Female Pop Culture Icons From 2010s

The 2010s were a decade of powerful women that rocked the pop culture world. Although it’s impossible to whittle it down to one for each year, we’ve made our best attempt here. Whether it’s dressed so good they’re practically edible, or films so fascinating they prompt a poker resurgence. These women all brought something unique to the world in each of their respective years.

2010: Lady Gaga

2010 was the year of the Meat dress and if you don’t remember it, then you can still see it today at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. Nowadays it’s decomposed a little since its initial public appearance, but that doesn’t change the fact that this dress made headlines for years afterward. Lady Gaga, as we’ve written about before wore the Meat dress to the 2010 Video Music Awards. It was met with mixed reviews from fans and fashion critics, some loved it, some loathed it, but everybody noticed it.

2011: Kate Middleton

Everyone loves a fairy tale and Kate Middleton marrying Prince William was one that we all got to enjoy in real life. It had been thirty years since the last major royal wedding (Charles and Diana) so this one was much anticipated. More than $30 million was spent on the ceremony and more than one billion people tuned in to watch it, with 23 million of those in the US alone. Those who know their royals will know that these two weren’t the only high-profile wedding of the decade though…

2012: Carly Rae Jepsen

If you can read the words, Carly Rae Jepsen, without the earworm that is Call Me Maybe getting immediately stuck in your head then you can’t have lived through 2012. This song was truly the soundtrack of the year, becoming viral-like few songs had managed to before. People were posting dances to it on YouTube, celeb couples were canoodling to it and though Carly hasn’t had another hit to rival it yet, we can’t wait for her next one.

2013: Elsa

The first of this decade’s fictional females, Elsa from Disney’s Frozen was the soundtrack to 2013. It only hit theatres in November of the year, but the song was known by children, parents, and to be quite honest, Disney fans of all ages long before Christmas time. So popular was the tale of Frozen that it quickly became the highest-grossing animated film that the world has ever seen. 

2014: Kim Kardashian

Although Kim Kardashian had already had a wedding (and divorce) during this decade, that didn’t stop her February wedding to Kanye West from becoming the most discussed wedding of the year. The ceremony was reported to be astronomically expensive, with bizarre rumours circulating about some of the most over-the-top choices the couple had made… gold toilet anyone?

2015: Misty Copeland 

Misty Copeland was 2015’s star, has become the first Black principal dancer ever to perform with the American Ballet Theatre. Since then, she’s had her own Barbie doll made in her honour, she just keeps going from strength to strength. 

Barbie is a plastic doll that was launched on March 9, 1959, by a toy company called Mattel. To know more about Barbie and other kinds of dolls, you check out our article, “What are the Popular Types of Dolls from Various Eras?

2016: Beyonce

Beyonce is a pop culture sensation every year, but 2016 saw her release the huge visual album Lemonade. Since its release, it’s been nine-time Grammy-nominated and gone triple platinum. Queen B, we salute you.

2017: Molly Bloom

Few films shake up an entire sector, but Molly’s Game managed it. The film told the true story of Molly Bloom, a fiercely independent woman, and her quest to run a high-stakes poker game for the rich and famous. She achieved it for a while until the FBI tracked her down. It seems as though the inner poker stars in many people emerged after watching this film, as interest in online poker hit new highs. Of course, playing online poker is far safer than entering into privately organised games, but if you’re a little concerned about the legalities of it all then sites like Asiabet are a good place to check. They recommend only safe online casinos, that provide good offers and a wide variety of games to choose from. So, whether you fancy yourself as the next Molly Bloom or not, you can be sure to do it safely.

2018: Meghan Markle

We weren’t escaping the decade without another royal wedding and this time it was the turn of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. This event too cost more than $30 million and was watched by a huge number around the world, slightly more in America this time naturally, as 29 million tuned in to watch. No mean feat considering all of them would have had to keep up with the sunrise to watch it.

2019: Simone Biles

Finally, in 2019, Simone Biles was the most brilliant woman we could think of. Although she burst onto the scene in the 2016 Summer Olympics, it was in 2019 that she became the most decorated gymnast in the world.