Sick of male protagonists saturating your television screen? It wouldn’t surprise us. Studies show that female characters in television shows only make up less than 40 percent of speaking roles—and when they do, those roles are too often trope-saturated, hypersexualized caricatures of real women. But the last couple of years have brought us a handful of […]
Author: Emily Mae Czachor
Emily Mae Czachor is a print & digital journalism student at the University of Southern California and the senior culture editor of Neon Tommy. She is currently an editorial intern at Ms.
Interactive Computer Games Give Women Choices
Access to reproductive health care and family planning services in the U.S. has diminished considerably during the last several years. While national debates regarding abortion and contraception insurance soared, many states drastically reduced their funding for family planning. This budget cut hit particularly hard in Texas, where lawmakers slashed funds by nearly two-thirds, forcing half […]
Five Ways To Celebrate International Women’s Day
Celebrate global sisterhood and self-love this weekend in honor of International Women’s Day. The holiday, which is observed in countries across the world, dedicates 24 hours to spotlighting women’s successes and emphasizing the continued need for full equality under the law. Here are some celebration ideas to make your International Women’s Day especially womanly: 1) […]
Carolyn Maloney: Equal Rights Crusader
This March, for Women’s History Month, the Ms. Blog is profiling Wonder Women who have made history—and those who are making history right now. Join us each day as we bring you the stories of iconic and soon-to-be-famous feminist change-makers. Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney has championed women’s rights since the start of her congressional career in 1992. As a […]
Canadian High Schoolers Won’t Take Dress Codes for An Answer
“Two, four, six, eight! Give us a policy before it’s too late!” What started as a student protest to change the dress code at a Canadian high school turned into a much-needed discussion of sexual harassment—and has led to the drafting of a new district-wide policy that covers both issues. The chant was a rallying […]
Five Ways to Have a Feminist Valentine’s Day
Frustrated by the patriarchal, heteronormative, gendered conventions of Valentine’s Day? This year, celebrate V-Day in feminist fashion, without becoming a slave to commercialism. Here are a few ideas for a very feminist Valentine’s Day: 1) Scrap the manufactured “holiday” altogether. Celebrate V-Day instead. Contrary to popular usage, the “V” in V-Day is not just a […]
Why “Top Five” Ranks in the Bottom Five for Women Journalists
Chris Rock’s new film, Top Five, has been lauded as a funny and provocative work that showcases groups generally marginalized in movies, including people of color and strong women. But critical backlash has highlighted the way in which the movie strips its leading lady of her supposed intellect and instead turns her into what New […]
Dartmouth Sorority: It’s OUR Party!
Greek life on college campuses is generally recognized as a social hotspot, known for its rampant drinking and party culture. Less widely known is the fact that only fraternities are hosting parties and serving alcohol because, according to the National Panhellenic Conference, none of the 26 national sororities are allowed to. The rationale? According to […]
Why Are People Sitting On Each Other’s Faces in the U.K.?
Groups of protestors around the U.K. have gathered in recent weeks to express their frustration with new laws prohibiting certain sex acts from being performed in porn films. The restrictions were imposed late last year by British lawmakers. The list of banned acts includes: physical or verbal abuse; strangulation; penetration by any object “associated with […]
Detroit Fundraises to Test Rape Kits
In an unprecedented initiative, the cash-strapped city of Detroit has partnered with two nonprofits to raise $10 million for testing its huge backlog of rape kits and conducting further investigations of rape cases. Five years ago, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office discovered 11,000 untested kits in a Detroit police storage unit, a few of which […]