PHOTOS: It's All About The Women
It was a glittering night of girl power on Monday as the best and brightest women from politics, art, social justice and fashion came together forGlamour's Women of the Year Awards.
Now in its 21st year (as the mag's editor-in-chief Cindi Leive said in her introductions, "We're finally legal!"), the awards ceremony at Carnegie Hall combined high-profile women with often underrepresented causes, highlighting the amazing work accomplished by females in 2011.
And how amazing it was. Jessica Alba wore a glittering black Tory Burch dress to present to Tory Burch herself (who reminded the audience, "Women are our best investment"); Jennifer Aniston wore black (natch) Versace to introduce Chelsea Handler, about whom she declared, "I am madly in love!"; andDecember cover girl Jennifer Lopezglowed in Versace when accepting the evening's final honor from Donatella Versace herself.
But celebs aside, the night belonged to the activists and professional change-makers: Gloria Steinem, introduced by Anita Hill; former sex trafficking victim T, introduced byNewark mayor Cory Booker; Laura Bush and daughters Barbara and Jenna, honored by Condoleezza Rice; Gabrielle Giffords, who was honored from afar by Diana Sawyer; and "Facebook Girl" Esraa Abdel Fattah, who accepted praise from Kerry Washington for her pivotal role in kicking off the Arab Spring in Egypt.
And the overall message? If you want it, you can do it. As honoree (and our boss) Arianna Huffington said, when explaining how her life in New York began:
"Then I hit 30 and desperately wanted to have children. The man I’d been with for seven years wanted to have cats. So I did something
that I was terrified to do: I left the man I was deeply in love with and moved from London to New York. And basically everything that's happened in my life -- my children, my books, The Huffington Post, the fact that I'm standing here tonight -- happened because a man wouldn't marry me."
Amen to that. See the impressive array of women (and a few men) in our red carpet slideshow below, and watch the acceptance speech from our own Arianna Huffington.
Donatella Versace and Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez
Laura Bush with daughters Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Bush
Emma Stone
Emma Stone
Condoleeza Rice
Marc Jacobs
Catherine Malandrino
Lea Michele
Arianna Huffington
"Facebook Girl" Esraa Abdel Fattah
Kerry Washington
Wendy Williams
Sandra Lee
Cindi Leive
Chelsea Handler
Gloria Steinem
Tory Burch and Jessica Alba
Jessica Alba
Emme
Liya Kebede
Rachel Roy
Anita Hill
Debbie Harry
Jennifer Aniston presenting to Chelsea Handler
Donatella Versace presenting to Jennifer Lopez
Diane Sawyer presenting to Gabrielle Giffords
Cindy Sherman
Barbara Walters presenting to Arianna Huffington
Debbie Harry performing
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
