Kathryn Bigelow has made history by winning best director at this year’s Academy Awards, and becoming the first woman to break into the club that until Sunday night was for men only.

Director of the war movie “The Hurt Locker,” she won the battle of the exes in more than one category against ex-husband James Cameron, director of the highest grossing movie in history, “Avatar.”

The Oscars’ two biggest wins both went to Bigelow, whom the Academy awarded with Best Director and Best Picture. It was “the moment of a lifetime,” a stunned Bigelow said in her acceptance speech.

Both choices were a step out of the box for the Academy. “Hurt Locker” is the lowest grossing film in modern history to win Hollywood’s highest honor.

Only the fourth woman to be nominated in this category, Bigelow’s victory is nothing short of historic. It serves as proof that women are slowly but surely breaking through the glass ceiling of male dominance in American society. She and other women like herself stand as role models for females everywhere.

Bigelow is just one real life example that hard work and a determination to succeed can break all barriers. Barbra Streisand’s initial reaction upon opening the envelope summed up the monumental win perfectly when she said, “the time has come.”