkable moment of public accountability for people — almost all men — in positions of power in the country.
But the last time a woman earned the title by herself was in 1936: Wallis Simpson. Her relationship with King Edward VIII eventually led to him giving up his throne.
The next time an American woman was named “Person of the Year” (or, at that time, “Man of the Year”) to the exclusion of any man was in 1975, when the winner of the title was … “American Women.” (Before that, American women were included in the winning group twice, first when “The Inheritor” won in 1966 — apparently a reference to baby boomers — and then in 1969 when “Middle Americans” did.)
The issue is power
Power was long the domain of men. Some of those men took advantage of that power to harass or abuse women with impunity. The height of the column on the left of the graph above — reflecting Time’s editorial decisions about who was important but, more broadly, who held power — is a quiet demonstration of why the winner of the 2017 title is who it is.
Time’s “Person of the Year” winners are themselves a reminder that power has long been concentrated in the hands of men.
- In 66 of 89 years, the winner of the title has been a man, by himself.
- Four times, the winner has been a woman, by herself. (That’s only two times more than a non-human — “The Computer” and “The Endangered Earth” — has won the title.)
- On nine occasions, the winner has been a group of mostly men; on three occasions — including this year — a group of mostly women.
The magazine may be less cognizant of how its history of awardees serves as a testament to the long-standing, ingrained power of (mostly white) men in American society. Although, to be fair, “American Men” have never been named “Person of the Year.”
