Olympics

Over the years, the Olympics has fostered high profile discussions of feminist issues such as the gender pay gap, ableism, sexual abuse and bans on transgender athletes.

Ms. Global: Paris Olympics Near Gender Parity, Afghan Women Banned from Third Doha Conference, and More

PUBLISHED 8/6/2024 by and

The U.S. ranks as the 19th most dangerous country for women, 11th in maternal mortality, 30th in closing the gender pay gap, 75th in women’s political representation, and painfully lacks paid family leave and equal access to health care. But Ms. has always understood: Feminist movements around the world hold answers to some of the U.S.’s most intractable problems. Ms. Global is taking note of feminists worldwide.

This week: a special report from the Paris Olympics, as well as news from Afghanistan, Iran and more.

Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation: Kamala Harris Takes the Torch; Rest in Power, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee; Will D.C. Get Ranked-Choice Voting This November?

PUBLISHED 7/26/2024 by

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

This week: remembering U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee’s leadership in protecting women from domestic violence and recognizing Juneteenth as a national holiday; For the first time in history, parent athletes competing in the Olympics now have access to a nursery in the Olympic Village; Alice Milliat was a pioneer who championed gender equality in the Olympics; Kamala Harris is the best candidate to compete against former President Trump; and more.

In the 2024 Olympics, Afghan Women Defy the Taliban Ban on Women in Sports

PUBLISHED 7/15/2024 by

In September 2021—less than a month after the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan—the Taliban banned women and girls from participating in sports.

Three women and three men will represent Afghanistan in the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics, yet the Taliban has refused to acknowledge the female Afghan athletes playing for their home country.

Kimia Yousofi, one the three Afghan women Olympians, said she will be representing the “stolen dreams and aspirations” of women still under the Taliban’s gender apartheid. 

They Fought Like Girls: How a 1979 Softball Team Saved the Sport

PUBLISHED 12/22/2022 by

The women of the 1979 Oregon State University softball team used Title IX as a tool for institutional change. Decades later, they’re finally getting the recognition they deserve.

“At that time the most successful teams on campus were women’s and we had to fight with the athletic department for everything … I think I just reached my limit and felt like we had an opportunity to try to do something. I wanted justice.”

In ‘The Swimmers’ Film, Director Sally El Hosaini and Olympian Yusra Mardini Bring the Refugee Experience to the Screen

PUBLISHED 12/22/2022 by

In 2015, sisters Yusra and Sara Mardini, trained as professional swimmers by their father, fled Syria with hopes of escaping their war-torn homeland. During the harrowing 25-day journey, the dinghy’s motor broke and the boat began to sink—so Yusra and Sara jumped into the frigid waters to drag the boat to shore. Eventually granted asylum in Germany, Yusra began training again at a Berlin pool and was selected to compete as part of the Refugee Olympic Team at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Their story has been captured in The Swimmers, an evocative biographical drama directed by Sally El Hosaini and released on Netflix last month. In this Q&A, Sally El Hosaini and Yusra Mardini discuss the experience of making the film, how to tell true stories, and what they hope viewers will take away.

‘If Not for Them’: Brenda VanLengen’s Journey to Document Women’s Basketball

PUBLISHED 8/5/2022 by

Brenda VanLengen is a TV sports analyst and play-by-play announcer for college women’s sports. “I’m so fortunate that [Title IX] happened when it did,” she told Ms. Without it, she explained, “I wouldn’t have the life that I do or the career that I do.”

This year, she’s embarked on a new venture to produce a docuseries about the women who grew the sport of women’s basketball before Title IX, If Not for Them.

Keeping Score: Women Win Big in the Winter Olympics; State Legislatures Widen the Abortion Access Gap; Supreme Court Dilutes the Power of Black Voters in Alabama

PUBLISHED 2/23/2022 by

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: Women brought home 17 of Team USA’s 25 Olympic medals in Beijing; Wisconsin, New Hampshire and Georgia Republicans target abortion rights, while Vermont passes Reproductive Liberty amendment; more Latina women are running for governor than ever before; a record 36 openly LGBTQ+ athletes competed in the Winter Olympics; and more.

Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation: 2022 Winter Olympics Are the Most Gender-Balanced Ever; Women’s Activism Threatens Authoritarian Leaders

PUBLISHED 2/11/2022 by

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

This week: Activism by women and gender minorities threatens authoritarian leaders; running for statewide executive office can be especially challenging for women; ranked-choice voting helps eliminate a split vote among women candidates; the 2022 winter Olympic games are the most gender balanced ever; how did Iceland become a model of gender parity?