Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation: Court Halts Fearless Fund’s Grants to Black Women; Mexico’s First and Iceland’s Next Women Presidents

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

This week: Discover why the Fearless Fund has been halted by the courts and its implications for DEI programs. Explore the ongoing challenges in achieving global gender balance despite historic gains. Join us in celebrating the victories of Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s first woman president, and Halla Tomasdottir, Iceland’s next president. Additionally, dive into our Summer Reading series, where we spotlight the incredible books our team at RepresentWomen is delving into this summer.

Keeping Score: Trump Convicted of 34 Felonies; Biden Celebrates Pride Month; New Anti-Abortion Law in Louisiana

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: Trump convicted of 34 felony charges; President Biden officially recognizes Pride Month; a new law criminalizes medication abortion in Louisiana; Meghan Markle reflects on Ms.; the first Professional Women’s Hockey League championship; Mexico elected their first woman president; and more.

Biden’s Border Closure Is a Gamble That Won’t Pay Off

At 12 a.m. on June 5, 2024, the southwest border closed to thousands of people desperate to reach the United States. By taking matters into his own hands, President Biden is following the oft-heard mantra of the last decade: Executive action is the last resort when Congress doesn’t take its responsibilities seriously. However, to justify the border suspension, the president had to determine that something about people who didn’t have permission to enter the U.S., as a category of individuals, meant that their admission—even temporarily—would threaten the best interests of this country. 

Until we all stand up for genuine immigration reform that tackles the tough questions of managing migration flows, ensuring sufficient legal immigration pathways, honoring our protection obligations and valuing immigration as a public good, politicians of both parties will take the easy way out; the odds are good that nobody wins.

A Georgia Law Restricts What Educators Say in the Classroom—But I Refuse to Be Silent

Reading may be fundamental to students’ education, but according to Georgia lawmakers, this is only the case if the ideas students read do not reflect “divisive concepts.” On such matters, educators are supposed to remain silent. 

Georgia’s so-called divisive concepts law does not expressly define the term. Therefore, even those who may wish to comply with the regulation can have trouble understanding what is prohibited.

As both a mother and a college department chair, I am concerned about these and other legislative actions, which aim to silence certain ideas. My perspective as a racialized minority matters.

Because We’re ‘Still Working 9 to 5’: Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton Win ERA Coalition’s Trailblazer Award at Hollywood Premiere

The ERA Coalition Forward awarded Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda and Dolly Parton with the Women’s Equality Trailblazer Award for their fearless work to bring the film Still Working 9 to 5 to fruition, as well as Fonda and Tomlin’s steadfast commitment to getting the ERA enshrined in the Constitution. 

As Tomlin told Ms., “The ERA is fundamental to the culture. We’re one of the few industrialized countries that does not have some kind of law… [for] equality between the sexes,” and Fonda leaned in with a message for Congress: “Come on! It’s time! It’s been 100 years!” Then added, “It’s been ratified, so get it published already!”

Beyoncé Banned From the Classroom? The Race and Gender Debates Continue

Pop star Beyoncé Knowles-Carter continues to be a catalyst for cultural provocation. She dares to suggest that African Americans are vital to U.S. culture and are equally worthy subjects that require our attention and recognition of their value through their inclusion in our cultural heritage. if Kimberlè Crenshaw is the theory, Beyoncé is the practice. Our laws emerge from our culture, and those we hold up as culture bearers – including our pop stars – have the power to elevate the status of those most marginalized and to make visible our different political struggles.

Senate GOP Blocks Right to Contraception Act

Wednesday afternoon, Senate Republicans blocked the Right to Contraception Act, a Democrat-led measure that would have codified the right to contraception into federal law.

“It’s very simple. It just says you have the right to use and healthcare providers have the right to provide contraception,” said Rachel Fey, vice president of policy and strategic partnerships at Power to Decide. “I think this bill is as clear as it gets, and if you can’t get behind that, I don’t think as a policymaker you should be able to say that you’re pro contraception. I think that is something that people deserve to know about their elected officials.”

Low-Income Parents and Caregivers Deserve a Federal Guaranteed Income Program

Across the U.S., caregivers—especially moms—are being left behind by policies that don’t value the work they do every day. Families are facing systemic problems like lack of access to childcare, transportation, safe housing and nutritious food.

Federal programs that address these issues without unnecessary and stigmatizing restrictions would enable caregivers to provide high quality care and set their children up for success.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back: Celebrating a Win for Mexico Women, Mourning a Loss for Texas Ones

The start of this week marked a feminist milestone for our southern neighbors: the election of the first-ever woman president in Mexico—a culmination of decades of political interventions like gender quotas and parity mandates aimed expressly at elevating more women to higher office. 

Just days before, in Texas—home to 10 percent of U.S. women of reproductive age—the state Supreme Court issued a huge loss to women, in the form of a callous ruling that forces pregnancy on women until (and even past) the brink of death and mandates them to continue pregnancies even when their fetus has no chance of survival after birth. To wish such suffering on pregnant Texans and their children goes beyond heartless indifference. It is violent and inhumane.

Felicidades a mis hermanas en México. And buena suerte—good luck—to my sisters in Texas. You are not alone.