Trump supporters’ calling for an end to women’s suffrage may be the canary in the coal mine for further drastic changes to the electoral system.
Suffrage
This Constitution Week, a Reminder That Women Still Aren’t in Our Nation’s Founding Document
Smack dab in the middle of “Constitution Week”—beginning Sept. 17 and ending Sept. 23 each year—it’s ironic that, with the exception of the right to vote, American women are left out of our Constitution.
Although the ERA has been ratified by the required three-quarters of the states and all that remains is for Congress to pass a simple resolution directing it be placed in the Constitution, politicians continue to block its placement with political games. Every woman in America deserves to have her rights enshrined in the Constitution—not left vulnerable to the whims of a changing political landscape.
Tiffany Shlain’s Feminist Art Answers the ‘Urgent’ Call to Fight for Democracy and Women’s Place in History
Artist Tiffany Shlain’s Dendrofemonology: Feminist History Tree Ring is on the move, soon to take up temporary residence in New York City’s Madison Square Park as a focal point for her “Mobilization for Women’s Rights and the Planet” on Sept. 21. Coinciding with the start of climate week and anticipating a historic election, Shlain’s daylong, public activation and rally address a convergence of critical concerns in this “age of urgency.”
“I’m hoping that the next tree ring moment will be having the Equal Rights Amendment added into our Constitution and sex equality guaranteed across this country,” said Shlain. “And who knows? Maybe there’ll be something else new to burn” into the timeline “in January.”
Celebrating Women Who Aren’t Afraid to Take the Lead
Just days after Vice President Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic party’s official nomination, Gloria Feldt—former Planned Parenthood president and longtime women’s rights activist—convened the 10th annual Take the Lead Conference in Washington, D.C., on Women’s Equality Day.
Hopes are high and determination steeled that 2025 will see the first woman president and the ratification of the ERA. For the hundreds of women and dozens of presenters and organizers who took part in the Take the Lead conference, promoting women’s power at every level and in every field has always been essential to the formula for that success.
‘Suffs’ Celebrates 51 Years of Women’s Equality Day
This year we commemorate the 51st anniversary of Women’s Equality Day with perhaps more optimistic urgency than ever before.
Amid the buzz, there has been an overt, palpable melding of pop culture and politics. That includes on Broadway, where the two-time Tony Award winning show, Suffs, tells the story of the fight for women’s suffrage—and all the humanity and perfectly imperfect organizing strategies of the cadre of activists who won the right to vote for women—in song.
Vice President Kamala Harris Is Anything But a DEI Hire
Vice President Kamala Harris—the presumed Democratic presidential candidate and a storied politician—is on track to break all kinds of records for women of color. And yet as soon as she ascended to the top of the ticket, without fail, the conservative right began hurling racist, misogynist insults and tropes at her.
Harris’ experience of being questioned and labeled a “DEI hire” is one shared by many marginalized groups in society, where their identity eclipses their qualifications and leads to systematic racist and sexist practices that negatively impact their life and career trajectories. Contrary to the conservative narrative, DEI has unquestionably improved the lives of Americans.
‘She Devils at the Door’: Women’s Suffrage and Its Opposition
She Devils at the Door tells the true story of two formidable sisters, Lucy and Eliza Kennedy, who came of age in Gilded Age Pittsburgh, graduated from Vassar College, and became leaders of the suffrage movement.
Coming to Broadway: ‘Suffs’ Explores the Struggle for Women’s Equality—One That’s Far From Over
We at Ms. magazine are counting the days until Suffs arrives on Broadway, following its sold-out, extended run at New York City’s Public Theater.
The show opens in 1913 as the women’s movement is heating up in the United States. Anchored by a cadre of suffragists—“Suffs,” as they call themselves—they are in relentless, creative pursuit of the right to vote. Reaching across and against generational, racial and class divides, these brilliant, flawed women manage to entertain and inspire.
(This essay is part of “The ERA Is Essential to Democracy” Women & Democracy collection.)
How the Far Right-Wing Plans to Obliterate More of Our Constitutional Rights
In the last decade, the Convention of State Action (COSA) has become the fastest-growing Article V movement.
COSA advocates are pushing for Congress to call a convention to ratify a number of constitutional amendments which threaten the fabric of our democracy. If states have immediate standing to challenge the constitutionality of any enactments by Congress and the executive branch, the lives of women would be at risk.
Rewriting Herstory: Proposing an AP U.S. Women’s History Course
Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton, Lincoln, Roosevelt, King, Kennedy and Reagan each played critical roles in the history of our country and remain household names. Yet what of Murray, Chisholm, Eastman, Stone and Stanton? These women contributed greatly to the success of America, yet remain largely unknown to most Americans, including high school students.
We are advocating to change this. As AP history students and educators, we propose the creation of a standalone AP United States Women’s History course. The youth of America are entitled to these stories traditionally left untold: the history of 50 percent of our population, who are currently a mere sidebar of token inclusion within a generic textbook on men’s history.