More Than A Magazine, A Movement
On May 30, 2024, Donald Trump was found guilty on all 34 counts by a New York jury. On the latest episode of On the Issues With Michele Goodwin: Fifteen Minutes of Feminism, Goodwin is joined by Moira Donegan, feminist writer and opinion columnist with the Guardian U.S., to discuss why the New York trial was about more than just “hush money”—it’s about a coverup, election interference and mistreatment of women.
Here are some of our favorite takes from the episode.
At least four women of color involved in the 2016 Trump campaign are embroiled in legal fights over workplace harassment, discrimination or violations of nondisclosure agreements. They have been subjected to scorched-earth tactics.
Trump is a well-known bully who has belittled and sought to dominate political rivals. It turns out that Trump’s campaign used similar bullying tactics against its own workers. These fights have been waged out of the public eye against women with few resources to stand up against the campaign’s battery of lawyers, paid from a seemingly bottomless trove of campaign money.
In Surviving the Silence, Barbara Brass reflected: “We just thought it would be a story of us holding hands, going quietly into the sunset. But it’s not.”
Barbara Brass and Patsy Thompson’s ongoing story is one of love, commitment, and the power of individuals to make change.
During her testimony in Donald Trump’s criminal trial, adult film star Stormy Daniels didn’t mince words: At one point, she acknowledged she had once called him an “orange turd.”
Daniels’ language was a far cry from the kind of words uttered by today’s talking sex dolls, like the ones produced by California’s RealDoll, a subsidiary of Abyss Creations. These are sexy, custom-made AI-enabled dolls that are programmed to never say anything mean or insulting. They are designed to flatter the user and always be compliant. They never say, “No, don’t do that,” or “Get lost!” Daniels herself gave RealDoll the license to produce Stormy Daniels sex dolls, but these dolls were silent and couldn’t talk.
The difference between a real-life adult film star and a simulated one tells us much about the kind of sex dolls many users apparently prefer—the ones that have tightly controlled conversations. And the difference tells us much about users social attitudes towards women themselves.
Black women are often in the crosshairs of abusive discourse driven by social media. That recent targets are often public figures suggests that social media abusers find it profitable to attack high-profile Black women who have become symbolic avatars for the group as a whole.
(This article originally appears in the Spring 2024 issue of Ms. Join the Ms. community today and you’ll get issues delivered straight to your mailbox!)
Trump has shown considerable indicators of autocratic tendencies—such as calling for the Department of Justice to prosecute his political enemies, claiming that Article II of the Constitution gave him the authority to do “anything I wanted,” shamelessly violating the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause to use his government position to enrich himself and his family, and many more. That all culminated in the attempted interruption of the peaceful transfer of power following the 2020 election.
In this three-part American Autocracy series, we track Trump’s comments on feminist issues. This installment: his stance on political enemies and those who disagree with him.
In this three-part American Autocracy series, we track Trump’s comments on feminist issues.
This installment: Trump’s previous comments on gay and trans rights make him a clear threat to the LGBTQ+ community.
In this three-part American Autocracy series, we track Trump’s comments on feminist issues.
This installment: the threat a Trump presidency poses for abortion. (Future installments will document Trump’s threats the LGBTQ+ community and his perceived enemies.)
U.S. patriarchal authoritarianism is on the rise, and democracy is on the decline. But day after day, we stay vigilant in our goals to dismantle patriarchy at every turn. The fight is far from over. We are watching, and we refuse to go back. This is the War on Women Report.
Since our last report: Missouri anti-abortion activists try to trick voters out of supporting a ballot measure to protect abortion rights; 70 percent of school shooters committed violence against women before or during their attacks; Connecticut may join Maine, Texas, California and New York in adopting coerced debt protections; Fox News spent only 12 minutes covering a ruling from the all-Republican Arizona Supreme Court reviving a 160-year-old state law that bans abortion; and more.
I am one of an estimated 5 to 6 million women in the U.S. with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)—the most common cause of infertility. PCOS is a difficult disease to manage and a direct threat to my chances of bringing life into this world. But my fear isn’t about not being able to get pregnant—it’s about being pregnant in a country without Roe v. Wade.