DM
New York
Angelina Jolie has been crowned the nation’s top feminist icon, beating the most legendary living voice of women’s rights, Germaine Greer.
The Maleficent actress beat The Female Eunuch author in the nationwide poll for her extraordinary work, like campaigning against rape as a weapon of war in her role as UN Special Envoy.
In second place - and following in Jolie’s footsteps as UN Women Goodwill Ambassador - is Emma Watson, who recently launched the HeForShe campaign for gender equality.
The third spot was clinched by How To Be A Woman author and outspoken journalist, Caitlin Moran, ahead of Jennifer Lawrence, who impressed the world with her powerful response to the leaked intimate photos of herself.
Finally, Greer comes in at number five, above Taylor Swift, a vocal feminist who was applauded for her Blank Space music video, which passionately attacks misogyny.
Seventh place was awarded to Cara Delevingne, who recently backed Watson’s HeForShe campaign and also led a mock feminist protest for Chanel.
Patricia Arquette’s impassioned Oscars speech, which demanded gender wage equality, secured her the eighth position.
Beyonce, once lauded as the showbiz queen of feminism, was relegated to number nine ahead of Charlotte Church, who cemented her self-confessed ‘raving feminist’ role with her triumphant BBC lecture about sexism in the music industry.
A spokesperson for feminist fashion house www.roseandwillard.com, who commissioned the research, said: ‘We are driven by the empowerment of women and celebration of their femininity, which Angelina Jolie embodies perfectly.
‘The poll shows that this is the brand of feminism currently favoured by the public. Emma Watson is another exciting example of this and shared our vision when recently complaining that society “devalues the she”, which is why her HeForShe campaign fights for society to respect and embrace feminine qualities.’
Angelina Jolie enjoyed a fun night out with her daughters at the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards on Saturday night - her first appearance since she revealed she had her ovaries removed.
The star was pictured giggling and getting a giant hug from Shiloh, 8 and Zahara, 10, in response to Angelina winning Favourite Villain for her role in Maleficent.