WATCH: Moments of women empowerment everyone should see

MANILA, Philippines – Women have come so far. After more than a thousand years of being labeled as “the weaker sex,” women have begun to move out of the shadows of men, evolve into influential figures and serve as primary advocates for gender equality.

In just a few days, we will again commemorate the victorious image of women. For this year’s celebration, the chosen theme is “Make it happen: encouraging effective action for advancing and recognizing women.”

Women conquering politics, sports, acting, education and other fields best shows how women have taken charge over the years. In line with the celebration, here are some of the empowering events from last year up to this day.

Mo’ne Davis

The 13-year-old baseball pitcher from Pennsylvania put the “You throw like a GIRL!” expression to shame when she struck out six batters in Little League World. She was hailed as the Associated Press’ Female Athlete of the Year and landed a cover on Sports Illustrated. The finals game of Little League World where she played was also the most watched game in Little League World history.

When CBS asked her about how it feels like to be a girl in a boy's sport:

Probably, like, a couple of years from now, there’ll be a lot of girls here. And then it won’t be just like all boys, so they’ll have to build like another dorm for girls, so it’ll be a huge impact if more girls start playing. It does mean a lot to be the first American girl, but more girls should start joining boys’ teams. The attention should not just be on one girl; more girls should join boys’ teams so it is a tradition and it won’t be so special.

Malala Yousafzai

In October last year, Malala Yousafzai, a 17-year-old Pakistani education activist was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her campaigns for children’s right to education. In her acceptance speech, she targeted governments who have the resources to begin wars but are enable to provide universal education. Yousafzai was also the youngest person in Forbes’ list of "30 Under 30 — the Social Entrepreneur edition". She has also written one of the best-selling autobiographies by narrating how she survived the Taliban attack.

Education went from being a right to being a crime. Girls were stopped from going to school. When my world suddenly changed, my priorities changed too. I had two options. One was to remain silent and wait to be killed. And the second was to speak up and then be killed. I chose the second one. I decided to speak up, she said on her speech.

Here's her Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech as uploaded by Malala Fund on Youtube:

Beyonce Knowles

Queen B got everyone talking with her bold and fierce VMA performance as she danced with a big "FEMINIST" word in the background. She sang the words from Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TEDx Talk “We Should All Be Feminists." She made a remark  on multi-national platform to make sure we knew the issue matters, and everyone loved her for the stunt.

Watch her performance here, as uploaded by Ralph McCartney:

Aziz Ansari

Feminism is not only for women! And this was further proved by actor and comedian Ansari in October, when he went on David Letterman to talk about why he is a feminist. He discussed that many people misinterpret the word feminism and that feminism is not about women having the power to yell at you, but about having equal rights.

I feel like if you do believe that men and women have equal rights, if someone asks if you’re a feminist, you have to say yes, because that is how words work.

Watch his interview below, as posted by the Late Show with David Letterman:

Emma Watson

Fresh from her graduation, Emma Watson delivered a speech on feminism after being hailed as United Nations Women Goodwill Ambassador. On her speech, she launched the “HeForShe” campaign, involving both genders in her hopes to abolish the “us versus. them” mentality. According to "Harry Potter" alumna, there is a difference between being a feminist because you hate men and a feminist because you want to have equal rights. 

The more I spoke about feminism, the more I realized that fighting for women’s rights has too often become synonymous with man-hating. If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that this has to stop. For the record, feminism by definition is the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities.

Watch her deliver the speech on a video posted by the United Nations:  

And lastly,

Patricia Arquette

She did not just win Best Supporting Actress for her role in "Boyhood" in the recently held Academy Awards, but also won people's (especially Meryl Streep's and Jennifer Lopez's) approval when she delivered her acceptance speech. After Arquette thanked all the people behind her win as Best Actress in a Supporting Role for “Boyhood,” she turned political and said:

To every woman who gave birth, to every taxpayer and citizen of this nation, we have fought for everybody else's equal rights. It is our time to have wage equality once and for all and equal rights for women in the United States of America!

Watch her acceptance speech on a video posted by Vine Theater: