When country music star Loretta Lynn died on Oct. 4, the world lost a powerful voice—not only due to Lynn’s divine musicality and acclaim in the realm of country music, but because of her genuine ability to portray the intimate thoughts and frustrations of women of her time.
Tag: Rest in Power
Rest in Power: R. Dianne Bartlow, Emmy-Winning Producer and Director
The Ms. community, family, friends and colleagues recently said goodbye to R. Dianne Bartlow—professor, scholar, feminist writer, Emmy-winning producer and director. She’s left too soon, at the age of 67 after a short battle with lung cancer.
I remember Dianne for her easygoing temperament and her patience. Dianne was humble and down-to-earth, which is why I was surprised to learn of her accomplishments as an award-winning television writer-producer.
Rest in Power: Urvashi Vaid, the Queer Movement’s Legendary Firebrand
There has never been a queer leader like Urvashi Vaid. Until her death of metastatic breast cancer on May 14 at age 63, she spent the better part of five decades fighting injustice. Principle drove Urvashi in almost everything she did. She exploded onto the scene with a dynamism that has never been equaled since.
“The lesbian agenda is the reconstruction of families … the reimagining of power … the reorganization of the economic system … the reinforcement of civil rights and dignity for all people … the end of the oppression of women, the end of racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia … the reestablishment of a proper relationship to our environment. … When I list this laundry list of oppression, it does not overwhelm me; it tells me how far I have to go in my struggle; it tells me who my allies are.”
‘Wake Up, America’: Remembering Dr. George Tiller, Assassinated Abortion Practitioner
Dr. George Tiller is one of many American abortion doctors to be assassinated by “pro-life” anti-abortion fanatics. Others, such as Emily Lyons, have been maimed for life.
Dr. Tiller’s crime was not that he killed children—which he did not—but that he brought liberty and health to women. He saved their lives and futures. That’s why every doctor in America who does abortions lives under a death threat.
17-Year-Old in Iran Murdered by Husband and Cousin for Fleeing Domestic Violence
Mona Heydari was forced to marry her cousin as a 12-year-old and birthed his child at 14. At 17, after fleeing the country and attempting to escape the abusive marriage, her life was ended by her husband.
Honor killings involving young women in Iran have become an all too common occurrence over the last two years, with a long list of victims. The lasting oppressive patriarchal and misogynistic ideologies prominent in law enforcement, government and Iranian society has allowed the killing of young women to become a crime without punishment.
Secretary Madeleine Albright on Her Legacy as a Women’s Rights Champion: ‘I Decided I Would Make Women’s Issues Central to American Foreign Policy’
Madeleine Albright, the first woman U.S. secretary of state, died of cancer on Wednesday, Mar. 23. She was 84 years old. She served many roles in the executive branch throughout her storied career, including President Bill Clinton’s ambassador to the United Nations and later his secretary of state.
As a tribute, we compiled some of her best remarks about her work as a women’s rights champion. Rest in power, Secretary Madeleine Albright.
Keeping Score: Rest in Power, Madeleine Albright; Shalanda Young Is First Black Woman to Lead OMB; State Policies Threaten Trans Kids
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: Rest in power, Madeleine Albright, the first woman U.S. secretary of state; U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres’s commitment to gender equality decreased in score from a “B” to a “B-” in 2021; Ukrainian President appeals to Biden for aid; the House passes the CROWN Act; Shalanda Young becomes first Black woman to lead OMB; Hungary elects its first woman president; Colorado could enshrine reproductive rights in state law; Americans in support of Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson; and more.
Rest in Power: Carol Christ, the Feminist Scholar Who Challenged the World of Religious Thought
Christian religion, with its traditional focus on a heaven after death, emphasizes the relief that comes from leaving behind physical reality. But according to Carol Christ, the body is the portal to religious experience.
On July 14, 2021, Carol Christ died of cancer in Heraklion, Crete. Rest in power.
Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation; Rest in Power, Lani Guinier; NY Gov Kathy Hochul Is Shaking Things Up for Women; Black Women Are Just 6% of U.S. House
Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation.
This week: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s term limit legislation could provide more women the chance to run and win; Minneapolis’s Andrea Jenkins is the first openly trans city council president in the U.S., and Seattle’s Debora Juarez marks same milestone for Indigenous people; Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick’s election brings the percentage of Black women in the U.S. House to 6 percent; Xiomara Castro, the incoming woman president of Honduras; the legacy of voting rights champion Lani Guinier, who died on Jan. 7; and more.
Rest in Power: Sarah Weddington, Feminist Attorney and Champion of Roe v. Wade
On Jan. 22, 2022, we mark the 49th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in the United States. The case was argued by a 26-year-old female lawyer from Texas: Sarah Weddington, in her first appearance before the Court. Female lawyers were so rare in those days that the Supreme Court lawyers lounge didn’t even have a ladies’ room. There were no female judges; Weddington faced a wall of older white men.
Almost five decades after the decision, Sarah Weddington died at her home in Austin on Dec. 26, 2021, at age 76, after a period of declining health. Rest in power, Sarah Weddington.