Demand IX Student Fellows Urge Campus Leaders to Rededicate Themselves to Title IX

PUBLISHED 8/22/2023 by

Focused on Title IX education and advocacy, Women X’s cross-campus fellowship has engaged 35 diverse women college students from 20 campuses across 10 U.S. states. For 12 weeks, the fellowship leads a select number of undergraduate students across college campuses. Those accepted into the cohort receive a scholarship covering the full cost of tuition, along with a stipend. Fellows spend the semester learning about Title IX with other student leaders across the country and collaborating on initiatives to spread its message on their campus.

Applications are currently open for upcoming cohorts of the Women X Demand IX fellowship, and the fellowship continues to expand.

Lessons to a Young Girl From Megan Rapinoe

PUBLISHED 8/21/2023 by

Megan Rapinoe hung up her soccer cleats after the final U.S. game of the 2023 World Cup. Rapinoe has proven herself as one of her generation’s most talented female players. Off the field, Rapinoe has been a leader on crucial social issues like LGBTQ+ rights, racial justice, gender equality and pay equity.

To many of her fans, her profile as a fierce agent for change is the defining component of her legacy. Count me among them.

How Congress Can Help Women and Girls in Conflict Zones

PUBLISHED 8/20/2023 by

U.S. foreign policy prevents the protection of refugees, those in conflict zones, and those impacted by natural disasters. Yet the House Appropriations Committee has chosen to pass a budget that will defund the agencies and programs that are most prepared to expertly respond to the needs of girls and women on conflict zones.

It is far past time that Congress passes the Abortion is Healthcare Everywhere Act, which will repeal the Helms Amendment; and the Support UNFPA Funding Act, which would restore funding to UNFPA for the next five years. With the stroke of a pen, the Biden administration also has the power to issue guidance to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on Helms Amendment interpretation, preventing a chilling effect and expanding the agency’s reach.

Key Gender Studies Staff Resign from New College of Florida, ‘The State Where Learning Goes to Die’

PUBLISHED 8/19/2023 by , and

Nicholas L. Clarkson, former assistant professor of gender studies at New College of Florida, has announced his resignation from the school, which used to be known as the most progressive public college in the state. Clarkson was the only full-time gender studies professor at New College.

“I have loved teaching at New College,” Clarkson wrote in a letter addressed to interim president and former Republican House speaker Robert Corcoran. “But now Florida is the state where learning goes to die.”

Over 40 professors have already resigned from New College in light of these attacks, according to Clarkson, who calls the mass exodus “an indictment of [Richard Corcoran] and the trustees’ actions, as well as the state’s regressive politics.”

Abortion Snitching Is Already Sending People to Jail

PUBLISHED 8/19/2023 by

Last month, Celeste Burgess was sentenced to 90 days in prison because she took abortion pills when she was 17 years old. The story of Celeste and her mother—who helped her get the pills and will be sentenced in September—went national.

This case was seen as a harbinger of intimate privacy violations to come. But this case also exemplifies a disturbing phenomenon in the genesis of abortion prosecutions: friends and community members reporting on each other.

‘Banned! Voices from the Classroom’: Call for Submissions

PUBLISHED 8/18/2023 by and

Ms. Classroom wants to hear from educators and students being impacted by legislation attacking public education, higher education, gender and sexuality studies, activism and social justice in education, and diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

Submit pitches and/or completed draft op-eds and reflections (between 500-800 words) to Aviva Dove-Viebahn at adove-viebahn@msmagazine.com. Posts will be accepted on a rolling basis, with posting beginning in August 2023.

Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation: Senate Could See Third Black Woman Senator in 234 Years; Key Races in Boulder and St. Paul

PUBLISHED 8/18/2023 by and

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

This week: the release of the 10th annual Gender Parity Index fueled discussions about U.S. women’s representation on social media; This November, Boulder will have its first ranked-choice mayoral contest; five women individually filed their candidacies for the St. Paul City Council; and more.

Ms. Global: 11-Year-Old Peruvian Rape Victim Denied Abortion; Indigenous Women in Canada Forcibly Sterilized; Fair Pay in FIFA Women’s World Cup

PUBLISHED 8/17/2023 by and

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 Peru, Afghanistan, Taiwan, Canada and more.

Anti-Abortion Groups Are Coming for Birth Control—Just as Reproductive Rights Activists Warned

PUBLISHED 8/17/2023 by

Dark money anti-abortion and pay-to-play groups are predictably responding to the FDA’s over-the-counter birth control pill decision with a disinformation campaign.

Access to a prescription-free contraceptive pill, the second most widely used form of contraception—more than ever—is an essential tool in the fight for reproductive justice.

Why Barbie, Greta and You Should Invest in a Better World

PUBLISHED 8/17/2023 by

Even when she’s got money to invest, a woman’s lack of knowledge often means she still entrusts her money decisions to men. Should she sell her diamonds and put them into bonds or real estate?

In the aftermath of Barbie, we must not discount the huge economic changes that have arisen for women since she was created in 1959. In the U.S., there’s a growing movement for wiser, more sustainable investing that better reflects women’s values. I’m hoping Greta Gerwig—whose film surpassed the $1 billion mark—will join.