More Than A Magazine, A Movement
A new generation of young feminists are organizing shoulder-to-shoulder with seasoned activists, demanding the Equal Rights Amendment be immediately added to the Constitution.
To demonstrate this support for the ERA, students at Hunter College in New York City launched a petition drive to send a message to Congress that the time is now to put the Equal Rights Amendment into the Constitution. Sign the petition and get involved in the drive at www.sign4ERA.org.
Julie Su would make history as the second-ever Asian-American woman to hold the role of labor secretary and only the fourth-ever woman of color. But this is about more than representation.
Her knowledge of wage theft, immigrant worker abuse and labor law is personal and encyclopedic. But she also has a deep understanding of what’s happening on the ground.
“A win for Julie Su is a win for women and workers all over this country. Let’s get it done.”
Sparse economic data on Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women has painted an inaccurate reality of economic well-being and hampered communities’ efforts to address disparities. It’s an issue that Wednesday’s AAPI Women’s Equal Pay Day—April 5, 2023—attempts to spotlight.
On average, AAPI women earn 80 cents for every $1 earned by white men when looking at both full- and part-time workers, more than any other racial group of women. But that figure obscures the harsher realities faced by Southeast Asian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women, who see some of the largest wage gaps in the country. The 80 cent average captures an enormous range: Taiwanese women earn more than white men, about $1.08 for every white man’s $1, while Nepalese women earn 48 cents on the dollar.
U.S. patriarchal authoritarianism is on the rise, and democracy is on the decline. But day after day, we stay vigilant in our goals to dismantle patriarchy at every turn. The fight is far from over. We are watching, and we refuse to go back. This is the War on Women Report.
This month: The FDA is set to review the application for the first over-the-counter birth control pill; World Athletics voted to ban all trans women from elite athletics; Republicans have introduced bills that would bring homicides charges for abortion; and more.
In every issue of Ms., we track research on our progress in the fight for equality, catalogue can’t-miss quotes from feminist voices and keep tabs on the feminist movement’s many milestones. We’re Keeping Score online, too—in this biweekly roundup.
This week: Remembering Nashville’s Cynthia Peak, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60, Mike Hill, 61, and Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, all age 9; “You lobbied for weaker rules [and] got what you wanted,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren demands Silicon Valley Bank takes responsibility for its collapse; LAUSD employee strike secures a pay raise and better benefits; Utah governor prohibits abortion clinics from getting licensed; study show abortion by mail is not less efficient; the House’s first-ever Congressional Caucus for the Equal Rights Amendment; and more.
Black women lose billions of dollars every year in “involuntarily forfeited” compensation, due to sexism and racism in the U.S. workplace.
Policymakers and companies should take responsibility to rectify these inequities that have existed since the end of emancipation (and before) in the U.S., but Black women cannot afford to wait any longer another for this leadership. We’re still in a robust labor market, so Black women should use this leverage to #AskForMore—during salary negotiations, when starting a new job, and when demanding financial parity with their peers.
As a chorus member in my last opera production, I watched our stage director (a man) lean toward the lead soprano (a woman) and say, “If you put some dark makeup between your breasts, it will make them show up more.”
Sexism in opera extends far beyond small-town productions like mine: There are 3.5 times more jobs for men than women in mainstage opera. A 29 percent pay gap exists between women classical performers and their men counterparts. Women opera singers also hold more debt and receive fewer scholarships. For opera to be an industry where women are respected, its leaders need to adopt more progressive practices that make women feel safe and comfortable.
Elsie Robinson was a journalist known for her syndicated Hearst column “Listen, World!” Born into poverty in 1880s California, Robinson risked everything to chase her dream of becoming a writer and lead a life beyond what was prescribed to women at the time—even working in a gold mine as the sole female mucker as she tried to break into magazines. Ultimately, after a long and bumpy road, she succeeded and used her nationwide column to advocate for the rights of women, people of color and other underrepresented groups.
Twenty years ago, the wage difference between what U.S. women and men earn overall was 80 cents on the dollar. Now it’s 82 cents. Mighty poor progress.
What is keeping these numbers so low? And what can the government do to close the gap?
President Biden recently announced his nomination of Julie Su to be the next secretary of the Department of Labor. She has spent her career fighting for equity and inclusion in the workforce.
Women across the country are thrilled that President Biden has taken the critical first step in nominating Julie Su — now we need to keep the pressure on the Senate to confirm her.
