Because of women, care has become a top concern among voters and a unifier across gender, race and party identification. And care issues are most powerful as a motivator for civic engagement when linked with other top priorities for voters—including reproductive rights, tax equity and kitchen table economics.
To Defend Democracy, We Must Protect Bodily Autonomy
It is no coincidence that at the same moment U.S. democracy is facing existential threats, we are also witnessing profound assaults not only on the body politic but on our bodily autonomy.
One of the biggest threats to the consolidation of power is an empowered and engaged populace—particularly women, the LGBTQ community and people of color. Which is why anti-democratic leaders are doing all they can to limit and curtail the power of these communities. This moment requires progressive and pro-democracy funders to understand the attacks to reproductive freedom, LGBTQ liberation, and racial justice not as distinct or disparate—but as central to the attacks to our democracy itself, and to fund accordingly.
So Goes Reproductive Freedom, So Goes Democracy
When people consider what it means to be a democracy on the decline, plot points of the recent film Civil War come to mind: a U.S. president who disregards the Constitution to nab a third term. Crackdowns on dissent and the media. Leaders using the military to break up public demonstrations.
While that is, of course, representative of growing authoritarianism, recent history suggests that rollbacks on bodily autonomy and reproductive freedoms are also flashing red lights for would-be regimes.
‘My Life as a Feminist Punk’: An Interview With Kathleen Hanna
In her memoir, Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk (Ecco), Hanna shares her journey from a challenging childhood through college and her first shows to love, Lyme disease and Le Tigre. Intimate and candid, Hanna graciously explores it all, including the duplicity of the punk scene with its caring collectivity and underlying exclusivity, racism and misogyny.
I was lucky enough to chat with Kathleen Hanna about her book, the writing process and how her feminism has changed over time.
‘Vivas Nos Queremos’: Mexican Feminists on Femicide and the Country’s First Woman President
Mexico is on the precipice of electing its first woman president this June. What are the priorities of feminist movements in Mexico and how do they relate to the next presidency?
“Here in Mexico, we focus on women who have been the victims of femicide.”
The Quest for Perfection Is Stunting Women’s Academic Potential
In the latest study on gender and perfectionism by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the majority of women in the surveyed group were perfectionists. And Harvard economics professor Claudia Goldin conducted a study that found female students responded more negatively to imperfect grades than male students.
“It seems like the strongest social pressure affecting college-educated, professional women today isn’t that they’re afraid to succeed; it’s that they’re afraid not to,” wrote Amanda Hess, critic and regular contributor to
The New York Times.
There Is No Democracy Without Gender Justice
From the boardrooms of philanthropy to the halls of government, democracy and gender are often treated as separate issues.
I’ve been working to sound the alarm. Because while our side has been slow to connect the dots, the authoritarian right has been acting on these connections for decades. The consequences are deadly—and mounting.
American Autocracy: Trump Is Intent on Persecuting His Perceived Enemies
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.
The Ultimate Mother’s Day Gift? Systemic Support for All Mothers
At the beginning of 2024, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a $78 billion tax legislation that included the expanded CTC, but this has since stalled in the Senate. Giving unconditional cash to mothers showed us just how transformative unrestricted financial aid and support for mothers can be—so why don’t we sustain these kinds of investments in families?
May 2024 Reads for the Rest of Us
Each month, we provide Ms. readers with a list of new books being published by writers from historically excluded groups.
The 24 books on my list this month are certain to help you to strategize, reenergize and mobilize.