Author: Elline Lipkin

Elline Lipkin is a poet, academic and nonfiction writer. Her first book of poems, The Errant Thread, was chosen by Eavan Boland for the Kore Press First Book Award. Her second book, Girls’ Studies, explores contemporary girlhood in the United States. Currently a research scholar with the Center for the Study of Women at UCLA, Elline also teaches poetry for Los Angeles Writing Classes. As a nonfiction writer, she has written about everything from being a feminist bride to female mentorship and influence within the literary world, as well as Barbie’s new body and “fauxpowerment.”

The ‘Woman in Charge’: Diane von Furstenberg’s Lifelong Commitment to Empowering Women, Fashion and Philanthropy

Though her fame as a designer came through the success of her iconic wrap dress, Diane von Furstenberg has said, “I don’t think I had a vocation for fashion; I had a vocation to be a woman in charge.”

Towards the end of the exhibit—on display at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles until Aug. 31, 2025—a QR code directs visitors to sign up for her more recent innovation: the “InCharge platform,” which serves as “a place to rally, where we use our connections to help all women be the women they want to be.” Its aim urges women to make “first a commitment to ourselves” by “owning who we are” and then to use the platform to “connect, expand, inspire, and advocate.” It is her latest project in a lifetime of advocacy meant to strengthen women.

School’s Out for Summer. Moms Already Need a Break.

I can’t think of a parent who doesn’t look ahead to summer months with simultaneous relief from the morning scramble and trepidation at the loss of set hours their child is cared for at school. However, with the price of day camps and childcare, ‘bucket list’ activities and less routine, summer can be just as stressful for mothers.

Chamber of Mothers’ “Vote Like A Mother” campaign aims to help mothers use this time to prepare to vote in their own best interests. 

The Ms. Q&A With Elizabeth L. Silver, Author of ‘The Majority,’ an RBG Novel

When I heard the title of Elizabeth Silver’s new book, The Majority, I knew the lone word in the title held layers of resonance.

The novel’s main character is reminiscent of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, or “The Notorious RBG,” and the reader follows her arduous, yet steady, ascending legal career. The novel reveals an intergenerational weave of feminists still trying—sometimes in impossibly constricted ways—to break down doors, laws and spaces to effect change. In this book, we see a composite of personal and professional challenges that reflect the path of one character but represent so much more beyond just her.

Poet Victoria Chang Is Done Apologizing for Her Ambition

Victoria Chang’s website lists her as “poet, writer and editor”—but just three words can’t contain all that she does or who she is.  She is also a teacher at Antioch University, MBA graduate, editor of the New York Times Magazine’s poetry column, Guggenheim fellow, YA novelist and children’s picture book author, as well as other hybrid work.  She’s also a mother, friend and tireless advocate for more representation within the literary world.

In this interview, we discuss her influences, past and present projects, and how claiming ambition is still contested for a woman in the literary world.

The ‘Cure’ for Mom Guilt? Affordable Childcare, Paid Family Leave and Equal Pay

Rather than flowers that wilt, what most mothers really want is underlying systemic change that benefits not just them, but their entire family system. Reshma Saujani’s initiative, Marshall Plan for Moms, a campaign of her nonprofit Girls Who Code, has set out to do just that.

“‘Mom guilt’ is the natural result of two totally unattainable societal ideals clashing: the perfect mom and ideal worker.”

Amazon’s Cinderella and Systemic Change: No More Patriarchy Means a Happy Ending For All

Cinderella and Systemic Change—the Glass Ceiling Needs to Shatter

In Amazon’s Cinderella musical, Cinderella gets what she most wants because there is a radical shifting of structural power. The prince suddenly doesn’t have to marry for status, the queen is suddenly free to speak up and the king is suddenly understanding of how ridiculous gender bias is and anoints his daughter to be next in line.

If only in real life it were that simple.