Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation: Honoring Dianne Feinstein’s Legacy; India’s New Gender Quota Law Is a Win For Women

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Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation. 

This week: To honor Senator Feinstein’s legacy, let’s pave the way for a new generation of women leaders by addressing the barriers women face in politics as candidates and as elected officials; we need to adopt feminist foreign policies, as 16 countries have done around the world; India’s legislature has recently passed a new bill that will reserve one-third of the seats in parliament for women, but gender parity remains far out of reach for most countries; and more.

Rest in Power, Sen. Dianne Feinstein: ‘The Feminist Movement Has Lost a True Friend’

Sen. Dianne Feinstein—the first woman president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, the first woman mayor of San Francisco, and one of two of the first women elected to the U.S. Senate from California, the same year (1992) as Sen. Barbara Boxer—died on Thursday, Sept. 28. She was 90 years old. 

As the longest serving woman in the Senate, Feinstein was also the first woman to have chaired the Senate Rules Committee and the Senate Intelligence Committee, as well as one of the first women to serve on the Senate Judiciary Committee. She was known for her advocacy on many feminist and progressive issues, including abortion rights, the Equal Rights Amendment, voting rights, banning assault weapons and gun reforms, LGBTQIA+ equality, the rights of children, the rights of prisoners, and healthcare access. Her legislative efforts—from reproductive rights and equal pay, to combating gender-based violence—have consistently reflected a deep understanding of the challenges faced by women in various spheres of life. 

Here’s what some of her colleagues and friends had to say about her legacy.

Keeping Score: Alabama Map Violates Voting Rights Act; Coco Gauff Thanks Billie Jean King After Victory in U.S. Open

In every issue of Ms., we track research on our progress in the fight for equality, catalogue can’t-miss quotes from feminist voices and keep tabs on the feminist movement’s many milestones. We’re Keeping Score online, too—in this biweekly roundup.

This week: Supreme Court rejects second Alabama congressional map proposal; Coco Gauff wins U.S. Open; Vassar professors sue the college for undervaluing women faculty; legislators introduce bill to extend childcare funding; Tennessee’s first trans elected official; and more.

Childcare Cliff: 3.2 Million Children Likely to Lose Spots With End of Federal Funds

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Beginning Sept. 30, 2023, states will face a steep dropoff in federal childcare investment. Without congressional action, this cliff will have dire consequences.

More than 3 million children are projected to lose access to childcare nationwide, and 70,000 childcare programs are likely to close. This will have ripple effects for parents forced out of work or to cut their work hours, for businesses who will lose valuable employees or experience the impact of their employees’ childcare disruptions, and state economies that will lose tax revenue and jobs in the childcare sector as a result.

Hell Hath No Fury Like an Accomplished Woman Facing Down a Man-Boy

I don’t think Nikki Haley should be president. But there’s no real comparison between her bona fides and Vivek Ramaswamy’s. She has spent the last 20 years working her way up the political chain. She’s held legislative roles and executive ones. She has terrible ideas, but she’s done what so many women have: Gone through the process, collected accomplishments, waited her turn. And now she’s experiencing what so many women have: A young man, buoyed by his own enormous ego, skipping the hard parts and the learning-how-to-do-it parts and feeling entitled to power, simply on the basis of his potential greatness and self-assuredness.

No wonder she’s livid.

Asian Americans Are a Powerful Voting Bloc. It’s Time for the Political World to Start Acting Like It

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) are the fastest growing racial group in the U.S. and a powerful voting bloc. Yet, they remain underrepresented in almost every industry, including politics. 

AAPI voters feel ignored and overlooked by both political parties. And there are only two AAPI senators—Mazie Hirono and Tammy Duckworth—and 19 representatives currently serving at the federal level. There have only been six AAPI governors in the history of the U.S., none of whom are currently in office. 

Electing Asian American and Pacific Islanders isn’t just about visibility; it leads to better policies, better lives and improved livelihoods. Investing in AAPI organizing and representation can’t wait.

Women Deserve to Live in a Nation Free of Gun Violence: The Ms. Q&A with Kris Brown

This fall, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in U.S. v. Rahimi, a case about a Texas law that prevents individuals subject to domestic violence restraining orders from possessing firearms. In a country where an abuser’s access to a firearm makes it five times more likely that he will kill his victim, where gun ownership continues to increase and where domestic violence and mass shootings are fundamentally entwined, a ruling overturning the Texas law (and making similar laws impermissible) would be disastrous.

“I believe America stands for the proposition that you can walk down the street and not get shot,” Kris Brown, president of Brady United Against Gun Violence, told Ms. “And I’ll never stop fighting for that.”

Billboards Throughout South and Midwest Advertise Abortion Access: ‘Pregnant? You Still Have a Choice’

For years, anti-abortion groups have dominated the American landscape with billboards. Now abortion rights supporters are battling back with their own.

Shout Your Abortion recently posted six abortion rights billboards along interstate 55 through five states that have banned abortion—from Memphis, Tenn., to Carbondale, Ill. The billboards include messages like, “God’s Plan Includes Abortion” and “Abortion is Okay: You Know What’s Best for You.” 

Upcoming SCOTUS Case Exposes Domestic Violence Victims to New Risks

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The Supreme Court is set to rule on United States v. Rahimi this term, a case which will decide whether the government can continue to prevent alleged domestic abusers with a restraining order from possessing firearms. 

Those of us on the frontlines of this battle must speak now. We can’t control the outcome of this case, but we can point to the data and fight for the survivors who come through the doors of our hospitals and social service organizations. We can’t afford to stand on the sidelines and let victims down.

‘Banned! Voices from the Classroom’: The Path to an Elite Education, in the Absence of Affirmative Action

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With a recent Supreme Court ruling gutting affirmative action, parents and students find themselves navigating a landscape where the rules have shifted with little notice.

A high-schooler about to apply for college, and his mom, join their voices: “Both of us feel whiplashed by the constant yo-yo between our identities and contributions. It is in these sudden changes that we stand together, searching for understanding. In our shared experiences of marginalization, two generations can transcend difference, because we both know what it means to be made invisible, and we each feel the well-intentioned pressure to get it right the first time because of insider information and academic achievements.”