Today is a significant day for trailblazing women. On June 18, 1873, Susan B. Anthony was fined $100 for attempting to vote in the previous year's election. Women wouldn't get the right to vote in this country until 1920, though the court battle gave Anthony the widest audience she had ever had. She never did pay the fine.
In 1983, 110 years later, another revolutionary woman made headlines, as Sally Ride became the first American woman in space. Her mission, aboard the Challenger space shuttle, lasted six days and made 97 orbits of Earth. Ride also became the youngest American in space.
How do we celebrate these great women? We honor the first female-centric video aired on MTV. Pat Benatar's "You Better Run" was the second clip ever aired on the station during its launch day in 1981.
"You Better Run" came from Benatar's 1980 album Crimes of Passion, which also contained her biggest single, "Hit Me With Your Best Shot."
OK, so by now you've read our Men of the Year list, and you're probably asking (Shouting? Or is that only reserved for Britney Spears fans?): "Where's Barack?!?" And we don't blame you ... there's really no reason he shouldn't have been on our list — probably at the top — but allow us to try to explain why he wasn't.
See, no one is trying to downplay the rather, um, stupendously historic and amazing year our president-elect had. And, to be honest, no one really is. Obama was named "Man of the Year" by both GQ and Time, not to mention innumerable other publications ... and that's part of the reason we didn't put him on our list. It would be too easy.
We wanted to stir up some debate with our list, ruffle a few feathers. It would've been simple — not to mention rather anticlimactic — if we simply followed suit and put Obama on our list. Wayne over Kanye?!? No 50 Cent?!? Only two-thirds of the Jonas Brothers?!? We heard all those comments — and more — from you, which means we accomplished what we set out to do.
And while Obama has become a transcendent pop-culture figure — especially with young Americans (some 30 million of whom voted in the 2008 election, with 67 percent supporting him) — he probably does not hold as much sway with the MTV audience as, say, Tokio Hotel's Bill Kaulitz or Robert Pattinson (infer from that what you will), or at least, that's what the numbers on our stories told us.
So, no, Barack didn't make our list. No, the decision to cut him was not an easy one. And yes, we feel slightly weird about it. You might be upset by the move, but we have the suspicion Obama isn't. After all, he's probably got more important things on his mind at the moment. Still, if you feel the need to vent, we'd love to hear it. Let 'er rip in the comments below.
