More Than A Magazine, A Movement
The Feminist Majority Foundation is saddened to hear of the passing of a dear friend and an inspiring feminist activist, Maine State Representative Lois Galgay Reckitt.
Rep. Reckitt was known as a relentless activist on behalf of women and dedicated her life to fighting for equality. She served as the executive vice president of the National Organization for Women from 1984 to 1987, where she fought for LGBTQ rights and to end violence against women.
The people who are least responsible for this war—women, children, innocents of all kinds—are bearing the heaviest burdens of this war.
I’m on the side of the women whose children’s lives have been stolen, of the women who were told to flee but had nowhere to go, of the women who fled but were bombed anyway, of the women who don’t have clean water or medicine or electricity or a safe place to hide, of the women who like so many women are desperate down to the marrow to protect their children, of the women who cannot do that one singular thing, of the women scrawling names on their children’s limbs so someone might be able to identify them, of the women who are pulling their children’s bodies out of piles of rubble, of the women who lost their lives to a war they didn’t start and wanted nothing to do with.
The U.S. ranks as the 19th most dangerous country for women, 11th in maternal mortality, 30th in closing the gender pay gap, 75th in women’s political representation, and painfully lacks paid family leave and equal access to health care. But Ms. has always understood: Feminist movements around the world hold answers to some of the U.S.’s most intractable problems. Ms. Global is taking note of feminists worldwide.
This time with news from Mexico, Iran, Brazil, Somalia and more.
It was over 10 years ago that I first became aware of an enormous problem affecting my constituents and pregnant workers across the country after reading a 2012 op-ed on pregnancy discrimination in the workplace.
I took action immediately, contacting the author, Dina Bakst, co-founder and co-president of A Better Balance, promising to work together in writing a new piece of legislation to remedy the problem. From there, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) was born.
Now, there is a critical step remaining. We must ensure our government has the tools it needs to enforce the law to its full extent, so the PWFA’s vital protections are fully available to the pregnant and postpartum workers who are depending on them.
(This essay is a part of Ms. and A Better Balance’s Women & Democracy installment, all about the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act—a groundbreaking civil rights law ensuring pregnant and postpartum workers have the right to reasonable workplace accommodations. Bipartisan, pro-family and boldly feminist, the PWFA is both a lesson in democracy and a battleground for its defense against antidemocratic attacks.)
The number of women and girls living in conflict-affected countries reached 614 million in 2022—50 percent higher than the number in 2017. To end war and bring lasting peace, women must be involved at the highest levels of peacemaking and peace-building processes, no matter the size or shakiness of the proverbial negotiating table. And regardless of how many men with or without guns dominate the proceedings.
“Men are making the decisions, but it’s the women that feel the impact more. [That’s why] it’s really important for women to be part of the decision-making when it involves peace and security.”
More than 300 years after the Salem witch trials, a class of middle schoolers helped exonerate the sole remaining woman legally classified as a witch.
Originally expected to be a simple class project, the path to clearing Elizabeth Johnson Jr.’s name took three years and the help of a Massachusetts state senator, Diana DiZoglio (D). Unwed women were viewed with suspicion at the time of the trials, and many individuals convicted were later exonerated by their own descendants. With no descendants to clear her name, Johnson’s wrongful conviction remained in place—making her the last remaining witch in Salem history—until Carrie LaPierre’s class came to her aid.
Filmmakers Annika Hylmö and Dawn Green tell this story in their upcoming documentary, The Last Witch.
On Sunday, while attending a funeral service for 17-year-old Armita Geravand, renowned Iranian women’s rights attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh was arrested and beaten. A local news agency in Tehran said Sotoudeh’s grounds for arrest were “not wearing a headscarf” and “disturbing the society’s mental security.”
Other Iranian human rights activists, mourners and protesters were arrested alongside Sotoudeh—all of whom had assembled to honor Geravand, who was recently arrested and assaulted by the country’s morality police for not wearing a headscarf. Geravand eventually fell into a coma and died on Saturday, the day before the arrests.
Diversity, equity and inclusion efforts have become a lightning rod for debate in American higher education. At Rice University—a private university in Houston, Texas—officials admit impact is hard to measure, but they also see progress from their work.
(Ms. Classroom wants to hear from educators and students being impacted by legislation attacking public education, higher education, gender, race and sexuality studies, activism and social justice in education, and diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Submit pitches and/or op-eds and reflections to Ms. contributing editor Aviva Dove-Viebahn at adove-viebahn@msmagazine.com.)
House Speaker Mike Johnson’s path to the speakership was circuitous, but it puts an ally of one of the country’s most influential anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-abortion groups third in line for the presidency.
Last week, a group of menstrual product companies announced a new coalition to reimburse customers for the consumption taxes on menstrual care products, commonly known as the tampon tax. While the “Tampon Tax Back Coalition” may appear to be a victory for menstrual activism, the truth is more complicated.