More Than A Magazine, A Movement
For decades, Howard Stern has used his celebrity status to normalize porn and misogyny. Last month, Billie Eilish, only 20, made a shocking revelation on Stern’s show: “I used to watch a lot of porn. I think it really destroyed my brain.”
Eilish is right—research shows conclusively that pornography is harmful for young people and, indeed, all brains. But kids take to porn because they find the sexual education offered by their schools and parents to be unhelpful and unreal.
I want to be a king. Just one that happens to be a girl.
Although words themselves are not responsible for sexism, many perpetuate the idea that men and women are so different that you must use separate words—even if they are doing the same thing.
The way history is written and taught, it almost seems as if there were no women involved in any major developments. This is nothing but a myth produced by a failure of history to tell women’s stories. Here is how we got to this point and what we can do to start highlighting women’s stories.
Twenty minutes was all it took to mobilize after Peng Shuai, the tennis star and one of China’s most famous athletes, went online and accused Zhang Gaoli, a former vice premier, of sexual assault.
The effort didn’t always succeed. This is how China reacted—and how it stumbled along the way.
openDemocracy’s “Tracking the Backlash” uncovers the organized opposition to sexual and reproductive rights including from religious right, far-right and other ‘anti-gender’ movements—in lockstep with the United Nations’ 16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence.
“Our 15 feminist investigative journalists produce ambitious, cross-border journalism and impactful storytelling that challenge sexism, homophobia and racism worldwide—and in the media,” said Tatev Hovhannisyan, editor Europe and Eurasia on openDemocracy’s “Tracking the Backlash” project.
Despite growing up in the age of Mad Men, as a child, I was more like Don Draper than his wife Betty. At 16, it was in the pages of Ms. magazine that I realized I didn’t have to be either one.
Ms. gave me my first feminist click, that moment of recognition and I had a name for what I long felt. Feminism. Like their first cover girl, any one of us could be Wonder Woman. Or a cover girl. The pages were filled with women filmmakers, athletes, sculptors, writers, lawyers and activists. In time, I discovered I didn’t have to be someone I wasn’t in order to be who I was.
In all the discussion around what’s wrong with Facebook, everyone forgot to ask the generation most affected. The young women who actually grew up online should drive the conversation for how we change social media for the better.
Gen Z’s version of the future will not be the metaverse. It will be the authentic reality in front of them.
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 in this biweekly round-up.
This week: COVID-19 pandemic reaches death toll of 5 million globally; House passes $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill; State Dept. issues first passport with “X” gender marker; Michelle Wu is first woman of color elected Boston mayor; and more.
Four years after #TimesUp brought public attention to the entertainment industry, calling out a widespread problem of sexual abuse, we reflect on the present state of the industry and how it continues to fail women, especially women of color.
While progress has been made—it is slow moving and lacks diversity. The entertainment industry works against women and people of color, portraying a sense of inclusivity that realistically is limited to a select few. Hollywood continues to cast doubt on their ability to deliver high value, quality media; despite the significant role women and people of color had in shaping the industry.
I was 13 years old when my parents spoke the highly-anticipated sentence: “Yes, you can get Instagram.” I had no idea what I was walking into—but Instagram did. The platform prioritizes expanding its base and pockets over protecting the mental health and well-being of its users. This must change.
