A look at Time magazine’s most iconic covers featuring women

The Time magazine in 2017 chose a bunch of brave women, those who had spoken up against sexual harassment as the Person of the Year. The magazine referred to them as The Silence Breakers who jolted the world with their powerful narratives of sexual assault. The women include Ashley Judd, who was among the first women to accuse Hollywood magnate Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment, Adama Iwu and Susan Fowler, who started movements by speaking up on sexual harassment in their companies, Visa and Uber respectively, singer Taylor Swift who testified in court against a DJ who had groped her, Isabel Pascual, a strawberry picker from Mexico and a strategically placed bent arm of a sixth woman. Although the move is being applauded, the number of times women featured as the Woman Of The Year is conspicuously low. In 1928, Charles Lindbergh, the first person to fly a solo, non-stop plane across the Atlantic Ocean from New York to Paris had featured as the Man of the Year, the first time. It was only in 1999 that the title was changed to a gender-neutral Person of the Year, and prior to this only four women were awarded Woman of the Year. Socialite Wallis Simpson featured as the Woman Of The Year in 1936. Later Queen Elizabeth II, Corazon Aquino among others featured on the cover. Here's a look at some of the most iconic covers of the magazine featuring women. 

ANGELA MERKEL: The German Chancellor was recognised for her role in the Greek debt crisis and the European Migrant crisis. She was declared as the Person Of The Year in 2015. (Source: Time.com)

THE EBOLA FIGHTERS: In 2014, Ebola Fighters Salome Karwah (left) and Ella Watson-Stryker (right) were chosen as the Person Of The Year, along with others. (Source: Time.com)

THE WHISTLEBLOWERS: Sherron Watkins, Coleen Rowley, Cynthia Cooper appeared collectively as The Whistleblowers in 2002. Watkins is the Enron vice president, who had written a letter to chairman Kenneth Lay in the summer of 2001 warning him that the company's methods of accounting were improper. Rowley is an American former FBI agent who had stirred a sensation in May, 2002 when she shed light on several pre 9/11 lapses and had testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee on some of the intrinsic problems facing the intelligence community and the FBI. Cooper, who served as the vice president of the Internal Audit at WorldCom had investigated and unearthed fraud. (Source: Time.com)

MARIA CORAZON COJUANGCO AQUINO: She was a Filipina politician who served as the 11th President of Philippines. She was the first woman to hold that office. She was declared Woman Of The Year in 1986. (Source: Time.com)

THE AMERICAN WOMEN: In 1975 Susan Brownmiller, Kathleen Byerly, Alison Cheek, Jill Conway, Betty Ford, Ella Grasso, Carla Hills, Barbara Jordan, Billie Jean King, Carol Sutton, Susie Sharp, and Addie Wyatt, women known as leaders in their respective fields ranging from tennis, politics, law, education, and activism were chosen as Women Of The Year. (Source: Time.com)

QUEEN ELIZABETH II: The monarch was one of the few women who made it to the magazine's cover and was declared Woman Of The Year in 1952. (Source: Time.com)

SOONG MEI-LING: In 1937,Soong Mei-ling, wife of Chiang Kai-shek, the Premier of the Republic of China, featured with her husband on the cover of Time magazine. They were collectively recognised as 'Man and Wife Of The Year'. (Source: Time.com)

WALLIS SIMPSON: The American socialite was one of the first women to feature on the cover of the prestigious magazine, way back in 1936. (Source: Time.com)

ELLEN DeGENERES: Host and comedian, Ellen DeGeneres came out in the interview on the April 14, 1997 issue of Time magazine. (Source: Time.com)

JACQUELINE KENNEDY ONASSIS: Wife of United States' former president John F Kennedy and First Lady from 1961 until his assassination in 1963, she was featured on the May 30, 1994 issue of the prestigious magazine after her death in the same year. (Source: Time.com)

MARGARET THATCHER: The United Kingdom prime minister had stepped down from her post after her Cabinet refused to support her in a second round of leadership elections. The Time cover on December 3, 1990 featured her. (Source: Time.com)

MADONNA: The singer featured on the magazine's cover on May 27, 1985. (Source: Time.com)

MERYL STREEP: The legendary actor featured on the cover of the magazine on September 7, 1981. (Source: Time.com)

LIZA MINNELI: The legendary Americann singer and actor featured as 'The New Miss Show Biz' on February 28, 1972. The touch of anguish on her face is hard to miss. (Source: Time.com)

INDIRA GANDHI: Time magazine featured Indira Gandhi thrice. The former prime minister of India appeared on the cover for the first time in 1966, then in 1971 and later, post her assassination in 1984. (Source: Time.com)

SOPHIA LOREN: The famous Italian singer and actor featured in an unconventional cover on the magazine's cover on April 6, 1962. (Source: Time.com)

JOAN BAEZ: The Diamond and Rust singer featured on November 23, 1962. (Source: Time.com)

MARILYN MONROE: The ultimate siren of Hollywood featured on the Time cover on May 14, 1956. (Source: Time.com)

GRACE KELLY- The iconic actor featured on the cover on January 31, 1955. (Source: Time.com)

KATHARINE HEPBURN- The legendary actor featured on the cover of the Time magazine on September 1, 1952. (Source: Time.com)

AVA GARDNER: The American actor and singer featured on the magazine's cover on September 3, 1951. (Source: Time.com)

ELIZABETH TAYLOR: The iconic actor featured on the prestigious cover on August 22, 1949. (Source: Time.com)

INGRID BERGMAN: The Casablanca actor was featured on the August 2, 1943 issue of the Time magazine. The cover appeared again on January 8, 1945. (Source: Time.com)

VIRGINIA WOOLF: The celebrated author featured on the cover on April 12, 1937. (Source: Time.com)

GETRUDE STEIN: The author and critic appeared on the famous magazine's cover on September 11, 1933. (Source: Time.com)