Awards Season

Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation: How the Oscars Use Ranked-Choice Voting for Nominations; Nikki Haley Addresses Her ‘Electability’ as a Woman

PUBLISHED 1/26/2024 by

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

This week: Nikki Haley’s campaign strategy and her efforts to address questions about her “electability” as a woman; the Oscars use a multi-winner, proportional form of RCV to ensure that nominees represent the various preferences of voters; there’s been a significant increase in the use of campaign funds for childcare; Lily Gladstone’s first Oscar nomination; and more.

Jo Koy’s Golden Globes Monologue Was Full of Tired Sexism and Racism

PUBLISHED 1/10/2024 by

On Sunday, Jan. 7, the annual Golden Globe Awards aired live from Los Angeles. From Barbie vs. Oppenheimer, to Timothée Chalamet vs. Nicholas Cage, this night had a lot of steep competition. But many could not have predicted the biggest “beef” to occur on that stage: host Jo Koy vs. everybody else.

Many critics, viewers and audience members sitting in the Beverly Hilton were not impressed with the opening monologue by the 52-year-old comedian, finding his jokes sexist or just unfunny.

Ms. Magazine Wins PEN America’s Impact Award for ‘Contributions to Journalism, Feminism and Social Change’

PUBLISHED 9/20/2023 by

On Tuesday, Sept. 19—the same day the Ms. book, 50 Years of Ms.: The Best of the Pathfinding Magazine That Ignited a Revolution, was released—Ms. magazine was awarded PEN America’s Impact Award, in honor of the publication’s five decades of feminist journalism.

“Through its art, literature and journalism, Ms. magazine became a platform that educated, inspired and mobilized generations of feminists in support of equality,” said PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel. “I am deeply honored to present the PEN America Impact Award … in recognition of Ms. magazine’s contributions to journalism, feminism and social change.”

(This essay is part of the “Feminist Journalism is Essential to Democracy” project—Ms. magazine’s latest installment of Women & Democracy, presented in partnership with the International Women’s Media Foundation.)

In the Summer of ‘Barbie’ and ‘Renaissance,’ Will All Women Finally Get the Recognition They Deserve?

PUBLISHED 8/31/2023 by

Currently, three women—Barbie, Beyoncé, and Taylor Swift—seem to be running the world, or at least the economy judging by record-shattering tour and box office revenues. But, as in the case of Beyoncé and other female artists of color, this success does not translate to deserved recognition from prestigious institutions.  

“The message young women absorb is that unless you are a one-in-a-generation talent like Lauryn Hill or Whitney Houston, female artists of color can kiss goodbye any hope of wide-scale recognition by the Recording Academy.”

It’s Not Just at the Oscars Where Women Filmmakers Are Left Out

PUBLISHED 3/10/2023 by

This weekend’s Oscar awards have generated headlines about the lack of diversity among nominees—notably, this year, no women were nominated for Best Director. In fact, in the Academy’s 94-year history, it’s nominated just seven women in the category.

Whether the stories told are fiction or nonfiction, there continue to be considerable obstacles for women and nonbinary filmmakers when attempting to break the glass ceiling of storytelling on the big screen. This weekend’s awards ceremony only highlights how much further we still have to go.

She Wins: Here’s to Powerful Black Women Leaders on Screens

PUBLISHED 1/7/2023 by

The 80th Golden Globes is days away. Viola Davis is the only Black female actor nominated in the Motion Pictures-Drama category.

In The Woman King, Davis plays the Agojie general of an all-female warrior unit and embodies the fierceness of this leader, while delivering a performance characterized by maternal softness and emotional vulnerability—traits often reserved on screen for white femininity. While not nominated for any Golden Globes this year, Bridgerton received 15 Emmy Award nominations in 2022 and this spring another powerful Black woman graces the screen, Queen Charlotte. Bridgerton is an opportunity to reevaluate diversity, equity and inclusion on the screen. Casting people of color provides jobs to talented actors who would otherwise be overlooked, but mere “inclusion” in the frame is insufficient.

Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation: Black Women Win Big at the Emmys; U.S. Women’s Soccer Team Officially Scores Equal Pay

PUBLISHED 9/16/2022 by and

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

This week: U.S. women’s soccer team officially secures equal pay; Black women win big at the Emmys; how ranked-choice voting would help women candidates compete in New York City; and more.