More Than A Magazine, A Movement
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern faced online vitriol at a rate between 50 and 90 times higher than any other high-profile figure.
Because men commit the vast majority of violence directed at women in politics, men who reject misogyny and violence have a special responsibility to call it out. What can men who believe in elementary fairness and other basic democratic values do? They can start by pushing back against the idea that violent rhetoric in politics is normal.
“The resignation of Jacinda Ardern reminds us that women continue to face barriers in politics, and that it is essential to build governmental workplaces that enable all to participate and succeed,” said Cynthia Richie Terrell, executive director and founder of RepresentWomen. “Even as leaders like Ardern have advanced women’s political representation, the pace of progress remains unacceptably sluggish.”
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 healthcare. 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 month: Activists, students and professors protest the Taliban’s ban on female university students; Mexico’s Supreme Court and the country of Peru both get their first female president; a revised curriculum in South Korea removes reference to LGBTQ communities and “gender equality”; Brazilian women fight to end fatphobia; and more.
On Dec. 12, the U.S. government launched its updated and long-awaited Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence Globally. On paper, the strategy looks great. But, as always, the questions we’re left with are: What does the U.S. government do with this document now? How is it implemented? Will funding increase and be sustained?
As the halfway mark of this administration’s current term approaches, we need to ensure that words are backed up with action.
Feminists and social justice activists lament Elon Musk’s platform purchase. Right-wing pundits praise it. But the debate about the future of the platform—especially Donald Trump’s and other previously banned users’ return to Twitter—is only a symptom of a much deeper set of issues brought on by the digital age.
A lack of public consensus on digital freedom of speech, digital discrimination and big tech monopolies affects all proponents of democracy, particularly in the United States.
Antisemetic attacks have increased 34 percent over the past year, and one in four Jews said they experienced antisemitism in the U.S. during that same time period.
We feel alone and scared, and we’re calling on you—our friends and neighbors—for help. It’s time for all of us, regardless of race, religion or ethnicity, to stand together and denounce the recent rise in antisemitic attacks.
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: National children’s health organizations urge Biden to issue a National Emergency Declaration; pregnant cancer patients struggle to start chemotherapy without abortion access; Biden issues mass pardons for federal marijuana possession; Cardi B is first woman rapper to have two 11x platinum singles; 36 percent of U.S. counties are “maternity care deserts”; and more.
It will take a paradigm shift to defend our national security moving forward. Women and people of color should be at the forefront of this effort. Demystifying Cybersecurity, a #ShareTheMicInCyber and Ms. magazine monthly series, spotlights women from the #ShareTheMicInCyber movement—highlighting the experiences of Black practitioners, driving a critical conversation on race in the cybersecurity industry, and shining a light on Black experts in their fields.
This month, we’re featuring Jessica Robinson—executive officer of PurePoint International.
Access to information is critical for reproductive rights and in promoting gender equality. The anti-abortion movement knows this—so one of their tactics is to instigate confusion, blur the lines between opinion and facts, and in that confusion, instill fear and obstruct people from making informed decisions in their own lives.
Protests have raging across Iran over the last week after the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman in the custody of the Islamic Republic’s morality police due to her defiance against the strict dress code. The country’s desperate effort to silence Iranian feminists has taken the form of violent responses and crackdowns of both in-person demonstrations and online activism.
