‘Riding Barbie’s Coattails’: Race, Gender and Inclusivity at the 2024 Oscars

It’s time to place more women of color at the center of our film narratives—and, as Cord Jefferson implored in his acceptance speech, it’s time for the cultural gatekeepers to fund and support more opportunities for diverse stories and talents.

I congratulate all Oscar winners this year, but it’s much too soon to pat Academy members on the back for doing the bare minimum of race and gender inclusivity.

When Every Miscarriage Is a Murder Scene, Poor Women Pay the Highest Price

The Alabama Supreme Court recently shocked the nation when it held that the word “child” includes frozen embryos. Treating an embryo as the equivalent of a child upends the fertility industry, as it threatens to end in vitro fertilization (IVF) services and puts the status of embryos already in storage in serious question.

While these implications are important to untangle, the brunt of the effects of fetal personhood will fall not upon families with the resources to undergo IVF, but rather on poor and non-white women. Every decision made by a pregnant person could be second-guessed by the government. Every step outside of the most risk-averse approach to pregnancy puts the pregnant person under the microscope of the state.

From The Vault: Joan Little and The Dialectics of Rape (June 1975)

“A little more than 100 years ago … rape served not only to further [the Black woman’s] oppression but also as a means of terrorizing the entire Black community. It placed brutal emphasis on the fact that Black slaves were indeed the property of the white master. … The social incentive given to rape is woven into the logic of the institutions of this society. It is an extremely efficient means of keeping women in a state of fear of rape, or of the possibility of it.”

( For more ground-breaking stories like this, order 50 YEARS OF Ms.: THE BEST OF THE PATHFINDING MAGAZINE THAT IGNITED A REVOLUTION (Alfred A. Knopf)—a collection of the most audacious, norm-breaking coverage Ms. has published.)

Looking Back and Forging Ahead: Three Feminist Writers on Women’s History, Feminist Media and Intergenerational Engagement

Friends of Ms. gathered last month to discuss two extraordinary anthologies, Blackbirds Singing: Inspiring Black Women’s Speeches from the Civil War to the Twenty-First Century by Janet Deward Bell and 50 Years of Ms.: The Best of the Pathfinding Magazine That Ignited a Revolution. Both give voice to extraordinary women throughout history who fought to define and demand equality.

Reconstructing the Roberts Court

The Supreme Court will soon make monumental decisions on presidential immunity, racial gerrymandering and abortion pills that stand to harm marginalized people and reinforce the privileges of wealth and whiteness.

Perhaps it is unremarkable that an institution dominated by white men since its inception struggles to be inclusive. But the Roberts Court’s consideration of the Reconstruction Amendments—the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution—is especially alarming.

Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation: Republican Women Urge Haley to Stay in the Race; Georgia Trailblazer Sen. Gloria Butler Will Not Seek Reelection

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

This week: RepresentWomen’s Democracy Solutions Summit, March 5-7, is the only summit to feature all women experts; Republican women are urging Haley to stay in the race; Georgia state Senator Gloria Butler will not seek reelection; and more.

Black Women Lead: Remembering Ruby Bridges, Sonia Sanchez and Maggie Lena Walker

Women throughout history have been inventing, leading, organizing, creating and making the world a better place despite gender injustice. If women knew about these inspiring stories that have been kept from them, would they be bolder and have more willingness to persevere?

Since incorporating as a nonprofit in 2015, Look What SHE Did! has produced 150+ three- to four-minute films of women telling the stories of the trailblazing women who inspire them. Throughout Women’s History Month, discover untold stories of incredible women—starting this week with Ruby Bridges, Sonia Sanchez and Maggie Lena Walker.

Front and Center: ‘Politicians Who Believe Guaranteed Income Programs Discourage People From Working Are Wrong’

Back for its third year, Front and Center is a groundbreaking Ms. series that offers first-person accounts of Black mothers living in Jackson, Miss., receiving a guaranteed income. First launched in 2018, the Magnolia Mother’s Trust (MMT) is about to enter its fifth cohort, bringing the number of moms served to more than 400 and making it the longest-running guaranteed income program in the country. Across the country, guaranteed income pilots like MMT are finding that recipients are overwhelmingly using their payments for basic needs like groceries, housing and transportation.

“I’ve always had a good relationship with my kids, but MMT has allowed me to say ‘yes’ more. … My son and I both have birthdays coming up and I told him we could plan something fun, maybe go out of town. I’ve never taken them out of town before.”

The Barriers Black Women Face While Running for Public Office

I was elected to the Portland, Maine, City Council in November 2022, in what I call the ‘new generation’ of Black leadership in public office. After the murder of George Floyd and the racial awakening this country experienced in 2020, we saw record-breaking numbers of Black women campaigning and being elected to public office.

Despite my excitement for more of us in elected positions, we are still severely underrepresented in government—and I believe this is by design. Our current system not only enhances the barriers that stop us from accessing public office but also hinders our ability to craft equitable policies once elected.