The women shaping 2026

 When I think about the women who define 2026 for me, they don’t all come from the same world, and they definitely don’t operate at the same volume. What connects them is that they feel in sync with the moment, not ahead of it, not trying to explain it either.

Rama Duwaji stands out because her presence feels rooted rather than constructed. Her art is a statement, shaped by her Syrian background and a clear political consciousness, but it never feels simplified or performative. Art, politics, identity, and public life overlap around her in a way that feels lived-in rather than staged. It’s work that asks to be engaged with, not decoded for palatability. Zara Larsson’s current era works for a similar reason. She’s clearly enjoying herself again, leaning into colour and pop without irony, and there’s something refreshing about how little she seems to care about narrativising it as a comeback.

RAYE is loud in a way that feels necessary. Her voice moves fast, chaotic, almost breathless at times, especially in those rapid bridges, and there’s something deeply empowering about how much space she takes up without apologising for it. Tyla’s presence feels magnetic partly because she never smooths herself out. Her accent stays intact, unmodified, uninterested in being made easier to consume. There’s a quiet confidence in letting people adapt to her instead of the other way around, and it makes her influence feel even more real.

Oona Chaplin, as Varang, is unnerving and captivating in a way that makes you want to keep looking at her. The way she walks, pauses, and holds space is deliberate and authoritative without exaggeration. There’s a tension in her presence that’s physical and instinctive, the kind of confidence that lingers even when the scene moves on.

Outside pop culture, I keep noticing how much of 2026 is being shaped by women in science and academia, even if they’re rarely framed that way. Timnit Gebru continues to pull conversations around AI back to ethics and power when the industry would rather move fast and ask questions later. Alongside her, Ruha Benjamin’s work feels increasingly relevant, especially in how it questions the quiet ways technology reproduces inequality while presenting itself as neutral or progressive. In climate research and health tech especially, women are doing work that feels less about innovation for its own sake and more about responsibility, which honestly feels like the only approach that makes sense right now.

What I like about this mix is that none of it feels polished into a single narrative. Some of these women are very visible, some barely are, but all of them reflect a moment that’s a little tired of spectacle and much more interested in substance, even when it’s messy or unresolved.

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