More Than A Magazine, A Movement
With far-right agendas gaining traction, anti-rights movements growing and attacks on women’s rights intensifying, the escalating use of the law as a weapon against women—such as through the criminalization of abortion—serves as a stark call for collective action.
Since stumbling on “underconsumption-core,” I’ve been deep in a world of no-buy rules, budgeting spreadsheets, and influencers who turn frugality into an aesthetic. What started as a seemingly productive financial reset now feels more like a lifestyle that rewards domesticity and quiet femininity over real economic empowerment. The deeper I looked, the more it felt like a soft return to tradwife ideals.
It’s not that saving money is bad, but when frugality becomes a moral performance, especially for women, it’s worth asking who this trend really serves.
By now we all know that President Trump’s various policies and announcements have targeted immigrants, institutions with DEI programs and several federal agencies, including ones that focus on media, libraries, museums and ending homelessness.
But one of the biggest groups caught in his crosshairs is older women.
Here’s the truth: Social Security is the foundation of retirement security for most American seniors, and the damage, especially to women, is likely to be severe. Women account for more than half (56 percent) of the total beneficiary population aged 65 or older; they are the vast majority (78 percent) of widowed retirees.
Front & Center began as first-person accounts of Black mothers in Jackson, Miss., receiving a guaranteed income. Now in its fourth year, the series is expanding to explore broader systemic issues affecting Black women in poverty, including the safety net, healthcare, caregiving and overall well-being.
“I’m part of the Magnolia Mother’s Trust this year, so that money will help me offset the lost income of going back to school part time. It was a revelation to be able to cover multiple things in one day that I would’ve had to space out for weeks before. I bought diapers, paid my car note and the light bill. That feeling of being able to take care of things has relieved a lot of stress. Before, it was so hard. I would cry in the shower so my kids wouldn’t hear me.
“I didn’t have paid leave for the first four weeks after DeMarcus was born. … That experience really opened my eyes to how important it is to have better family leave policies in this country. It is not enough to just offer a few weeks of leave. We need to support mothers’ mental health as well. Pregnancy care is focused on prenatal care, but there needs to be more mental health support. I went through postpartum depression myself, and it was so bad that I didn’t want anyone to see my baby. It takes a village to raise a child, but not everyone has that village.”
The Trump administration’s rollback of Biden-era NIL guidance weakens Title IX protections, deepening financial disparities for female college athletes.
The Trump administration is trying to gut the Department of Education and divert funds to charter, private and religious schools that won’t be held accountable. This move threatens the progress we’ve made through civil rights efforts, especially in making schools more integrated and fair. The dismantling of key federal protections and funding will disproportionately hurt low-income students, students with disabilities, and communities already struggling.
We need to stand up, demand better resources for public schools, and refuse to let these harmful changes happen. We’ve fought for this before, and we can do it again.
Denied accommodations during my pregnancy, I fought back. Now, thanks to the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, fewer women will have to face the same struggle.
(This essay is a part of Ms. and A Better Balance’s Women & Democracy installment, all about the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act—a groundbreaking civil rights law ensuring pregnant and postpartum workers have the right to reasonable workplace accommodations. Bipartisan, pro-family and boldly feminist, the PWFA is both a lesson in democracy and a battleground for its defense against antidemocratic attacks.)
At a time when civil and reproductive rights are under constant attack, there remains at least one bright light: the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), a relatively new law that grants landmark protections to pregnant and postpartum individuals in the workplace. The PWFA offers protections of which everyone should be aware, especially those who are or ever plan to become pregnant.
Here are four need-to-know elements of the law.
(This essay is a part of Ms. and A Better Balance’s Women & Democracy installment, all about the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act—a groundbreaking civil rights law ensuring pregnant and postpartum workers have the right to reasonable workplace accommodations. Bipartisan, pro-family and boldly feminist, the PWFA is both a lesson in democracy and a battleground for its defense against antidemocratic attacks.)
With time, the resistance movement against Trump’s dangerous agenda will grow to include low-wage white workers, a third of whom live in the South and were perhaps initially pro-Trump, according to a prediction from Bishop William Barber II.
“The only way a king becomes a king is if you bow. And we cannot bow,” Barber said. “Bowing is not in our DNA. We have to stand in this moment.”
In late January, Target announced an end to its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) program in response to external political pressures and as a preemptive measure to avoid potential legal or financial repercussions under the Trump administration’s executive orders cutting DEI from the federal government.
Now, in the season of Lent, Black faith leaders are calling for a 40-day “fast” from Target, urging people to boycott the retail giant to protest its caving to the federal government’s anti-diversity rhetoric. So far, more than 100,000 shoppers—many involved with Black churches—have joined the pledge to abstain from shopping at Target for 40 days. Target stock is already down 57 percent.