Melissa Stephenson, Author at Ms. Magazine
Skip to content

Trending:

  • ADD YOUR VOICE: The Life I Built
  • Gloria Steinem
  • What did Gloria mean to you?
  • Film + TV
  • Epstein
  • Birth Control
  • FEMINIST 250
  • Trump

Ms. MagazineMs. Magazine

More Than A Magazine, A Movement

  • donate
  • join
  • Renew
  • News & Opinion
  • Politics
  • Health
  • Culture
  • Ms. Studios
  • Women & Democracy
  • Series
  • Explore by Topic
  • Store
  • Log In

Author: Melissa Stephenson

Melissa Stephenson’s writing has appeared in publications such as Lit Hub, The Washington Post, ZYZZYVA and Fourth Genre. Her memoir, Driven, was released by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in July of 2018. She lives in Missoula, Montana with her two kids.
  • National
  • Voices

From Latchkey to Lock-in: Solo Moms Don’t Get to Choose Between Parenting and Providing

Melissa Stephenson
From Latchkey to Lock-in: Solo Moms Don’t Get to Choose Between Parenting and Providing

Many women in many dual-parent households have dropped out of the workforce during the pandemic to carry this domestic load, but most solo moms can’t do that. We have to keep the plates spinning as best we can. I wonder about all the other pandemic lock-in kids living in single-mother households—roughly one quarter of the U.S. population.

  • Arts & Entertainment
  • Violence & Harassment
  • Voices

Thelma, Louise and #MeToo

Melissa Stephenson

I’m fed up with the Midwestern grin-and-bear-it notion of strength I was raised on, stoicism tempered with niceness. On the plane, the ending of Thelma & Louise made the 40-something me cry because I have driven off too many cliffs in this lifetime already.

RSS Feminist Daily News

  • Labor Day and the Fight for Women’s Freedom
  • Women’s Fight for the Vote: From Suffrage to Today
  • Women’s Tennis Association Introduces Mandatory Sex Testing for All Players

Popular This Week

Ms. Magazine
  • About Ms.
    • Ms. History
    • Masthead
    • Ms. Committee of Scholars
    • Internships
  • Membership
    • Get Ms.
    • Give the Gift of Ms.
    • Manage Your Ms. Email Preferences
    • Member Services
    • Support Ms.
    • Newsletters
    • Back Issues
    • Store
  • Contact
    • Media Center
    • Writing for Ms.
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with Ms.
  • Programs & Sister Organizations
    • Feminist Majority Foundation
    • Feminist Campus
    • Girls Learn International
Copyright © 2026Feminist Majority Foundation
  • Author Guidelines and Rights
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy

Ms. is wholly owned and published by the Feminist Majority Foundation

This isn’t a paywall. It’s a promise.

We’re not asking for money—we’re only asking for your email. We don’t want algorithms or tech billionaires deciding whether you see our work. We want a direct line to you. Enter your email to keep reading—no subscription required. Because feminists deserve journalism that can’t be bought.

Yes! I would like to receive new content and updates.

Upgrade your subscription

Get full access to all content.