Young Women and Girls

ICE’s Violence Isn’t a Flaw in the System—It’s the Bedrock

PUBLISHED 1/12/2026 by

It’s a heavy time in the U.S.

Early in the month, we learned of the death of Dr. Janell Green Smith, a certified nurse-midwife and doctor of nursing practice (DNP) in South Carolina. A Black maternal health advocate, Smith became a midwife to confront the Black maternal mortality crisis. That she died in childbirth is a devastating reminder of the urgency of her work. Black women are three times more likely to die of pregnancy-related causes than white women, according to the CDC—a crisis compounded by abortion bans after Dobbs. Black women are disproportionately represented on Ms.’ running list of preventable deaths linked to those bans.

Then, late last week, videos emerged from Minneapolis showing heavily armed ICE agents killing a community volunteer and legal observer, Renee Nicole Good—an outcome of the misogyny and violence embedded within ICE.

RFK Jr. has also altered the childhood vaccine schedule, reducing recommended vaccines. Children will die or suffer lifelong harm. Older people will die. Nobody is safe. This, too, is violence. We may never know whose lives will be lost or permanently altered, but we mourn those harmed by this administration—and commit to fighting like hell for the rest of us.

What the Backlash Against Women’s Leadership Tells Us About Young Men

PUBLISHED 12/29/2025 by

At this year’s Reykjavík Global Forum in November, where 500 global leaders from public and private sectors convened in Iceland, the mood around gender equality was both urgent and reflective. Progress that once felt inevitable now looks fragile. The Reykjavík Index for Leadership reveals concerning declines in how women are perceived for leadership roles across major economies, while conversations about young men and boys have become more heated, polarized and emotionally charged.

While at the forum, I spoke with Richard Reeves, an author and researcher focused on boys and men, and Michelle Harrison, the founding force behind the Reykjavík Index for Leadership, about what’s really going on—and what comes next. Their insights help clarify the current backlash, the urgency of centering young people, and why gender equality must remain a shared project—one that includes all of us.

Women’s and Girls’ Wrestling Is Ready for Its Modern Era

PUBLISHED 12/26/2025 by and

Women’s and girls’ wrestling has grown considerably in the U.S. since the late ’80s. After the sport’s debut at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, more and more girls began joining high school wrestling teams as more high schools began making teams for girls.

Although the sport carries a long history, women’s wrestling is now more popular than it’s ever been. The sport seeks to create community after being ignored for many years, and will be featured at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. It will be in that moment in Los Angeles, under the Olympic flame, that women’s and girls’ wrestling will close the chapter of its trailblazing journey and launch into a modern era.

Congress Went on Recess. Americans Got Higher Healthcare Bills.

PUBLISHED 12/22/2025 by

Congressional discussions on extending the Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits, which are set to expire Dec. 31, remain deadlocked as Congress begins its winter recess. Now, millions will see their premiums increase as a result: Payments will more than double on average—some even quadrupling—for enrollees who were eligible for the tax credits.

Without the extension, more and more ACA marketplace enrollees will drop their increasingly costly health insurance plans. This comes at a time when the ACA is more popular than ever—recent polls show that across the political spectrum, three quarters of voters support extending the tax credits.

Could the administration’s latest attack on transgender young people be the administration’s way of deflecting attention from the disaster unfolding in real time for millions of families in need of healthcare?  

What 200 Gen Z Women Told Me About Birth Control Should Alarm Every Woman in America

PUBLISHED 12/17/2025 by

Birth control is the single most powerful tool for women’s economic mobility and autonomy in modern history. It changed everything: When women could plan if, when and with whom they wanted to have children, college enrollment soared, dropout rates fell and poverty rates declined. The ability to access contraception has been directly tied to women’s ability to stay in school, build careers and make decisions about their own futures.

So why, in 2025, are we finding ourselves in a messaging war on birth control?

What the ‘Wicked’ Weight-Loss Discourse Gets Wrong

PUBLISHED 12/17/2025 by

We can’t afford to look away from changing beauty norms in our society, and how they are fueling eating disorders. 

Jennifer Rollin, an eating disorder therapist based in Maryland, says, “What I hear from a lot of clients is that when they are trying to recover from their eating disorder in this society, it almost feels wrong, because ‘everyone around me is talking about Ozempic,’ and ‘all the celebrities are talking about their big amount of weight loss.’”

But while it can feel cathartic to criticize or distance ourselves from prominent women who seem to be conforming to dangerous beauty standards, that criticism is harmful and does not bring us any closer to addressing the problem.

She Was an Antiabortion Poster Child. Now She’s a Reproductive Freedom Activist.

PUBLISHED 12/10/2025 by and

At the age of 15, Charlotte Isenberg took to social media to process complicated feelings about a miscarriage after alleged sexual abuse. That was what first brought her to the attention of antiabortion groups.

“Almost immediately, anti-abortion actors threaded a narrative for me between my grief, my miscarriage and anti-abortion sentiment. I clung to it with desperation,” Isenberg wrote.

Feeling isolated from peers due to both her traumatic experiences and the COVID-19 pandemic, Isenberg found a sense of belonging in these online spaces.

But in May 2024, at age 20, Isenberg says her birth control failed, and she became pregnant for the second time. The timing was devastating: She was unemployed, without stable housing or transportation, and preparing to relocate for college—the first in her family to access higher education. 

When she couldn’t find adequate support for her unplanned pregnancy, Isenberg scheduled an appointment at her local Planned Parenthood for an abortion consultation, unsure of what she would ultimately decide. Another prominent antiabortion activist, one of Isenberg’s best friends in the movement, found out about her appointment; she and other members of the group intervened aggressively.

Despite this pressure, Isenberg was able to make the decision that was best for her and her body. Since her own abortion, she’s become a reproductive freedom activist, educating others about extremist antiabortion tactics and promoting systemic protections for people navigating reproductive healthcare.