A young Sudanese woman, dressed in white, standing high above a crowd and demanding change.

A fearless Lebanese woman drop-kicking an armed bodyguard in the groin amid anti-corruption protests in Beirut.

A teenage girl from Sweden staring down Donald Trump at the UN climate summit.

If there is an image that sums up 2019 it may well be a young woman protesting. As strongmen try to take over the world, women have been fighting back and making their voices heard.

While it has been a year marked by political upheaval, there’s also been a lot of light relief. We had Hot Girl Summer and Wagatha Christie. Lizzo’s upbeat anthem Truth Hurts became the longest solo female rap No 1 in history. We got a gay Batwoman. And, thanks to Gwyneth Paltrow and her infinite Goopy wisdom, we spent a lot of time discussing whether you should put garlic up your vagina (spoiler: hell no).

We also had a lot of firsts. Karen Uhlenbeck became the first woman to be awarded the Abel prize, mathematics’ most prestigious award. Austria appointed its first female chancellor. Missy Elliott became the first female hip-hop artist to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Fiona Kolbinger became the first woman to win the Transcontinental, a grueling long-distance cycling race. Simone Biles became the most decorated gymnast in history.

It’s been a very, very, very long year. To help you look back on it, we’re here with some of the highlights and lowlights. From equal pay protests to spacewalks, here are 10 memorable moments from the year in patriarchy.

1 America waged war on abortion rights

Accessing a safe and legal abortion became a lot more fraught in the US this year as numerous conservative states attempted to implement so-called “heartbeat” bills that would effectively ban abortion. While competition is close, Ohio probably wins scariest state of the year, with a bill requiring doctors to “reimplant an ectopic pregnancy”, a medically impossible procedure, or be charged with “abortion murder”. 2020 will be another critical year for reproductive rights in America; Donald Trump has made it clear that pandering to anti-abortion extremists will be a core part of his re-election strategy.

2 Saudi Arabia let (some) women travel

In a historic move, Saudi Arabia has relaxed archaic laws that required women to get the permission of a male guardian in order to travel. While the kingdom has been taking small steps forward when it comes to women’s rights, there’s still an enormous way to go. To start with, it could release the women’s rights activists who have been locked up for more than a year and who have been reportedly been tortured.

3 Cat lovers were vindicated by science

There is absolutely no basis to the “crazy cat lady” stereotype, according to a very important study done by researchers at University of California, Los Angeles. Rumour has it that the research was paid for by big feline.

4 Astronauts completed first ever all-female spacewalk

The extraterrestrial expedition, which took place in October, was originally planned for March but had to be postponed due to a wardrobe malfunction – one of the spacesuits was too big. The giant leap for womankind took place almost 35 years after Svetlana Savitskaya became the first woman to do a spacewalk.

5 Iran allowed women into soccer stadiums for first time in decades

In October thousands of Iranian women watched their national soccer team play live after the country overturned a decades-long ban on women in stadiums. Unfortunately it took a tragedy for Fifa to shame Iran into this: a fan known as “Blue Girl” set herself on fire after she was jailed for trying to enter Tehran’s Azadi stadium dressed as a man. She died of her injuries.

6 The Women’s World Cup brought joy – and an equal pay discussion

The US women’s soccer team broke records, won fans and became world champions over the summer. Perhaps most impressive of all, however, is the way in which they made the fight for equal pay in sport an urgent talking point and had crowds chanting “Equal pay!” in the stadiums.

Winners: Megan Rapinoe celebrates with Alex Morgan. Photograph: John Walton/PA

7 Jeffrey Epstein killed himself

Or did he? Forty-five per cent of Americans, including a Republican senator, believe the billionaire sex offender, who was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell in August, was actually murdered. “Epstein didn’t kill himself” was one of the year’s most popular memes. There’s no evidence to support these conspiracy theories, of course, but you can understand why they’re so popular; Epstein was chummy with some of the world’s most powerful men, and one imagines there are a lot of people who are relieved he’s no longer around. But while Epstein may be dead, his associates aren’t entirely off the hook – as Prince Andrew has very publicly discovered. Here’s hoping in 2020 Epstein’s victims will get justice.

8 Japanese women kicked off their heels

Sick of being obliged to wear high heels to work, campaigners in Japan launched a viral petition to get rid of the painful dress code. The campaign was quickly dubbed #KuToo, a reference to #MeToo and a play on words from the Japanese words for shoe (kutsu) and pain (kutsuu). Japan’s health and labour minister made headlines when he unwisely responded to the petition by saying that heels are “necessary and appropriate”. Wear them yourself then, mate.

9 A Chilean anti-rape anthem swept the world

Un Violador en Tu Camino – A Rapist in Your Path – became a feminist anthem after viral videos of Chilean protesters singing it in the streets. “And it’s not my fault / Nor where I was / Nor what I wore,” one section of the song proclaims. “The rapist is you / It’s the cops / The judges / The state / The president.”

10 Witches went mainstream

2019 might have been the year women went “full witch” and occultism became cool. The Democratic process proving slow and unwieldy, “resistance witches” turned to hexes and binding spells to try and get rid of Trump. Perhaps they are having an effect; the man has spent a large portion of the year screaming “WITCH-HUNT”.

Hexes are one way to fight the patriarchy, journalism is another. Support journalism that supports women and help us reach our $1.5m goal. If you can spare it, please do consider giving a year-end gift to the Guardian as we prepare for 2020. Contribute now