NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 10: A general view of atmosphere before the TIME's 2010 Person of the Year Panel at Time & Life Building on November 10, 2010 in New York, New York. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for TIME Inc.)
(Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for TIME Inc.)

‘The REAL Person of the Year:’ Social media slams ‘TIME’s Person of the Year nominees and proposes a new one

In the past, TIME Magazine has had dubious and downright revolting picks for its Person of the Year cover. To many social media users, TIME’s nominees for 2024 are all just as terrible. In true internet fashion, social media users have proposed a different, arguably more worthy, candidate.

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Warning: This article contains details of sexual assault. Proceed with caution.

The official nominees for the highly coveted TIME Magazine Person of the Year cover are contentious. The shortlist includes several notable figures, but the nominations of Elon Musk, Joe Rogan, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ruffled the feathers of social media users. Many believe several of the nominations were downright evil. One social media user even described these nominations as the “worst blunt rotation ever.”

Instead, some X (formerly Twitter) users think that Gisèle Pelicot should be on the cover of TIME Magazine this year. One wrote, “The REAL person of the year: Gisèle Pelicot.” Many other users agreed with the initial poster, floored that Joe Rogan received a nomination but Pelicot didn’t.

Of course, it’s important to remember that Person of the Year isn’t an endorsement but rather a recognition of the impact an individual (or sometimes a group of people) had on the world during the year, whether positive or negative. But many understandably feel that Pelicot has had a much wider impact on society than someone like Rogan.

“Shame must change sides”

Pelicot was a 72-year-old grandmother from Mazan, France, who had been drugged and raped by her husband, Dominique Pelicot, for over nine years. The assaults were not just from her husband—he admitted that he also allowed 51 men other men to assault his wife sexually. Dominique Pelicot had filmed these gruesome assaults, which the French police would later find. Gisèle Pelicot notably waived her right to anonymity during her trials. In turn, her case spotlighted public discussion on rape culture—just as she intended.

Pelicot claimed that she did not go public out of bravery but rather to raise awareness. She was immortalized for saying, “When you’re raped, there is shame, and it’s not for us to have shame—it’s for them.” Her case inspired thousands of women to march in her name to protest sexual violence. It’s no wonder social media is rallying behind Pelicot, who courageously stood against her abuser. If anyone deserves to be nominated as Person of the Year, it’s Gisèle Pelicot.


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Vanessa Esguerra
Vanessa Esguerra (She/They) has been a Contributing Writer for The Mary Sue since 2023. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Economy, she (happily) rejected law school in 2021 and has been a full-time content writer since. Vanessa is currently taking her Master's degree in Japanese Studies in hopes of deepening her understanding of the country's media culture in relation to pop culture, women, and queer people like herself. She speaks three languages but still manages to get lost in the subways of Tokyo with her clunky Japanese. Fueled by iced coffee brewed from local cafés in Metro Manila, she also regularly covers anime and video games while queuing for her next match in League of Legends.