What’s sexier than a brilliant, Internet-savvy, queer, liberal prime-time news host with an Oxford University degree? Yeah, I can’t think of anything either. Since her show on MSNBC began in 2008 (and even before that, on Air America), Rachel Maddow has been turning heads and getting people thinking. She has been able to set herself […]
Author: Amy Borsuk
Amy is currently a student at Scripps College, the women's college in the Claremont College Consortium, studying English and the humanities. She writes for her college magazine, [in]Visible, which discusses issues of women's body- and self-image. She is also a passionate nerd (and nerdfighter!), queer woman and ally, anti-racist, and Oxford comma user (except on the Ms. blog, of course).
Black Teen Mom Denied Valedictorian Title
For most high school students in the U.S., balancing academics, college applications, extracurricular activities, sports, part-time jobs and commitments to friends and family can be a big challenge. But for teen mothers, the responsibilities of parenthood create even more strain. Earning straight A’s is no small feat for anyone, but for a student also charged […]
Setting The Record Straight… Or Rather, Queer!
Hey, my fellow queer folk! Guess what? We’re finally making history! Or rather, California is finally acknowledging that we’ve always been making history. In an it’s-about-time turn of events, California Governor Jerry Brown signed the FAIR Education Act into law on July 14. The act: …would amend the Education Code to include social sciences instruction on […]
Don’t Ms.: Comedy for Choice, Sassy Magazine, Miranda July, and More!
Another week, another collection of amazing feminist events that make me wish more than ever that I could be in multiple places at once! Hopefully one (or more) of these events is happening near you. San Francisco: A book release party for the new Land of the Unconquerable: Lives of Contemporary Afghan Women celebrates the […]
Success! Milk Pulls PMS Campaign, Starts “Got Discussion?”
Feminists have been up in arms in recent weeks over the California Milk Processor Board campaign that trots out stereotypes of PMS-ing “psycho-bitches” and “insensitive men” in order to sell milk as a PMS cure. Throughout the online feminist world, we’ve been calling them out on their sexism (check out great posts at Feministing, Jezebel […]
Hermione Granger and the Fight for Equal Rights
Well, that’s it. I just came home from my last-ever midnight Harry Potter showing. And as I sit here in my shock that it all has ended, one of the many things I’ve been mulling over is how much love and respect I’ve always had for Hermione Granger, the leading female hero of the series. […]
NEWSFLASH: Disclosure Law for Fake Clinics Blocked in NYC; Federal Law Against False Advertising Reintroduced
When last we spoke to New York City Council member Jessica Lappin, she felt confident that the truth-in-advertising bill she successfully proposed–which requires crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) to disclose whether they have licensed medical staff, among other things–would stand up to legal challenges. Unfortunately, Round One has gone to the CPCs, as federal judge William […]
Join the Fight to Help Burma
When the world last heard from Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights activist and feminist hero from Burma (Myanmar), she had been released from a collective 15-year house arrest and was beginning to rebuild the National League for Democracy, the political party she founded. She has since visited rural parts of […]
Last Woman on the Space Shuttle in T-5, 4, 3, 2, 1!
Today, at 11:29 a.m. EDT, Sandy Magnus blasted off–becoming the last woman astronaut to enter space via the NASA space shuttle program. Magnus is a NASA veteran, with two previous flights under her belt. And she’s certainly not the only woman to become a space hero. Yet, besides Sally Ride and Christa McAuliffe (who died […]
Michigan Affirmative-Action Ban Overturned
While we were all celebrating Independence Day by lighting barbecues and firing up sparklers, the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals was reigniting the affirmative-action flame. Thanks to a 2-1 ruling, Michigan’s 2006 anti-affirmative action law has been deemed unconstitutional. The decision reverses a ban on affirmative action in all Michigan public institutions, including colleges […]