More Than A Magazine, A Movement
The death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Sept. 18 has reignited a conversation about women’s rights—including financial ones, which modern Western women hardly question.
Now, with potential rollbacks looming, experts recall the decades of work to secure landmark women’s rights.
In the midst of an uncontrolled pandemic, instead of focusing on policies to prevent death and disease, the Trump administration is pushing forward with its dangerous expansion of the global gag rule (GGR), which is a threat to health in so many countries.
We have a long way to go to ensure that the U.S. regains its position as a leader in global health.
On Nov. 3, Quawan “Bobby” Charles, a Black 15-year-old, was found dead with his body dismembered in rural Louisiana. The handlings of his disappearance are being called “absent and negligent” at best.
Trump’s behavior has so dramatically lowered the bar for what is and should be expected of adult male behavior that it will take years to undo the regression. Come January 20, we will see if our nation’s “moral imagination” can be reignited—this time with infinitely more competent and enlightened 21st century leadership.
The Labor Department reported an alarming 865,000 women left the workforce in the month of September.
The Female Future of Work report shows how old the barriers faced by working women are and how seldom U.S. policymakers cared. The new report brings a recognition to working women’s history.
The work and family prong of Biden’s agenda for women includes high-quality, affordable child care for all families; free universal kindergarten for 3- and 4-year-olds; support for increased access to after-school, weekend and summer programs; programs to care for older Americans and people with disabilities; paid family and medical leave; and flexible, fair work schedules.
(This piece is the third of a multi-part series covering President-Elect Biden’s platform for women. New installations of the series will be released on Wednesdays.)
Biden’s White House staff is falling into place, and Cabinet members are being announced: Antony Blinken will be Biden’s secretary of state; Linda Thomas-Greenfield will become the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations; Michèle Flournoy will be secretary of defense; John Kerry will focus on climate change; Alejandro Mayorkas has been nominated secretary of the Department of Homeland Security; Avril Haines has been nominated for director of national intelligence; and Jake Sullivan will be the national security adviser.
Under usual circumstances, risk factors for violence perpetration include job loss, economic stress, substance abuse, depression and feelings of isolation; all of these issues have worsened as the pandemic has continued. As a result, intimate partner violence and femicide have increased dramatically.
To end violence in society, we must address the drivers: the perpetrators of violence who are most often men and boys.
“My parents, understandably, do not want me to come home for the holidays—the risk for everyone is too high. … I will imagine my path home now, so I may travel it tomorrow.”
The selection of Janet Yellen as the first woman to serve at the helm of Treasury and oversee the biggest economy in the world is noteworthy. But Yellen’s appointment is in keeping with research that shows women are especially likely to be selected for leadership in the middle of crises. Is she being set up to fail?