Arab countries have made strides increasing women’s representation in government, but there’s still progress to be made to achieve political equality.
The U.S. Is Long Overdue for “Madam President’s Day”: Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation
Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation.
This week: About 70 of the world’s 193 countries have ever had a female head of state; the Center for American Women and Politics will being disaggregating data by race and ethnicity; men still outnumber women by two to one in positions of power; the need to meet the needs of caregivers; register for RepresentWomen’s Democracy Solutions Summit; feminist must-reads; and more.
February 2022 Reads for the Rest of Us
Each month, I provide Ms. readers with a list of new books being published by writers from historically excluded groups. The aims of these lists are threefold:
1. I want to do my part in the disruption of what has been the acceptable “norm” in the book world for far too long—white, cis, heterosexual, male;
2. I want to amplify amazing works by writers who are women, Black, Indigenous, Latinx, APIA/AAPI, international, LGBIA+, TGNC, queer, disabled, fat, immigrant, Muslim, neurodivergent, sex-positive or of other historically marginalized identities—you know, the rest of us; and
3. I want to challenge and encourage you all to buy, borrow and read them!
The “Men’s Hotline”: Designated Call Centers for Potential Abusers—A Revolutionary Idea That Seems To Be Working
The largest family violence center in Texas is in the testing phase of an “anger hotline” where potential abusers can get peer coaching when in distress. Any full-fledged “Men’s Hotline” would be a first in the United States. Other countries—like the United Kingdom and Israel—already have designated call centers for male victims and potential abusers. It was a revolutionary idea … that seems to be working.
If the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Met the Dynamic Mrs. Dennett—Sex Ed And Censorship Would Be So 20th Century
Like other fans of Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, I’ll be binge-watching when the fourth season of the hit series finally drops on Friday, Feb. 18.
I can’t help but wonder if the fictional Midge Maisel was influenced by the real-life Mary Ware Dennett or what would happen if they met. From 1915 through the 1930s, Dennett’s pioneering battles against U.S. government censorship helped pave the way for the freedom of speech Mrs. Maisel relies on and fights to expand.
Meanwhile in Afghanistan, Women Are Suffering Needlessly This Winter
In Afghanistan, most secondary schools remain closed to girls, and women high school teachers who have not been paid for the last seven months have resorted to begging in the streets to feed their families.
The events in Afghanistan since August prove yet again that in times of crisis, the rights of women are demoted, devalued and expendable. They also show the propensity with which the U.N. and its member states sometimes accept as a fait accompli the cultural norms that place girls and women at risk of the worst physical harm; are denied access to their most basic human rights; and support their unquestioned subordination.
Most People Want Over-the-Counter Abortion Pills, New Study Finds
Imagine a world where you can find abortion pills on the pharmacy or grocery store shelf next to condoms and pregnancy tests and buy them without a prescription. A new study by researchers at Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health found that pregnant people seeking abortion care were overwhelmingly interested in having over-the-counter access to medication abortion.
For Women, the Time To Run Is Now
Start your engines, organize your campaign and submit your filing paperwork, ladies—because now is the time to run. Women are critically underrepresented in government, regardless of the level or branch.
Female candidates should be motivated, too. The last two election cycles marked record-breaking numbers of women running for office and ultimately winning. Research in political science (like the work of Jennifer Lawless and Richard Fox) shows that when women run, they win—but they do not run as often as men do. This disparity in declaring candidacies leads to the gender gap in politics. A government “of the people, by the people, for the people” must include the people who aren’t men.
The Sound World of Harriet Tubman
In spring 2019, I went on a trip to the birthplace of Harriet Tubman. The experience of learning Tubman’s story set me on the trajectory to be able to explore the songs she sang, and the sound world in which she lived, so that we can better understand her life.
This essay is a sound collage and discussion of the early African American music culture that molded one of our most prolific ancestors.
Gen Z and the ERA: The Importance of a Generational Fight for Equal Rights
The Equal Rights Amendment has been in the works for almost 100 years. In 1972, the amendment passed in Congress. Now 50 years later, the required 38 states have voted to ratify the ERA—but it hasn’t yet been added to the U.S. Constitution after the Trump administration blocked the national archivist from certifying and publishing the ERA as the 28th Amendment. But no one is taking that as final.
I’m 20 years old and a senior at Long Island University Global. In conversation with other Gen Zers, here’s why the ERA is important to us and how we see our role in the fight today.