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Men’s Silence Is Fueling a National Crisis of Violence Against Women
In just the past month, the U.S. has seen a relentless drumbeat of male-perpetrated violence: mass shootings at social gatherings, a string of urban gun deaths, and one of the deadliest incidents in years: A Louisiana man killed eight children—including seven of his own—and wounded their mothers in a domestic violence massacre. Then there’s the multi-year investigation into sexual assault allegations involving United Farm Workers cofounder César Chávez, along with the political fallout surrounding former U.S. Reps. Tony Gonzales and Eric Swalwell.
This is a call to action for men. Nearly a decade after #MeToo emerged, reports of abuse by powerful men continue to surface at alarming rates.
How can so many of us stay silent in the face of an ongoing epidemic of men’s sexual and domestic assaults against women—including rape? Enough is enough. We have to do better.
Breaking that code is essential. It means men calling each other out in locker rooms, workplaces, offices and private conversations. It means redefining loyalty not as protecting other men, but as protecting those harmed.
The question is no longer whether we understand the problem. The question is whether we men are finally willing to confront it in ourselves.
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Driving the Vote for Equality: ERA Dispatches From Arizona and California
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To the Men Who Send Women Hate Mail
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The Supreme Court Preserved Mail-Order Abortion Pills—for Now. Julie Kay Says Providers Are Still Preparing.
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‘They’re Taking Our Humanity Away’: Kimberlé Crenshaw on Her Memoir, America’s Future and Why the Fight for Justice Requires ‘Backtalking’
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No Women Were Present at the U.S.-China Negotiations. This Is By Design.
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American Democracy on Fire (with Steve Vladeck and Moira Donegan)
In this episode of On The Issues, we confront American democracy on fire. How did we get here and who lit the match? In a 6-3 decision in Louisiana v. Callais, the United States Supreme Court gutted a fundamental provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA), landmark legislation enacted by Congress at the height of the civil rights movement to eradicate entrenched patterns of voter suppression and promote equality at the ballot box. With key mandates in the VRA now eviscerated under the hand six justices on the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice John Roberts, what’s next? The Court has the lowest approval ratings since confidence in the court has been measured. Many Americans now wonder—can the Court be trusted?
The Supreme Court has emphasized that if women want reproductive freedom and don’t like abortion bans, they should go vote. But what happens when the Court plays a strategic role in diluting voting power and making voting more difficult by stripping away protections?
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- “Refusing to be Erased”: Bonnie Thornton Dill on Feminist Resistance in Higher Education
- Supreme Court Rules to Protect Access to Medication Abortion
- Effects Beyond Reproductive Care: The Backlash of Overturning Roe
- Feminist Leaders Speak Out Against the Supreme Court’s Devastating Blow to the Voting Rights Act of 1965
- House Judiciary Hearing Targets FACE Act Despite Rising Threats to Clinics
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How ICE Became the Enforcement Arm of the Patriarchy
Speaking in early February, while the nation was still reeling from the killings of Minneapolis residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents, Jackson Katz, a leading voice in gender violence prevention and masculinity studies, and Loretta Ross, a celebrated Black feminist scholar and cofounder of SisterSong, examined the deadly ways misogyny and racism intersect in Donald Trump’s America.
The two of them had a nuanced exploration of how government institutions, cultural narratives and political movements shape—and weaponize—issues of gender and race. Their candid exchange critiques the forces behind U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and right-wing populism, and challenges us to rethink empathy, identity and our strategies for building a more inclusive feminist movement.
Jerome Gilles / NurPhoto via Getty Images
Trump Administration Launches a Legally Bogus Investigation into Smith College
The Trump administration claims its investigation into Smith College is about defending women. In reality, it is an attack on the rights of women at Smith to define their own community, values and mission without political interference from Washington.
The Department of Education argues that by admitting transgender women and allowing them access to campus housing and facilities, Smith may have violated Title IX. But that argument collapses under even a basic reading of the law. Title IX simply does not apply to admissions at private undergraduate colleges like Smith.
The administration’s complaint is also striking because it is not based on evidence that Smith students have been harmed or excluded from campus life. There is no public record of students filing complaints about the college’s housing, bathrooms or locker rooms policies. Instead, this investigation grew out of pressure from a conservative advocacy group determined to use federal power to impose its ideological agenda on colleges and universities.
Smith’s campus policies were shaped over years by students, faculty and administrators themselves—including cisgender women students who pushed the college to open admissions to transgender women more than a decade ago.
At its core, this investigation is about far more than one women’s college. It reflects the Trump administration’s broader campaign against trans rights, higher education and liberal arts institutions that encourage critical thought, inclusion and intellectual independence.
Congress passed Title IX to expand educational opportunities for women. Now, the administration is attempting to weaponize that same civil rights law to undermine women’s education and bully colleges into abandoning their own principles.
