Community Care Is Essential to Our Movements

Facing little to no support from outside systems like the government or other publicly funded programs, BIPOC and LGBTQ+ have developed creative ways to look out for each other and ensure the wellbeing of every member. This system, often referred to as “community care,” has also been a core tenant of the abortion access movement.

Growing up in a low-income Latinx community in Los Angeles, I witnessed firsthand what community care is really about.

#EmbraceEquity and Continue to Fight for the ERA

The first recorded “Woman’s Day” was observed across the United States on Feb. 28, 1909. The following year, according to the International Women’s Day history timeline, “more than one million women and men attended IWD rallies campaigning for women’s rights to work, vote, be trained, to hold public office and end discrimination.”

I think we can all agree that it’s more than a little frustrating that more than a century later, women across the world are still demanding equality in many of the same areas. Here in the United States, the Equal Rights Amendment—first drafted and introduced in Congress in 1923!—still hasn’t been formally published as the law of the land.

Ms. Global: Nigerian Elections; Spain Gains on Abortion and Trans Rights; Earthquake in Turkey and Syria Jeopardizes Pregnant Women

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 Spain, Nigeria, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Turkey and more.

Dads Get Paid More When They Have Kids—as Moms Earn Less

Stereotypes around parenthood are having a lasting effect on the gender pay gap, which has not budged in 20 years, according to a new study by Pew.

Men tend to increase their work hours and receive a bonus when they have children, a phenomenon known as the “fatherhood wage premium.” Women, meanwhile, experience the “motherhood penalty,” which studies have found is closely tied to conscious or subconscious bias against mothers, who may be viewed by employers as less competent or committed to the job.

Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation: Pennsylvania Elects Its First Black Woman House Speaker; Minnesota ‘Democracy Caucus’ Will Combat Election Deniers

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

This week: Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) launched her campaign for Debbie Stabenow’s soon-to-be-vacated seat Senate seat; a new “democracy caucus” aims to expand access to voting, part of a movement in statehouses to counter election deniers; donors have pledged an additional $55 million in funding for the Smithsonian’s proposed American Women’s History Museum; a preview of RepresentWomen’s second annual Democracy Solutions Summit; and more.