The Feminist Majority Foundation’s National Young Feminist Leadership Conference is returning to D.C. after four years. NYFLC hosts hundreds of high school and college students for an unforgettable weekend in Arlington, Va., right outside of Washington D.C. It’s the perfect place to learn about current political issues, hear from inspirational leaders, and meet fellow feminist students. This year’s NYFLC will be March 23-25, and applications are now open.
Reimagining Child Welfare: The Ms. Q&A with Dorothy Roberts, Host of Podcast ‘Torn Apart’
Professor Dorothy Roberts worked for decades to try to fix the child welfare system—but she came to the understanding that the system could not be fixed: It had to be abolished. Ms. sat down with her to discuss how abolishing the child welfare system is an issue of reproductive justice for women and their families, and the importance of educating about the injustices of the child welfare system.
All episodes of Torn Apart are available here or wherever you get your podcasts.
California’s New Gender-Neutral Toy Law Revives a 50-Year Feminist Fight
On Jan. 1, 2024, California will begin enforcing Assembly Bill 1084, a landmark bill in the movement for a more inclusive toy culture. Reinforcing the traditional gender binary through toys, for the first time in history, will be a civil offense.
The impetus for the legislation is straight out of 1970s toy campaigns against gender-based marketing—like Ms. magazine’s “Toys for Free Children” and the Ms. Foundation’s “Free to Be … You and Me.”
2023’s Top 10 Most Memorable Moments From ‘On The Issues with Michele Goodwin’
2023 marked three years of On the Issues With Michele Goodwin, a fiercely feminist podcast about the most compelling issues of our time. This year, Goodwin brought us lawmakers, scholars and founders of movements and organizations that have defined how we think about fields like reproductive justice, care work and gun violence.
We selected some of the most powerful words heard on the podcast this year to propel us into 2024.
The Most-Read Ms. Stories of 2023
Ms. readers are fed up. You know how I know? Your reading patterns. I know we are tired. I’m tired too. But I’m so glad you brought those big feelings to Ms. And just know: Your rage, your activism and your voice are making a difference.
Explore the most popular articles published this year on MsMagazine.com.
The Ms. Feminist Gift Guide: 2023 Edition
This holiday season, many people are seeking options for gift shopping outside of monstrous global conglomerates—opting instead to shop from small, more ethical brands that align with their core values. Make gifting a more fun and joyful experience this year, with our feminist gift guide.
Ms. Magazine’s Prison and Domestic Violence Shelter Program: Let Women on the Inside Know They Are Not Alone
Women in prison often spend 17 hours a day isolated in their cells, with no reading material except the Bible, or with only books and magazines they must share with hundreds of other women. And this past year has seen reading bans inside prisons grow at a more concerning rate than those in public schools and libraries.
If you would like the deep satisfaction of knowing you’re a part of letting women know they’re not alone, please make a tax-deductible contribution to the Ms. Prison and Domestic Violence Shelter Program.
Winter 2024 Sneak Peek: Inside a Violent Clinic Invasion
“On Oct. 22, 2020, a group of anti-abortion extremists forced their way into the Washington Surgi-Clinic, a facility that provides abortion care in Washington, D.C.” So begins investigative reporter Amanda Robb’s alarming account of a violent attack on an abortion clinic in the nation’s capital.
Here’s some of what else you’ll find within the pages of the upcoming Winter 2024 issue of Ms. magazine: how online abuse is used to intimidate, discredit and silence people; women activists in Afghanistan and Iran are calling on the international community to stop gender apartheid; and the top 10 most disappointing TV series cancellations of 2023.
How Women’s Magazines Ignited a Revolution
When Ms. was founded in 1971, the vast majority of publications for women were about homemaking, parenting advice and fashion and beauty tips. Ms. was far from that, created with the intention of giving a national voice to the feminist movement of the ‘70s—and railing against the idea of the perfect homemaking housewife that was perpetuated by many of the other “for women” publications.
It’s a setting that doesn’t seem too foreign. “The levers of power are very imbalanced still to this very day, not only on sex but also race and ethnicity,” said Kathy Spillar, Ms executive editor. “Ms. has played a major role in constantly putting that in front of the public so that people understand.”
(This essay is part of the “Feminist Journalism is Essential to Democracy” project—Ms. magazine’s latest installment of Women & Democracy, presented in partnership with the International Women’s Media Foundation.)
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.”
(This essay is part of the “Feminist Journalism is Essential to Democracy” project—Ms. magazine’s latest installment of Women & Democracy, presented in partnership with the International Women’s Media Foundation.)