“Sexual violence.” We hear these two words over and over in Congo. They have become a part of the vernacular—and in many ways are a symptom of a highly traumatized society. In every meeting, sexual violence is mentioned and everywhere we go, we meet girls, women and children who have survived rape and assault. And […]
Month: August 2014
We Heart: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Self-Proclaimed Feminist
As if his impressive acting chops and creative side projects weren’t enough, Joseph Gordon-Levitt gave us another reason to love him on Thursday when he proclaimed that he “absolutely” identifies as a feminist. In between chatting about his favorite directors and affinity for musicals, Gordon-Levitt told a Daily Beast reporter: I’d absolutely call myself a feminist. […]
Feminism Is Not Just About Women’s Oppression
A community in Ferguson, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis, continues to mourn and protest the death of Michael Brown, an unarmed Black teenager shot dead by the police on Saturday. The details of Brown’s death are still unfolding as witnesses come forward and the Justice Department pursues a federal investigation. But there is one […]
Maryam Mirzakhani is the First Woman to Win This Prestigious Math Prize
Maryam Mirzakhani, an Iranian professor of mathematics at Stanford University, just became the first woman to win the Fields Medal. Referred to as the “Nobel Prize of math,” the Fields Medal is the highest honor one can receive in mathematics. Since it was first awarded in 1936, the prize has been given out every four years to […]
Why Michael Brown’s Death Is a Reproductive Justice Issue
After he was gunned down, left to bake on the hot cement for hours and then autopsied by the St. Louis County Medical Examiner’s Office, the body of 18-year-old Michael Brown was finally returned to his family Wednesday. That body was 6 feet, 4 inches tall and weighed 300 pounds. That body, on top of […]
What Has, and Hasn’t, Changed Since the Steubenville Rape
After Ma’Lik Richmond and Trent Mays were found delinquent of raping an incapacitated 16-year-old girl in August 2012, critics watching the case leveled a stinging allegation against Steubenville, Ohio: In the hero-worshipping football town, star players—like Richmond and Hays—can do no wrong. That accusation proved true this week when Richmond, released from juvenile detention after serving nine months […]
42 Times Ms. Made History
Ms. has been reporting, rebelling and truth-telling for 42 years—and we have no plans to stop. Over the last four decades, we’ve been on the front lines of the women’s movement and we’ve never shied away from taboo topics. Relive some of our history-making moments below, and tell us what Ms. means to you in the comments. […]
We Heart: Mo’Ne Davis, Little League Pitcher
“They think I throw soft, but then they see my fast ball, and they get kind of scared.” Mo’Ne Davis, the pitcher for Philadelphia’s Taney Dragons couldn’t be more right: after helping her Little League team secure an 8-0 shutout victory, along with a spot in the Little League Baseball World Series, there’s good reason […]
Women Want the Global Gag Rule Gone for Good
Thirty years ago this week, the Ronald Reagan Administration announced at an international conference in Mexico City a harsh new policy that set the U.S. on a course of playing partisan politics with the lives and welfare of women around the world. The “Mexico City Policy,” also known as the Global Gag Rule, denied U.S. […]
From the Stacks: Reflections on the War in Iraq
The following excerpt was published in the Spring 2007 issue of Ms. In light of President Obama’s decision this week to authorize airstrikes in Iraq, we pulled this firsthand reflection on the first Iraq war from our archives. To read more of our war coverage from the Spring 2007 issue, click here. Tens of thousands around the […]