As the year wraps up and our social media news feeds become filled with lists ranging from the year's highlights to the coming year's resolutions, my favorites are ones that catalogue just how hard 2014 rocked for feminists.

"It's clear 2014 was a historic one for feminism," says Mic.com's Elizabeth Plank. "Women stood up for their rights, challenged stereotypes, fought for recognition and took control of the dialogue."

And we also took control of the word feminist. In 2014, we saw more and more high-profile women not only defend feminism, but define what it means: The simple belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. Young women, from Taylor Swift to Lena Dunham, openly embraced the label often thrown at women as an insult.

But there can be no discussion of feminism's big year without a major hat tip to Beyonce. The living legend sent the message to her audience that feminism is cool by performing in front of a giant, glowing "Feminist" sign at the MTV Awards. There was no turning back. Feminism was turning up everywhere from this year from hit TV shows like Scandal to news programs like Krystal Ball's Krystal Clear on MSNBC.