Ms. Magazine

Ms. Magazine • 25th December 2020

Citizen Science: First Women to Overwinter in the Arctic Return for Second Time

Sunniva Sorby and Hilde Fålun Strøm have returned to overwinter in the high Arctic for the second time, bringing groundbreaking scientific research to prestigious institutions while raising awareness about climate change.

Quarantine these past (seemingly endless) months has been challenging for everyone—at the very least because being stuck at home alone or with the same few family members can get old very quickly.

Here to shatter your understanding of a hardcore quarantine are Sunniva Sorby o

Ms. Magazine • 28th November 2020

Restless Is the Social Media Platform Fighting Sexual Assault

“I knew I had to find a way to empower myself again within the circumstances I couldn’t change. I thought that maybe if I couldn’t tell my own story, I could at least facilitate the stories of other women. That maybe I could speak indirectly through them, and feel like I was reclaiming my narrative, even if indirectly.”

In the fall of 2014, a U.S. college student named Olivia DeRamus was sexually assaulted.

Upon reporting her assaulter to the school, he sued her for millions of dollars—a tacti

Ms. Magazine • 8th September 2020

Film "I Am Woman" Tells The Story Behind Helen Reddy's Feminist Anthem

In December of 1972, Helen Reddy’s song, I Am Woman, hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Perhaps more significantly—for the Ms. perspective—is that it also became the anthem of the women’s liberation movement.

Now, over 50 years later, we finally get to hear the inspiring story of the woman behind it.

I Am Woman—a new feature film by Australian director Unjoo Moon, premiering in the U.S. on demand and in theaters on September 11—is the first biopic about the Australian musical icon who so p

Ms. Magazine • 4th September 2020

Ted Cruz and GOP Senators' Latest Attempt to Ban Abortion Pill Is Full of Lies

On Tuesday, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), along with 19 other Republican senators, filed a letter with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) calling for the abortion pill (mifepristone) to be banned from the U.S. market. The letter calls for the drug (used in nearly 40 percent of U.S. abortions) to be classified as an “imminent hazard to the public health.”

The letter followed Donald Trump’s move last week to reverse a federal district court ruling in July that allowed health care providers to mail

Ms. Magazine • 29th August 2020

Tools of the Patriarchy: The Money Tool, and the Persistent Wage Gap

Tools of the Patriarchy is a biweekly column on the tools that establish men’s dominance in society, or, in other words, uphold the patriarchy. Whether or not these tools are used intentionally, they contribute to a world in which women are not equal to men.

The wage gap has plagued the U.S. since women entered the workforce.

The Equal Pay Act was signed in 1963, and since then, the gap has been closing very slowly. In fact, in 1963, full-time working women only made 0.59 cents to the working

Ms. Magazine • 26th August 2020

Jacob Blake's Sister, Letetra Widman: "I Don't Want Your Pity. I Want Change."

Letetra Widman has recently joined the ranks of family members forced into the spotlight after her brother, Jacob Blake, was shot seven times in the back by police officers on Sunday evening.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Widman, 30, appeared alongside her family to speak on behalf of her 29-year-old brother, who is currently confined to a hospital bed in Milwaukee, paralyzed from the waist-down.

Calling herself her “brother’s keeper,” Widman said:

“When you say the name Jacob Blake, make

Ms. Magazine • 19th August 2020

We Heart: Stitching it to the Patriarchy, One Shirt at A Time

In June of 2019, Nina Harris, a then-rising senior at Tulane University, had an idea to up-cycle thrifted shirts.

She had been a fan of thrifting for a while. Like many before her, Harris grew up shopping at Forever 21 but converted to “thriftdom” after learning about the horrors of fast fashion—from its mistreatment of workers to staggering environmental costs.

In high school, she bought a shirt at a thrift store printed the words “You are sexy.” The shirt always received lots of compliments

Ms. Magazine • 12th August 2020

Tools of the Patriarchy: The Weaponization of Sexual Freedom

Tools of the Patriarchy is a biweekly column on the tools that establish men’s dominance in society, or, in other words, uphold the patriarchy. Whether or not these tools are used intentionally, they contribute to a world in which women are not equal to men.

The morning after a sexual encounter, a woman’s journey home is frequently deemed a “walk of shame“—while men, on the other hand, get to enjoy of a “walk of pride.”

Patriarchal norms, as we’ve discussed in past weeks, most often include at

Ms. Magazine • 4th August 2020

In Defense of the "1619 Project"

On Thursday, July 23, Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) introduced the Saving American History Act of 2020. The bill would “prohibit [f]ederal funds from being made available to teach the 1619 Project curriculum in elementary schools and secondary schools.”

The “1619 Project” is the brainchild of New York Times staff writer Nikole Hannah-Jones. The project was born in August of 2019—exactly 400 years after the first ship of enslaved Africans docked in Virginia in August of 1619—with the goal:

The pr

Ms. Magazine • 30th July 2020

Tools of the Patriarchy: Should Chivalry Be Dead?

Tools of the Patriarchy is a biweekly column on the tools that establish men’s dominance in society, or, in other words, uphold the patriarchy. Whether or not these tools are used intentionally, they contribute to a world in which women are not equal to men.

In discussions of modern feminism, Larry David is definitely not the first person to come to mind. And yet, one episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” seems to—strangely well, we know—encapsulate the issue of chivalry in the modern day. (Bear wi

Ms. Magazine • 28th July 2020

Star-Studded Indigenous Graduation Ceremony Honors 2020 Graduates

Protecting the sacred means protecting history, and protecting history means improving the future.

This was the glowing lesson that emerged from Protect the Sacred’s virtual graduation ceremony, honoring indigenous graduates from the class of 2020.

Held in late June, the ceremony featured over two dozen speakers and performers, both members and allies of the Navajo Nation. Graduates from college, high school, technical school and beyond were celebrated by artists, actors, state representatives

Ms. Magazine • 23rd July 2020

We Heart: AOC's Feminist Clapback— "I Am Someone's Daughter Too"

On Thursday, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) took to the House floor to powerfully renounce the non-apology of Representative Ted Yoho (R-Fla.).

In a Monday confrontation with Ocasio-Cortez on her stance on the correlation between poverty and crime, Yoho reportedly called her “disgusting,” and said, “You are out of your freaking mind.” Ocasio-Cortez told Yoho that he was being rude. As he walked away, he called her a “fucking bitch.”

Even beyond the obvious sexism, aggression

Ms. Magazine • 16th July 2020

Tools of the Patriarchy: Diet Culture and How We All Perpetuate the Stigma

Tools of the Patriarchy is a biweekly column on the tools that establish men’s dominance in society, or, in other words, uphold the patriarchy. Whether or not these tools are used intentionally, they contribute to a world in which women are not equal to men.

We could write an entire book just on the tools of patriarchy that aim to police women’s bodies. We’ve already talked about a few ways hair is used; this week, we’re talking about diets, and more specifically, diet culture.

“Diet culture i

Ms. Magazine • 15th July 2020

The Lost Season: COVID-19’s Impact on Underrepresented Playwrights

When Donnetta Lavinia Grays was an undergraduate at the College of Charleston, she was cast in a production of “Romeo and Juliet.” Grays, a queer Black woman from Columbia, S.C., was not cast as Juliet, nor Romeo, despite obvious talent and extensive acting experience across genders. She was cast as Juliet’s nurse—not a small role in the play, but not a true lead, either.

But no matter—she was new in college and didn’t think much of the director’s choice. It was not until after the show was ove

Ms. Magazine • 13th July 2020

Remembering Sandra Bland and Breonna Taylor—and Demanding Justice

Tuesday marks six years since the tragic death of Sandra Bland.

In 2015, Bland, a Black woman and civil rights activist, died in police custody at the age of 28, after being arrested by state trooper Brian T. Encinia during a traffic stop in Prairie View, Texas. She was taken and held at the Waller County Jail, and was found hanging in her cell just three days later.

According to the official autopsy report by Sara Boyle, M.D., the assistant medical examiner at the time, her death was ruled a

Ms. Magazine • 3rd July 2020

Black Mothers Are Still Fighting For Their Murdered Children

In 2016, nine women stood on stage at the Democratic National Convention, united by the deaths of their children.

Gwen Carr, Sybrina Fulton, Maria Hamilton, Lucy McBath, Lesley McSpadden, Cleopatra Cowley-Pendleton, Annette Nance-Holt, Wanda Johnson and Geneva Reed-Veal endorsed Hillary Clinton that night, joined together as Mothers of the Movement—an ever-growing group of African American mothers fighting against the police brutality, gun violence and systemic racism that allowed for their chi

Ms. Magazine • 1st July 2020

Tools of the Patriarchy: The Weaponization of Hair

Tools of the Patriarchy is a biweekly column on the tools that establish men’s dominance in society, or, in other words, uphold the patriarchy. Whether or not these tools are used intentionally, they contribute to a world in which women are not equal to men.

From abortion to weight loss, the patriarchal tradition of policing women’s bodies is a strong and long lasting one. Telling women what they must or must not do with their hair—whether that be the color, texture, quantity or location of it—

Ms. Magazine • 17th June 2020

Tools of the Patriarchy: The Naming Tool

Tools of the Patriarchy is a biweekly column on the tools that establish men’s dominance in society, or, in other words, uphold the patriarchy. Whether or not these tools are used intentionally, they contribute to a world in which women are not equal to men.

To kick off Tools of the Patriarchy with a whopper, let’s discuss an instrument so deeply entrenched in our lives it can sometimes be hard to notice: the naming tool.

This long-standing tradition dictates that after marriage, a woman shoul

Ms. Magazine • 12th June 2020

100 Years of Women Voting Means Defending the Right to Vote for All

100 years ago, on August 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment was officially added to the Constitution. On that day, women’s constitutional right to vote was recognized and the United States moved one step closer to equality and enfranchisement for all. Following decades of fighting for all varieties of progressive change, this, the ultimate triumph of the women’s suffrage movement, finally prevailed.

Today, many are still robbed of the right women so fiercely fought for.

Voter suppression and voting