Ms. Magazine’s Top Feminists of 2025
In a year marked by democratic backsliding, cultural reckoning and organized resistance, these feminists reshaped power, through law, leadership, art and collective courage.
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Checking in on the State of America’s Kids: Hunger, Censorship and Fear (with Becky Pringle)
It’s been a harrowing year for many families. The Trump administration’s budget cuts are giving tax breaks to billionaires at the expense of funding healthy meals for students experiencing food insecurity; legislatures are banning books and attacking LGBTQ+ students; and immigration crackdowns are leaving many students afraid to go to school at all. Families have had a lot to be worried about—more than just tests and grades—this year. What are students, parents, and teachers worried about—and what policies are advocates watching?
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- What Australia’s New Social Media Ban May Mean for Young Women
- Following Tragic D.C. Shooting, Afghan Allies Face a New Wave of Enforcement and Fear
- A Birth Control Battle: Survivors Take Pfizer to Court Over Depo-Provera
- South Carolina Senate Rejects Push for Abortion Criminalization Bill
- Planned Parenthood Forced to Close 20 Clinics After Medicaid Cuts
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Yearning to Breathe Free [Part 1 of 3]
In the matter of K-E-S-G-, a Salvadoran woman stalked and threatened by gang members was denied asylum by the U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals on July 18, even though her persecution stemmed from her gender in a country that treats women as property. Advocates warn that this ruling could make it much harder for women fleeing violence to prove gender-based claims and may embolden immigration judges to discount their stories.
“This isn’t the first time the Trump administration has singled out women seeking asylum, and we know where this path leads,” said Neela Chakravartula of the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies. “More judges denying protection to women who qualify for it. More refugees being deported to danger.”
The decision highlights the ongoing struggle to recognize gender as a protected basis for asylum. Afghan and Salvadoran women, among others, may now face even steeper barriers to protection—a chilling effect that experts say could deter survivors from seeking safety in the U.S.
John Moore / Getty Images
Disrupting Intimidation: How Texas Hotel Workers Are Shaking Up the Industry
The hotel had become a place where women endured hellish conditions and were expected to stay silent.
They decided to break that silence.
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More than 70 percent of hotel housekeepers in the United States are women. Their labor is the backbone of an industry that markets comfort but often denies dignity to those who create it. At Sonesta Select Austin North, the women who knew every hallway, every cart and every stain were treated as if they were disposable. What they experienced is a common issue when those doing the hardest work have the least power.
(This essay is part of a collection presented by Ms. and the Groundswell Fund highlighting the work of Groundswell partners advancing inclusive democracy.)
