Caitlyn Jenner, Reese Witherspoon Honored By Glamour

Caitlyn Jenner, undoubtedly one of the most talked-about
women in the world, is being honored as one of Glamour magazine’s Women of the
Year on Monday in a glittery ceremony along with fellow honorees like actress
Reese Witherspoon, dancer Misty Copeland and designer Victoria Beckham.

The annual ceremony at Carnegie Hall in Manhattan mixes
high-wattage celebrities with lesser known names, and this year, the award
winners include five women touched by the South Carolina church massacre –
Alana Simmons, Nadine Collier, Bethane Middleton-Brown, Felicia Sanders and
Polly Sheppard – and lauded in the aftermath as “The Peacemakers of
Charleston.” Also to be honored: Entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes, Planned
Parenthoood’s Cecile Richards and the victorious U.S. women’s soccer team.

This year is the 25th anniversary of the awards, and former
honorees Madeleine Albright, Serena Williams and Billie Jean King were among
those scheduled to be on hand for the festivities. Amy Schumer was scheduled to
open the ceremony, and Jennifer Hudson and Ellie Goulding to perform.

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Jenner is not the first transgender woman to be a Glamour
Woman of the Year; last year, actress Laverne Cox was honored. Still, Jenner’s
inclusion sparked some backlash on social media. “We prefer to focus on
the positive,” Jenner said through a spokesman ahead of the announcement.

Cindi Leive, Glamour’s editor-in-chief, told The Associated
Press that criticism of Jenner’s inclusion “certainly gives you an
appreciation for the hostility to the trans community that still exists out
there.”

PHOTOS: Reese Witherspoon’s Stellar Street Style

Among the achievements of some of this year’s honorees:

Witherspoon co-founded a production company, Pacific
Standard, which aims to make films featuring strong female lead roles as way to
fight the gender gap in Hollywood. The company’s “Wild” and
“Gone Girl” earned Oscar nominations for Witherspoon, Laura Dern and
Rosamund Pike.

Copeland became the first female African-American principal
at American Ballet Theatre in June.

Jenner, a former Olympic hero and Kardashian-Jenner family
reality star, came out as a trans woman earlier this year. Her docuseries,
“I Am Cait,” was just picked up by E! for a second season.

Beckham gained fame as a Spice Girl, but has since become a
highly respected fashion designer.

The U.S. women’s soccer team handily defeated Japan to win
the 2015 World Cup in July, and was recently welcomed at the White House by
President Barack Obama.

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