Even in states where abortion is still legal, abortion is not necessarily available through college health services, leaving students to find their own care. In New York City, students at Barnard College—the historically women’s college affiliated with Columbia University just across the street—are working to help their peers access abortions. Because Barnard does not currently offer abortion, finding care is still a struggle even for students in New York—a state that’s become a haven for out-of-state abortion patients—even at a women’s college that was one of the Seven Sisters.
Stop Trashing Trans People. Get Smarter About Gender.
Throwing trans and nonbinary people under the bus is a terrible compromise to the very authoritarian ambitions that liberals say they’re stepping up to fight. We need more love and support for people who are stigmatized and under assault, not less. And we desperately need more understanding of sex, gender and sexuality.
Let’s equip ourselves with the intellectual tools that will help us understand how would-be tyrants use gender to divide us.
Donald Trump Rides Patriarchy Back to the White House
Feminism simply denotes believing in the political, economic and social equality of the sexes—yet Trump and his allies viciously demeaned it at every turn.
White male supremacy, which Trump ran on, continues to play an outsized role in exacerbating the divide that afflicts our nation. While not widely understood, men, too, are damaged by patriarchy; it diminishes us, undermines our humanity.
To bridge our political, cultural and gender chasm, we’ll need to recognize what the election reflected: Patriarchy’s grip and the assault on feminism are two sides of the same coin. It’s on us now to make that part of the national conversation. There’s a lot of work to do. One take-away from the Harris campaign still rings true: “We’re not going back.”
House and Senate Swing to GOP, but Narrow Margins and Special Elections Could Shape Future Balance of Power
House races in many states remained uncertain for days after the election, but Republicans ultimately secured the House majority. Republicans also took control of the Senate, after flipping several key seats (West Virginia, Montana, Ohio) and holding others (Nebraska, Florida, Texas) to secure a majority—marking the first GOP trifecta since 2017.
Debunking Five Common Myths About Birth Control
Barely a week after Trump was reelected to the White House, for many in the U.S., access to birth control is seeming shakier than it did at the start of this month. But is it possible that young women are more dubious about birth control than past generations?
The last few years has seen a rise of social media influencers—many of them Gen Z—putting forth false and misleading claims on TikTok and YouTube about the safety and efficacy of hormonal birth control. In honor of Thanks, Birth Control Day on Nov. 14, Ms. spoke with Dr. Raegan about some of the most common social media misconceptions when it comes to birth control. Here’s what she said about separating the facts from the fiction.
Post-Election Reality Check: Tracking Feminist Setbacks, Resilience and Victories
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’s special post-election edition is tracking the 2024 election’s bright spots, feminist victories and a full rundown of the challenges and dangers we now face.
Project 2025: A Blueprint for Limiting Gender and Racial Equity in America
Project 2025 is the reassertion of an old-fashioned hegemonic masculinity vastly out of step with the American people—even among self-identified conservatives. It’s the result of decades-long organizing on the religious right, but the underpinning ideologies can be traced back to the colonization of the United States.
‘Forced to Return to the Butcher’s Lair’: The Reality of Abortion Before Roe and the Fear of What’s to Come
Abortions are sought by a wide range of people for many different reasons. There is no single story. Telling stories of then and now shows how critical abortion has been and continues to be for women and girls. (Share your abortion story by emailing myabortionstory@msmagazine.com.)
“Instead of protecting our right to freedom of choice, they would have women go through what I went through and perhaps die in the process.”
“The night before the procedure, the nurse gave me a sleeping pill and as I became sleepy, I shed a few tears. But, I knew that it was the only decision for me as the baby was unplanned. I was too young and my spirit had to be eternally free to create and experience my own type of utopia.”
The Movement to Swear Off Men: No Sex. No Dating. No Marriage. No Children.
Following former President Donald Trump’s election victory, Google searches related to 4B—a fringe South Korean feminist movement that made a name for itself in the mid to late 2010s—surged in the United States.
It’s called “4B” because “B” is a shorthand for the word “no” in Korean—and a series of “nos” is what the movement calls for: No sex. No dating. No marrying men. No children.
“Young men expect sex, but they also want us to not be able to have access to abortion. … They can’t have both.”
Books in Dumpsters, But Ideas Thrive: The Resilient Legacy of New College of Florida
You’ve likely read about New College of Florida’s (NCF) transformation from a bastion of non-conformity and progressive ideals to a “Hillsdale of the South.” This telling homage refers to a private, conservative Christian school in Michigan that prides itself on not accepting federal aid for students, which allows it to dispense with federal rules like following Title IX guidance on cases of sexual discrimination.
As an educator for over 20 years and a proud alum (1993-1997) of New College, the embattled public small liberal arts college in Florida, I think of the influence of education as rhizomatic. It creates an underground network of stems and shoots that produce new growth. It’s a nonlinear network with multiple pathways—much like a diaspora—one where each node is distinct but also remains connected.