More Than A Magazine, A Movement
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’s special post-election edition is tracking the 2024 election’s bright spots, feminist victories and a full rundown of the challenges and dangers we now face.
The women whose work our economy relies upon, yet devalues, feel the rising cost of living the most—a dynamic that is pushing more women, particularly women of color, to the brink of poverty. This is no coincidence; it is structural discrimination.
Front & Center began as first-person accounts of Black mothers living in Jackson, Miss., receiving a guaranteed income. Moving into the fourth year and next phase of this series, we’re expanding our focus beyond a single policy intervention to include a broader examination of systemic issues impacting Black women experiencing poverty. This means diving deeper into the interconnected challenges they face—including navigating the existing safety net; healthcare, childcare and elder care; and the importance of mental, physical and spiritual well-being.
Shomari is a mom of four who is struggling to find work because she doesn’t have reliable childcare. “My ideal future includes working a career I like, my kids doing well in school and extracurricular activities, and living in a house with a yard where my kids feel comfortable. I dream of going on vacations and providing a safe, stable environment for my family.”
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: Vice President Kamala Harris launched her presidential campaign with Biden’s endorsement; Trump’s VP pick JD Vance’s anti-abortion extremism; women’s health is suffering in the Southeast; the Supreme Court blocked an EPA air pollution plan; House Republicans attack voting rights and Title IX; rest in power, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and Dr. Ruth Westheimer; and more.
In 1995, dozens of garment workers, most of them women, were freed from a California sweatshop. Their lawyer was Julie Su—now Biden’s nominee to head the Labor Department.
We don’t say, “Behind every great man is a great woman” anymore, because women aren’t standing behind men anymore; we are care workers and caregivers leading the way to making the investments in our shared care infrastructure that we all need. Paid parental leave, higher wages for care workers, a domestic workers’ bill of rights, pay transparency and equal pay for equal work are just a few of the solutions that are long overdue.
(This essay is part of The Majority Rules project—an artful essay and op-ed series from Ms. and Supermajority Education Fund.)
Meet the diverse group of progressive women being sworn in this month. (Aaaany day now, boys.)
September is Women in Medicine Month, when we celebrate formidable and inspiring female physicians. But each year, one group is largely neglected: the women who help us to succeed.
Raising the status of the domestic and childcare workers who help us is critical to the next generation of women pursuing careers in medicine.
For every dollar a white man makes, a Black woman earns 63 cents.
Along with severe wage inequality, Black women continue to be disproportionately overrepresented in low-paying, service-oriented jobs. More than one-third of the essential workers—many of them the people who have powered our country throughout the pandemic—are Black women. COVID-19, inflation and stagnant wages have laid bare how necessary it is for our elected representatives to act by voting to increase the minimum wage and creating a robust paid family and medical leave package accessible to all.
Mothers are the essential workers for our families and communities—so this Labor Day, we are compelled to think about the many ways our leaders and policies are currently failing this country’s mothers.