Oh hey there, feminist Jennifer Lopez! The singer released a video Friday for her new song, “Ain’t Your Mama,” and it’s shot through with messages of women’s empowerment. The video opens with Lopez’ character—a news anchor—in a phone booth, talking with a lover who can’t seem to get his act together. As she heads into work, […]
Author: Stephanie Hallett
Stephanie hails from Toronto, Canada. She is a Ms. writer, a master of journalism candidate and a hip hop dancer/instructor/choreographer. She got her start in feminist journalism at the age of 16 when she was a member of the first editorial collective at Shameless magazine—and she has never looked back.
We Heart: Ballerina Misty Copeland’s New Barbie Doll
Misty Copeland made history last summer when she became the first African American woman to hold the title of principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre (ABT), solidifying her position as a living legend and inspiration to young girls everywhere. Today, she found another way to be a role model: as a Barbie doll in Mattel’s […]
Victory! Harriet Tubman to Grace the $20 Bill
At long last, a woman’s face will grace the $20 bill. The Treasury Department announced Wednesday that a portrait of abolitionist Harriet Tubman will adorn the frontside of a new $20, set to be redesigned by 2020. Bizarrely, however, an image of slaveholding president Andrew Jackson—who is currently the face of the $20—will be moved to the backside of the […]
The Gender Pay Gap Has Barely Budged Since the ’90s
Each year in April we mark the passage of Equal Pay Day—in 2016 it falls on April 12—a symbolic date that marks how far into the year women must work to finally make as much as men were paid the previous year. The inaugural Equal Pay Day took place in 1996, and the gender pay gap has […]
UC Berkeley Students are Fighting for On-Campus Abortion Access
More than one-quarter of abortions in the United States are obtained by women ages 18 to 24—roughly college age—yet many students’ access to the procedure is limited by state laws, the location of clinics and, in particular, a lack of reproductive health services on campus. The students’ association at UC Berkeley is fighting to change that. Last month, the […]
The U.S. Women’s Soccer Team Just Challenged the Gender Pay Gap in a Big Way
Five members of the U.S. national women’s soccer team filed a complaint today with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) accusing the U.S. Soccer Federation, the sport’s national governing body, of wage discrimination. The players—Carli Llloyd, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, Becky Sauerbrunn and Hope Solo—filed on behalf of the whole team, citing pay and bonus figures from 2013 onward […]
This Comedy Festival Is Charging Women a Different Price for a Great Reason
A Brooklyn-based comedy festival is charging women, people of color, LGBTQ folks and people with disabilities a different price to submit their work than straight, white men. The catch? The “minority” comedians will pay 77 cents to every dollar a straight, white male comedian pays—a reflection of the gender-wage gap. “The 77 cents to the dollar […]
Trauma in the Courtroom: Jian Ghomeshi, the Verdict and the Victims
Jian Ghomeshi, former host of the popular Canadian radio show “Q,” was acquitted Thursday on four counts of sexual assault and one count of overcoming resistance by choking. Ghomeshi was charged in 2014 after at least 10 alleged victims came forward—some to police, some to the press—with reports of abuse (the allegations of three women were […]
Meet the Fierce, Over-50 Women’s Team Racing 750 Miles to Alaska in a Sailboat
The interview below is part of the Ms. Blog’s “Telling Her Story” series for Women’s History Month. Check back throughout March for more profiles of women doing great things in their communities. Picture this: It’s June 4, 2015. Thirty-five teams set sail on a 750-mile journey from Port Townsend, Washington to Ketchikan, Alaska, all the while battling 50-degree water temperatures, […]
Emma Watson’s International Women’s Day Beat Box Is About to Make Your Day
BREAKING: Emma Watson is a badass beat boxer. OK, OK so she’s no Rahzel, but this is a pretty great first effort by the actor and U.N. Women ambassador. Making it all the better is Hamilton star and composer Lin-Manuel Miranda freestyling along about women’s rights. Take a look! The pair sat down on International Women’s Day to […]