A Year of Dobbs: Anger, Heartbreak, Resistance and Resilience

I will never forget the overwhelming tide of anger, frustration and disbelief that washed over me when the Dobbs decision was announced on June 24, 2022. A year later, it’s safe to say those same feelings persist.

Who knows where we will be a year from now in 2024—an election year. We will not grow complacent, and we will not stop pushing for our rights.

(This story also appears in the Summer 2023 issue of Ms. magazine. Join the Ms. community today and you’ll get the Summer issue delivered straight to your mailbox!)

BANNED: Gender, Race and Sexuality Studies

A new Florida law severely restricts gender, race and sexuality studies at state-funded colleges—and eliminates diversity programs altogether. Far from just a “Florida problem,” this is one piece of an alarming right-wing strategy spreading nationwide. Gender studies advocates warn, “Thiis is about to be the entire country’s problem. Every Republican-dominated state legislature is watching closely what is happening in Florida.”

Far-right conservatives fear that younger generations will be taught to think critically about the rampant misrepresentation and sanitization of American history and the continued discrimination against women, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals.

This Magazine Could Be Banned: Go Inside Ms.’ Summer 2023 Issue

In the Summer issue of Ms., we look into the new Florida law that could decimate degree programs in women’s and gender studies, Africana, ethnic and queer studies, among others—part of a radical right-wing strategy that extends nationwide.

Also within the pages of the Summer issue: A look back at 50 years of women in hip-hop. A solution to inequality in professional sports: Let women and men play together. Solutions to men’s violence toward women. And more!
Join the Ms. community today and get the Summer issue delivered straight to your mailbox!

Are Women’s Rights the Canary in the Coal Mine of a Democracy in Decline?

The tenets of reproductive health, rights and justice—and those of a healthy democracy—are not only inextricably interconnected, but essential to our nation’s promise.

(This essay is part of Women’s Rights and Backsliding Democracies project—a multimedia project made up of essays, video and podcast programming, presented by Ms., NYU Law’s Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Network and Rewire News Group. This story also appears in the Summer 2023 issue of Ms. magazine. Join the Ms. community today and you’ll get the Summer issue delivered straight to your mailbox!)

Rep. Ayanna Pressley Introduces Discharge Petition, Continuing ERA Push

On Wednesday, co-chair of the ERA Caucus Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) introduced a “discharge petition” which seeks to compel the House to vote on H.J. Res. 25, a joint resolution to  remove the arbitrary deadline for ratification of the ERA and enshrine it in the Constitution as the 28th Amendment.

“Make no mistake—here is the closest we’ve ever been to seeing full equality recognized and equal rights in the Constitution.”

Gender Integration in Sports: ‘I Have Been Suggesting This My Whole Life,’ Says Billie Jean King

Because sports historically have been socially constructed to highlight characteristics of male bodies and to preserve male dominance, sports can be reconstructed to be gender-integrated. People of all genders can and do play sports together in a lot of ways. The real question is whether or not society is ready to let sports start to challenge the gender binary and male dominance, rather than reinforce them.

(This story also appears in the Summer 2023 issue of Ms. magazine. Join the Ms. community today and you’ll get the Summer issue delivered straight to your mailbox!)

History Is Incomplete Without Black Women

Education is largely based on perspectives that do not reflect the fact that more than half the world’s population are people of color and female. It’s only when all students are able to recognize themselves in history that they can imagine a future in which they play an important role in the progress and achievement of the world.

(This story also appears in the Summer 2023 issue of Ms. magazine. Join the Ms. community today and you’ll get the Summer issue delivered straight to your mailbox!)