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Anyone searching for female power would have found a flood of it at Glamour’s three-hour-long Women of the Year Awards, held on Monday night at the Kings Theater in Brooklyn.
Beneath an ornate ceiling, one accomplished woman after another took the stage, encouraging the audience to do more, to aim higher and to fear less. It was like thumbing through an all-star issue of Glamour magazine.
Drew Barrymore spoke off-the-cuff about her friend Samantha Bee, the late-night host and an honoree. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, author of “We Should All Be Feminists,” introduced Maria Grazia Chiuri, the first female creative director of Dior, who used the title of Ms. Adichie’s book on T-shirts in her first collection for the label.
Nicole Kidman accepted her award from Sofia Coppola, who recently directed Ms. Kidman in “The Beguiled,” a movie with a mostly female cast.
Only two men graced the stage: the comedian Billy Eichner, who proclaimed himself “the only decent man in Hollywood,” and the musician Nick Jonas, who was received with raucous adulation by the high school students in attendance.
Maxine Waters, the California congresswoman whom teenagers and 20-somethings have nicknamed “Auntie Maxine,” also received a roaring welcome. Ms. Waters implored young women to not be afraid. “I don’t want you to be intimidated by anything or anyone,” she said. “I want you to do everything you can to get ready to run for office.”
She ended her speech by shouting: “Impeach him.”
The night’s other Women of the Year included the organizers of the Women’s March; Solange Knowles; the “Wonder Woman” director, Patty Jenkins; Gigi Hadid; and Muzoon Almellehan, the 19-year-old Syrian activist and refugee who is Unicef’s youngest Goodwill Ambassador.
The ceremony was the last one for Cindi Leive, who is leaving Glamour after 16 years as its editor. Ms. Leive was given a surprise Woman of the Year award of her own. “Control freaks hate surprises,” she said before going on to talk about the power of women.
“This is really a singular moment for women,” she said. “I’m so excited that we all get to seize it right now.”
The most sobering part of the evening came when four women recounted their experiences with sexual harassment: the law professor Anita Hill; the Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman, who is among dozens of women who have accused Larry Nassar of abuse; the model Cameron Russell, who posted anonymous stories of harassment on her Instagram; and Ann Cardenas, a New York City police officer who settled a harassment lawsuit with the city and two co-workers last year.
After sharing their stories, the women invited members of the audience who have been sexually abused to stand. Next, they asked those who knew someone who had been sexually abused to stand. And finally, they called on those “committing to make things better” to stand.
The entire room was on its feet.
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