More Than A Magazine, A Movement
Five students reflect on the lessons they’ve learned and a unique perspective they’re developing while studying abroad with in a program focused on feminist pedagogies and content.
“We are the surgeons of humanity, trying to repair the damages inflicted by our ancestors while at the same time perfecting our technique so our tomorrow is an improvement from yesterday.”
If the critical race theory panic teaches us anything, it’s that Americans need more, not less education about how race and gender shape our lives, institutions and opportunities in the U.S. That’s why feminist scholars have teamed up to produce a new curriculum on critical race theory for use in grade schools.
When she was a college freshman in 1994, Christy Brzonkala was gang-raped by two students at Virginia Tech. Brzonkala turned to a law newly passed called the Violence Against Women Act—and her case made it to the Supreme Court, where women’s right to equal protection from violence ultimately died.
When passed, the Equal Rights Amendment would spark Congress to enact new laws on gender violence, including redrafting the Violence Against Women Act civil rights remedy, and chart a path to overturn Brzonkala’s devastating decision.
In March, President Biden issued an executive order asking the Department of Education to re-examine the harmful Title IX regulations put in place under Betsy DeVos. But, after months of empty platitudes about “urgency” and how the Department “takes these matters seriously,” they have failed to take any meaningful action and will delay any changes until May of 2022.
No survivor should have to wait to have their most basic rights met.
The risks of being an adolescent girl are perhaps worse this year than any year since we began celebrating International Day of the Girl. The voices of girls are rarely centered, their solutions are rarely considered, and their needs are rarely addressed.
But an executive order from Biden could develop a whole-of-government strategy for children and youth. Empowering girls as leaders benefits us all and should be a priority.
On this International Day of the Girl, two feminists share how their childhood experiences with gender stereotypes have shaped their feminism, their work—and indeed, who they are.
“When I started school as a child, I was bombarded with rules that my body had to follow.”
“I was 8 years old when I was punished at school for refusing to do needlework with the rest of the girls in my class and wanting to do carpentry like the boys. I was awful at needlework. I was dying to swing a hammer.”
Taliban nostalgia threatens 20 years of progress for Afghan girls. The lives, aspirations and rights of girls are not just getting lost in the mix—they are actively being squashed.
How the U.S. responds will be a true test of whether the Biden administration’s stated commitment to gender equality applies in practice and beyond rhetoric. We don’t need another speech or more photo opportunities. We have enough promises. What we need is for President Biden to galvanize real action. Afghan girls deserve nothing less.
Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation.
This week: Women continue to face steep barriers when running for executive offices; Snapchat is helping young women run for office; the U.S. has more monuments of mermaids than congresswomen; and more:
Sen. Elizabeth Warren talks her new children’s book, the importance of connecting with youth and the future of feminism.
“The pinkie promises I’ve made with thousands of girls will stay with me always,” Warren said. “Those promises are a reminder of our strength, and I hope this book will encourage even the youngest readers to dream big—because that’s what girls do.”
A steady diet of exploitative, sexually provocative depictions of women feeds a poisonous trend in women’s and girls’ perceptions of their bodies. A strategy to counter one’s own tendency to self-objectify is to make a point of buying products, watching programs and reading publications that promote more authentic women’s empowerment
