Author: Ms. Editors

A current list of Ms. print and digital editors can be found on the masthead.

Ms. Magazine Wins PEN America’s Impact Award for ‘Contributions to Journalism, Feminism and Social Change’

On Tuesday, Sept. 19—the same day the Ms. book, 50 Years of Ms.: The Best of the Pathfinding Magazine That Ignited a Revolution, was released—Ms. magazine was awarded PEN America’s Impact Award, in honor of the publication’s five decades of feminist journalism.

“Through its art, literature and journalism, Ms. magazine became a platform that educated, inspired and mobilized generations of feminists in support of equality,” said PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel. “I am deeply honored to present the PEN America Impact Award … in recognition of Ms. magazine’s contributions to journalism, feminism and social change.”

Reviews Are In for ‘50 Years of Ms.: The Best of the Pathfinding Magazine That Ignited a Revolution’

50 YEARS OF Ms.: THE BEST OF THE PATHFINDING MAGAZINE THAT IGNITED A REVOLUTION (Alfred A. Knopf) is out Sept. 19, and we couldn’t be more excited to share it with our readers—and with the entire world. We sent the book to some readers, publishers and editors, ahead of its September release—and we are thrilled that they love it too.

Here are some of our book’s early reviews.

50 Years of Ms. will be released on Sept. 19, 2023; you can pre-order your copy now. (This piece will be updated as new reviews become available. Last updated: Monday, Sept. 18, at 8:05 a.m. PT.)

Gloria Feldt and Kathy Spillar on Feminist Wins and Losses: ‘The Setbacks Have Only Awakened an Even Larger Giant Among Women’

The movement for gender equality has been sustained by a steady drumbeat of activists and leaders pushing for progress and fighting side by side. It is powerful when these feminist leaders take time to reflect together on the lessons, the losses, the wins, and the road ahead. This conversation between Gloria Feldt and Kathy Spillar offers just that.

Feldt and Spillar, along with hundreds of other feminists, will convene on Women’s Equality Day—Saturday, Aug. 26—for the Take The Lead Conference at the UCLA Luskin Conference Center in Los Angeles. The program will be dedicated to sharing solutions to help the U.S. reach intersectional gender parity in leadership—at work, in politics, and in life.

What They’re Saying: Ms.’ New Book, ’50 Years of Ms.’

We’re so excited to share that our new book—50 YEARS OF Ms.: THE BEST OF THE PATHFINDING MAGAZINE THAT IGNITED A REVOLUTION (Alfred A. Knopf)—will be released on Sept. 19. The 576-page volume contains essays, profiles, conversations with and features by a number of notable feminists and Ms. scholars—including contributions by bell hooks, Alice Walker, Pauli Murray, Billie Jean King, Nancy Pelosi, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Allison Bechdel, Eleanor Smeal, Brittney Cooper and Joy Harjo, as well as fiction and poetry by Toni Morrison, Audre Lorde, Joyce Carol Oates and Rita Dove, among many others. Still not excited? Here’s what feminists are saying:

“50 YEARS OF Ms. couldn’t come at a more crucial moment. Sí se puede!” —Dolores Huerta

“Full of practical guidance and thoughtful insight, today Ms. remains an indispensable resource for navigating the challenges of the 21st century.” —Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)

Rest in Power: Peg Yorkin, Feminist Trailblazer and Supporter of Women in Politics

Peg Yorkin—leading U.S. feminist, philanthropist and strategist, as well as theater producer—died on Sunday, June 25, 2023, at the age of 96. In the midst of our collective grief, we honor and pay tribute to a co-founder as well as the one and only chair of the board of the Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF), publisher of Ms. Since the day FMF started in 1987, Peg Yorkin was important in conceptualizing the organization’s mission and potential significance in the struggle for equality and women’s rights.

“Peg was impatient. She wanted to see change now,” said Kathy Spillar, executive editor of Ms. and executive director of FMF. “She would constantly remind us of her age and wanted to see the changes in her lifetime. She thought big and had total confidence we could make a difference.”

National Survey: Americans Call for Childcare (March 1987)

From the March 1987 issue of Ms. magazine: “An overwhelming majority of Americans want employer-sponsored childcare programs, regardless of whether or not they have preschool children or are currently employed, according to Ms. magazine’s national survey. … But small percentages of those surveyed indicated that their employer currently offers any of these childcare services.”

Today, 35 years letter, America’s. social safety net remains woefully inadequate: The U.S. is the only country in the developed world that does not offer any paid maternity leave, and it ranks 39th worldwide for overall child health and well-being.

Global Authoritarianism, Women’s Rights and the Power of Feminist Organizing

“One thing that we see now, even with all of the challenges of a totalitarian government and of the Taliban dictatorship, is that the people on the frontlines of this fight are the women of Afghanistan. It is incredible that they are coming into the streets to fight for fundamental freedoms. I think this is a big lesson for all of us, even for those in the United States and others in the international community, to see these women now.”

(This essay is part of Women’s Rights and Backsliding Democracies project—a multimedia project made up of essays, video and podcast programming, presented by Ms., NYU Law’s Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Network and Rewire News Group.)

The U.S. Democratic Backslide and Gender Equity: Its ‘Own Form of Intersectionality’

“Women’s power as decision makers in the political process does not reflect our numbers or our needs. Who holds legislative or executive office, and whether we do so in critical mass numbers and with agenda-setting authority, obviously matters tremendously to the design, the enactment, the implementation and the enforcement of laws that can help us or harm us. That includes of course the power to select the judges who interpret these laws.”

(This essay is part of Women’s Rights and Backsliding Democracies project—a multimedia project made up of essays, video and podcast programming, presented by Ms., NYU Law’s Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Network and Rewire News Group.)