“We felt it our responsibility to depict the war on Black women’s bodies raging in this conservative state,” said Katori Hall, creator of Starz’s P-Valley.
Tag: Women in Media
Ms. Global: Iranian Women Unveil in Protest; Hungary Sued Over Anti-LGBTQ Law; Sierra Leone Overturns Abortion Ban
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 health care. 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.
Half a Century of Data on American Women and Politics
At the time of the Center for American Women and Politics’ founding, there were so few women in politics that some male colleagues wondered aloud what the organization would even study.
Five decades later, in a year marked by critical milestones and mixed outcomes for women’s rights and representation, the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) at Rutgers Eagleton Institute of Politics is celebrating its anniversary as the original and preeminent source for data, research and resources regarding women in American politics and public life. Ms. spoke recently with Debbie Walsh, CAWP’s director for the last two decades, about the significance of that half-century mark.
The Return of Essence Festival of Culture: ‘It’s the Black Joy for Me’
After an in-person hiatus of two years, Essence Festival of Culture returned to New Orleans for its annual festival dedicated to celebrating and uplifting Black women.
The return of Essence Festival in person during this critical social moment was vital. With the theme “It’s the Black Joy For Me,” it was a moment for Black women to take time for themselves and each other, despite what’s currently happening in the world.
‘Good Luck to You, Leo Grande’: Pleasure as a Path to Wholeness
Good Luck to You, Leo Grandestarring Emma Thompson as Nancy Stokes and Daryl McCormack as Leo Grande is an exploration of whether women, due to internal and external messaging, are allowed to pursue and attain sexual fulfillment. The fact that Nancy has never had an orgasm answers that question.
In a world where we’ve started discussing the critical importance of sexual consent, and in the wake of MeToo, we must address women’s pleasure—making this film not only entertaining, but necessary.
Keeping Score: U.S. Gymnasts Sue FBI for Failure to Investigate Nassar; SCOTUS Expands Religious Liberty Rights; Physicians Fear Post-Roe World
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: Physicians fear for their patients’ health outcomes without abortion access; Supreme Court rules to protect federal officers’ immunity over Fourth Amendments rights; U.S. women gymnasts sue FBI for failure to investigate doctor Larry Nassar; House passes legislation to ban purchase of semiautomatic weapons before age 21; first transgender performer is nominated for a Tony, and first non-binary composer wins for best original score; and more.
Lucia Small’s Film ‘Girl Talk’ Explores Gender Bias Within High School Debate Teams: ‘A Powerful Team With Powerful Girls’ Voices’
Perhaps it should come as little surprise that many prominent female public figures—Sonia Sotomayor, Kamala Harris, Oprah Winfrey, the list goes on—were all high school debaters. In that arena, each of them overcame the odds stacked against them—girls are less likely to participate than boys, less likely to continue year-after-year, and even less likely to win.
Filmmaker Lucia Small’s latest film Girl Talk explores the microcosm of gender bias within high school debate competitions by following five girl debaters through their high school years. In this interview, Small talks about her inspiration for the film and how it speaks to larger issues of how girls and women articulate themselves in arenas from politics to filmmaking. She hopes the film will inspire discussions about gender bias in the debate world—and beyond.
‘Gaslit’ Retells the Story of Watergate from an Unfamiliar Perspective
Like most of history, the Watergate scandal is typically a story told by men, about men. Gaslit is a re-telling of the Watergate scandal from an unfamiliar perspective.
Does the depiction of women in Gaslit just reinforce tired stereotypes about women? Or is there something to the fact that it is women who ultimately changed the tide in the Watergate investigation?
Photographer Natalie Keyssar Illuminates the Plight of Women in Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine
Award-winning, Brooklyn-based photojournalist Natalie Keyssar says the six weeks she spent in Ukraine and at the Poland-Ukraine border gave her an opportunity to see the best of humanity. But she also admits that she saw absolute horror. Her photos depict grit and determination, as well as sorrow, and offer vivid testimony to the resistance on display in much of Ukraine.
‘The News That Didn’t Make the News’: How the Media Ignores Important Stories About Gender Violence and Inequity
News coverage of women by the nation’s most prominent news outlets is consistently skin deep and fleeting. The establishment press should stop treating women merely as spectacle, novelty or eye-candy and begin taking women and gender issues seriously.