It might just be the year of the period: In 2016, the phrase “period panties” has entered the American lexicon; lawmakers across the country are fighting to eliminate the so-called “tampon tax”; and the cover of Newsweek has declared, “There will be blood—get over it.” The subhead? “The crimson tide is turning.” So it’s time to tune […]
Author: Carter Sherman
Carter Sherman is a former Ms. editorial intern. She recently graduated from Northwestern University, where she studied journalism and international studies, and has previously interned at Elle and Los Angeles Magazine. Follow her on Instagram at @heyyymizcarter.
Everything You Need to Know About the Ugly “Religious Freedom” Laws Sweeping the Nation
Love may have won, but homophobia is still alive and well in the U.S. Ever since the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage last summer, conservatives across the nation have scrambled to pass more and more state laws that aim to protect, they say, “religious freedom” or “religious liberty.” Yet these laws are specifically concerned with […]
It Took Broadway a Century to Bring a Musical Like This to the Stage
It only took Broadway a century, but the first musical with an all-women creative team is finally debuting at the end of this month in New York. The musical, Waitress, features a female director, choreographer, book writer and song writer (Sara Bareilles, switching from chart-topping hits to musical theater). Yet the production’s feminist roots go back […]
Girl Waits With Gun Is a Period Thriller for Any Era
When Constance Kopp’s family buggy gets run off the road by a silk mogul’s automobile, Constance isn’t out for revenge. As an unmarried woman living with her two sisters in 1914, she’s only interested in getting her buggy’s damages paid for. Too bad the silk mogul turns out to be a drunken louse, who definitely does not care […]
What You Never Learned About American History: War Edition
As American history classes threaten to erase the existence of Jim Crow laws and the Ku Klux Klan from their textbooks, the Ms. Blog thought it might be a good time to revisit the history that our schools often fail to teach us—from the systematic genocide of Native Americans to the nationalism that fuels wars. […]
Who’s Behind Your Favorite TV Shows? Certainly Not Women
The Directors Guild of America (DGA) this week released its annual report on the gender and ethnicity of TV directors, and the results are less than promising for women and people of color: When it comes to directing TV, white men still vastly outnumber every other group of people. The “DGA TV Diversity Report” breaks down […]
Teen’s Collarbones Launch Controversy Over Dress Code
Stephanie Hughes, a student at Woodford County High School in Kentucky, found herself in the principal’s office on the very first day of school this year. Her crime? Exposing her collarbones. Stephanie’s mother, Stacie Dunn, arrived at the school to to find “a group of female students standing in the office due to being out […]
I’m a Feminist, and a Sorority Girl
People often ask me, as if I’m somehow lying to them, How can you love your sorority and be a feminist? To me, that question misses the point entirely: I feel no conflict, because to me, sororities are feminist. I watched the University of Alabama Alpha Phi recruitment video, released last week, with horror and […]
The Mother Who Secured Women’s Suffrage
Ninety-five years ago Tuesday, the state of Tennessee ratified the 19th Amendment, thus securing the right to vote for American women. Tennessee was the 36th state to ratify the amendment on August 18, 1920, pushing the amendment past the two-thirds majority of states that women needed. But the vote was a close one: It only passed when Harry Burn, a […]
The Evolution of Female Masturbation in Pop Music
If you still remember Hailee Steinfeld as a 14-year-old girl who rocked twinned braids and got an Oscar nomination for True Grit, prepare yourself for her transformation. The now-legal adult recently released a music video for her first single, “Love Myself,” and it’s packed with some serious sass. While the song ostensibly centers around building self-esteem and […]