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iVillage Women of the Year: The 10 Women Who Inspired Us Most in 2011

From using celebrity to do good to serving as a role model for grace during scandal, here are the women we found the most inspiring this year (11 Photos)

Kelly Wallace on Jan 2, 2012 at 7:00AM

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iVillage Women of the Year: The 10 Women Who Inspired Us Most in 2011

P.K. Weis/Giffords Campaign

Gabrielle Giffords

To us, there was one clear Woman of the Year at iVillage: Gabrielle Giffords. She is an inspiration for so many reasons -- for her amazing recovery after a shooting in the head that many thought she would never survive; her fierce determination to get stronger and return to her position in Congress; and her openness throughout, revealing in her memoir with her husband, Ret. Astronaut Mark Kelly, that she was undergoing fertility treatments at the time of the shooting. We hope the politician's presence serves as a constant reminder to Democrats and Republicans to put aside the vitriol and work together in 2012.

Watch here to see why Giffords is the iVillage Woman of the Year.