Herstory

Feminist Lessons from the 2000s: The Power of a Feminist Majority

PUBLISHED 6/9/2026 by

The 2000s opened with a contradiction: Feminist ideas had never been more popular—polls found that overwhelming majorities of women and substantial majorities of men agreed with the basic definition of feminism—yet conservatives controlled Washington and were steadily advancing restrictions on reproductive freedom.

George W. Bush entered the White House and immediately reinstated the global gag rule. Congress passed the first federal abortion ban since Roe v. Wade. Abstinence-only sex education received a flood of federal funding. And feminists watched nervously as Bush filled Supreme Court vacancies, aware that the future of abortion rights could hinge on those appointments.

Meanwhile, Ms. and the Feminist Majority Foundation joined forces, combining journalism and organizing at a moment when both would be needed.

The human consequences of these policies were impossible to ignore. Women like Martha Mendoza, who lost a wanted pregnancy at 19 weeks, found themselves trapped by abortion restrictions that limited doctors’ ability to provide care.

At the same time, feminists were building one of the largest movements in the country. In April 2004, more than 1 million people flooded the National Mall for the March for Women’s Lives, carrying signs, chanting “This is what democracy looks like!” and demanding protection for reproductive freedom.

Two years later, Ms. revived its historic “We Have Had Abortions” petition, first published in 1972, gathering hundreds of new signatures in defiance of mounting attacks on abortion rights.

Yet the decade also demonstrated the power of a movement that had become a cultural majority. Feminists helped secure over-the-counter access to emergency contraception, elected the first woman Speaker of the House in Nancy Pelosi, and delivered a decisive gender gap victory for Barack Obama in 2008.

By the end of the decade, the White House had once again rescinded the global gag rule and expanded support for reproductive healthcare.

The lesson of the 2000s is that public support alone is not enough—but it matters. Even when political institutions lag behind public opinion, a determined majority can organize, mobilize and lay the groundwork for transformative change.

This essay is part of Feminist Lessons—part 2 of Ms.’ our three-part FEMINIST 250 project—which explores what each decade of modern feminist history can teach us about power, democracy, backlash and social change.

Feminist Lessons From the 1990s: How Women Became a Political Force

PUBLISHED 6/9/2026 by

The 1990s began with feminists determined not to surrender the ground they had fought for in the Reagan era—and almost immediately, the stakes became impossible to ignore.

In October 1991, millions of Americans watched Anita Hill testify before an all-male Senate Judiciary Committee about sexual harassment allegations against Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. Outside the hearing room, seven women members of Congress marched to the Senate in protest. Inside living rooms across the country, conversations about workplace harassment that had long been dismissed or ignored suddenly became national news.

When Thomas was confirmed anyway, many women responded not with resignation, but with political action.

The result was the 1992 “Year of the Woman.” At the start of the decade, only two women served in the U.S. Senate. Then voters elected four new women senators in a single election cycle, including Carol Moseley Braun, the first Black woman ever elected to the Senate. Women candidates flooded congressional races, and women voters helped decide the presidential election.

Once in office, this new generation of lawmakers translated representation into policy, championing landmark legislation including the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Violence Against Women Act and the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act.

Women also won expanded investments in women’s health and services for survivors of violence, while Ruth Bader Ginsburg joined the Supreme Court and women entered Cabinet positions in unprecedented numbers.

Yet the decade’s gains unfolded alongside mounting threats. Antiabortion violence escalated, with clinic bombings, arsons and murders targeting providers and staff. Conservative media figures like Rush Limbaugh built audiences by mainstreaming misogyny and resentment, helping create the foundation for today’s right-wing media ecosystem.

But despite those forces, feminism entered the mainstream: By the mid-1990s, large majorities of both women and men identified with feminist values.

The lesson of the 1990s is that political power matters. When women organize, vote, run for office and govern, they do more than change who holds power—they change what government can accomplish.

This essay is part of Feminist Lessons—part 2 of Ms.’ our three-part FEMINIST 250 project—which explores what each decade of modern feminist history can teach us about power, democracy, backlash and social change.

Feminist Lessons From the 1980s: Why Every Movement Faces Backlash

PUBLISHED 6/9/2026 by

The 1980s opened with a sense of uncertainty for feminists. Just years after the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, the passage of Title IX and the near-ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, Ronald Reagan swept into office backed by a newly energized religious right determined to reverse many of the gains women had won in the previous decade.

Across the country, antiabortion activists organized at the state level, the ERA’s ratification deadline expired, and conservative leaders framed feminism itself as a threat to American values. What had felt like a period of rapid progress in the 1970s suddenly gave way to a fierce political and cultural backlash.

The decade was marked by escalating attacks on reproductive freedom. Reagan expanded antiabortion policies, implemented the global gag rule and sought to further entrench the Hyde Amendment’s restrictions on abortion funding. Meanwhile, antiabortion extremists targeted clinics and providers with bombings, assaults and intimidation campaigns.

Throughout the decade, Ms. documented the real-world consequences of these policies, particularly for poor women and women of color, while warning that the fight over abortion was fundamentally about women’s autonomy, equality and power.

Yet the 1980s were also a decade of feminist resilience. Women identified an emerging gender gap in voting patterns, rallied behind Geraldine Ferraro’s historic vice presidential campaign and reintroduced the Equal Rights Amendment year after year.

By the decade’s end, a majority of women—and two-thirds of younger women—identified as feminists.

The lesson of the 1980s is that backlash is often a sign of a movement’s success. Faced with powerful opposition, feminists did not retreat. They adapted, organized and laid the groundwork for the political breakthroughs that would follow in the decades ahead.

This essay is part of Feminist Lessons—part 2 of Ms.’ our three-part FEMINIST 250 project—which explores what each decade of modern feminist history can teach us about power, democracy, backlash and social change.

Feminist Lessons from the 1970s: How Feminists Transformed American Life

PUBLISHED 6/9/2026 by

In 1972, when Ms. first hit newsstands, abortion was illegal in most of the country. Women could be denied credit cards, mortgages and loans without a husband’s signature. Newspapers still segregated job listings into “Help Wanted: Male” and “Help Wanted: Female.” There were no federal protections against pregnancy discrimination, no domestic violence shelters in most communities, and only a handful of rape crisis centers nationwide. Just 15 women served in Congress, and none sat on the Supreme Court, served as governors or held Cabinet positions.

For millions of women, inequality was not abstract—it was written into law, policy and everyday life.

Yet the 1970s also became one of the most transformative decades in modern American history. Through organizing, protest, journalism and political action, feminists forced issues long dismissed as private matters into the national spotlight. The inaugural issue of Ms. featured the groundbreaking “We Have Had Abortions” petition; a year later, the Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade. The decade brought new access to higher-paying jobs, new financial independence through the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, workplace protections through the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, and growing public recognition of domestic violence and sexual harassment as systemic problems demanding public solutions.

This essay is part of Feminist Lessons—part 2 of Ms.’ our three-part FEMINIST 250 project—which explores what each decade of modern feminist history can teach us about power, democracy, backlash and social change.

The lesson of the 1970s is that social change can happen faster than it seems. Rights that once appeared politically impossible became mainstream demands. Conversations that had been confined to kitchens and consciousness-raising groups reshaped laws, workplaces and institutions.

Feminists did more than win a series of reforms—they transformed what Americans believed women could expect from their democracy.

Remembering the Senate’s Passage of the 19th Amendment; June Primary Wins and Losses for Women; and Why Women Are Leading the Fight Against AI Data Centers

PUBLISHED 6/5/2026 by

Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation in politics, on boards, in sports and entertainment, in judicial offices and in the private sector in the U.S. and around the world—with a little gardening and goodwill mixed in for refreshment!

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This week marked the 107th anniversary of the U.S. Senate’s passage of the 19th Amendment, a reminder that democratic progress is rarely swift and never inevitable. Forty-one years after it was first introduced in Congress, the amendment’s passage reflected decades of organizing, advocacy and persistence by women determined to claim a voice in American democracy.

More than a century later, the anniversary offers an opportunity not only to celebrate that achievement, but also to reflect on the unfinished work of building a democracy that truly includes everyone.

That work continues to shape elections today. From consequential June primary contests across the country to debates over voting systems, women’s representation and democratic participation remain central to the political landscape. This week’s Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation roundup highlights key election results, emerging candidates and reform efforts that could influence who runs, who wins and whose voices are heard in the years ahead.

Also featured are new research connecting attacks on women’s and LGBTQ rights to broader threats to democracy, growing opposition to AI data centers led by women organizers, barriers facing women candidates and officeholders, and inspiring examples of women advancing political change around the world.

Together, these stories underscore a simple but enduring truth: Democracy works best when it is designed to include all of us.

What if Women Really Went Back? Viral Thriller ‘Yesteryear’ Deconstructs the Dark Side of Tradwife Culture

PUBLISHED 6/5/2026 by

What if women really went back? That question sits at the center of Caro Claire Burke’s 2026 debut novel and viral summer read Yesteryear.

At a moment when tradwife influencers are building massive audiences by romanticizing domesticity, submission and “traditional” gender roles, Burke asks readers to imagine what life inside those arrangements actually looks like for the women who lived them—and what rights and freedoms were sacrificed along the way.

Yesteryear follows wealthy, polished (at least on the outside) tradwife influencer Natalie Heller Mills, who has built a carefully curated online brand around nostalgic femininity. But as the fantasy unravels, Burke exposes the gap between aestheticized womanhood and women’s lived experience.

A (Brief) History of Women’s Rights, 1600 to Present

PUBLISHED 6/3/2026 by and

From the Haudenosaunee women who successfully challenged warfare in the 17th century, to today’s feminist organizers defending democracy, reproductive freedom and civil rights, the struggle for women’s equality has never been a straight line. It is a story of persistence, resistance and collective action spanning centuries.

Compiled by editors at Ms. and researchers from the National Women’s History Alliance, this women’s history timeline traces the interconnected histories of feminism, abolition, labor organizing, civil rights, reproductive justice, LGBTQ+ liberation and democratic participation.

No timeline can fully capture more than 400 years of feminist history, let alone every movement, leader, victory and setback that has shaped the ongoing fight for equality. Rather than offering a comprehensive account, this chronology highlights pivotal moments and turning points that help tell the story of how women have expanded the boundaries of freedom, democracy and human rights in the United States and beyond.

The timeline is part of Ms. magazine’s FEMINIST 250: Founding Feminists project, a multimedia essay series marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence by examining the women and feminist movements that have worked to make the nation’s founding promises more fully realized. Through reported features, essays, interviews and historical analysis, FEMINIST 250 explores not only where we have been, but where we must go next to achieve true equality.

FEMINIST 250’s Parts 2 and 3—Feminist Lessons and Feminist Futures—drop this month on MsMagazine.com.

Buckle Up, the Primaries Are Coming: From New Mexico to California, Women’s Representation Is on the Ballot

PUBLISHED 5/29/2026 by

Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation in politics, on boards, in sports and entertainment, in judicial offices and in the private sector in the U.S. and around the world—with a little gardening and goodwill mixed in for refreshment!

This week:

—June primary contests will take place in 18 states.
—Concerning trends are taking place for women’s representation in New Jersey.
—The American Women’s History Museum on the National Mall is at risk.
—All 15 men in Donald Trump’s original Cabinet remain, but four of its seven original women are now left.

… and more.

Black Women Political Candidates Are Expected to Be ‘Likable,’ Qualified and Tireless. Men Aren’t.

PUBLISHED 5/28/2026 by

What I experienced during my 2014 run for office wasn’t entirely unfamiliar to me.

The year before, I had run for president of the Young Democrats of America (YDA), a national political party office role, against a popular opponent. The opponent was a Black man, so race wasn’t a factor in the election; however, gender was.

Before my campaign, I was vice president of YDA and had heard only good things about my service: my fundraising efforts, the partnerships I had engineered with progressive organizations, and programming coordination for the membership. However, when I decided to run for president, I instantly became ‘difficult to work with’ and ‘mean.’

Research on women candidates confirms that voters are less likely to vote for a woman if they don’t like her; by comparison, voters don’t need to like men to elect them. But when I was running as the Black woman candidate in a seven-candidate primary for public office, with two other women in the race, I noticed almost nothing about my being ‘difficult’ and more about my ability and work ethic.

My experience running for public office reflected the systemic bias and double standards not just for women candidates, but Black women candidates who dare to aspire to any sort of political leadership—and that needed to change.

We need more progressive Black women in public office for a myriad reasons, but we also specifically need the younger generation of Instigators in office, candidates who understand the times in which we live currently.

Electing more Black women will take real investment in changing the biases and attitudes (conscious and unconscious) of mostly white donors, media, campaign staff, consultants and institutional leaders to help shift the culture and systems. But this support needs to be substantively increased so that we can rebuild an inclusive, multiracial democracy with the leaders we want and need.

(Excerpted from The Instigators: How Black Women Have Been Essential to American Democracy by Atima Omara.)

Black Women, Beauty Politics and the Power of Rage in ‘Is God Is’

PUBLISHED 5/23/2026 by

In one of the film’s most surreal scenes, the twins at the center of Is God Is—Racine, “the Rough One,” and Anaia, “the Quiet One”—pretend to be strippers for a room full of men. But while Racine is welcomed, Anaia is rejected because her scarred face disrupts the men’s fantasies.

That moment crystallizes one of the film’s central questions: What happens when Black women refuse to shrink themselves for the comfort of others?

In Aleshea Harris’ Gothic revenge thriller, ugliness becomes both a burden and a source of power, as the film transforms into a stereotype-busting meditation on misogynoir, beauty politics and righteous rage.

As the twins travel cross-country seeking vengeance against the father who burned their mother alive, Harris layers the conventions of the revenge genre with distinctly Black feminist aesthetics. The film moves between absurd comedy, trap music, intimate sisterhood and brutal violence while interrogating the ways Black women are expected to manage their pain, suppress their anger and perform acceptability. Anaia’s scarred face and Racine’s consuming rage become mirrors of the same misogynoir that shapes Black women’s lives—whether through beauty standards, domestic violence or the demand to remain silent.

What makes Is God Is so striking is its refusal to look away from the “ugly.” Harris insists that Black women marked by violence, scars and fury still deserve visibility, complexity and even divinity.

The film embraces the “angry Black woman” and the “ugly” Black woman as figures worthy of space, power and humanity. In doing so, it expands the tradition of Black feminist filmmaking by asking viewers to confront the realities dominant culture would rather ignore—and to recognize the beauty, dignity and selfhood that exist beyond respectability.