[[link removed]] Weekly Digest
Weekly Digest
Letter from an Editor | July 29, 2023
Dear John,
I’ve been thinking all week about sisterhood—and how by banding together, celebrating our history and never giving up, we can make real and lasting progress toward equality.
Over 100 years ago, the sisterhood that was the National Women’s Party gathered in Seneca Falls to unveil the Equal Rights Amendment. And exactly 100 years later, a new generation of ERA advocates gathered at that same podium this past weekend to celebrate the centennial, and plan for the final push for recognition of the ERA as the 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
“This will be the last generation to fight for the ERA because you will get it done,” said Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), who helped launch the first-ever Congressional Caucus for the ERA. Advocates like Bush in both the House and Senate are pushing for congressional action to clear the way for the ERA to be recognized as the 28th Amendment—only five more Representatives are needed for approval in the House, and with 53 Senators in support, the ERA could pass a floor vote with a simple majority if allowed under Senate rules.
This kind of persistence and dedication is what defines sisterhood for me. The devotion to freedom—not just for ourselves, but for future generations, who deserve equality just as much as ourselves and our mothers and grandmothers did. Alliances between women have a deep capacity to be revolutionary, as legal scholar Diane Rosenfeld and actor and activist Ashley Judd elaborated on in a recent Ms. Q&A about Rosenfeld’s recent book, The Bonobo Sisterhood . Rosenfeld argues that we can learn a lot from bonobos—some of our closest primate relatives—when it comes to preventing sexual violence.
“The bonobo sisterhood offers a new frame of social relations,” Rosenfeld tells Ms. “Evolutionarily, they have eliminated male sexual coercion. In their social order, an infant will outrank an adult male, and male association patterns are heavily influenced by their relationship with their mothers… They show us that patriarchal violence is not inevitable.”
Another crucial element of sisterhood is righting historical wrongs—and not stopping till women’s historical contributions across culture are properly recognized. This recognition is one of the goals of our series Turning 50: Looking Back at the Women in Hip-Hop, in collaboration with contributing editor Janell Hobson. Despite being pioneers in the genre, women’s contributions to the world of hip-hop music and culture have been routinely overlooked since the genre’s inception a half-century ago. Hobson’s interviews with hip-hop feminist scholars lift up those contributions, and the women behind them, who have long been erased and silenced—at times violently so.
The bottom line is, it shouldn’t take 50 years for women to get the respect and credit they are due. The good news is that we’ve come a long way in the past 50 years—with an outspokenly feminist film like ‘Barbie’ topping the box office this past weekend (a film that was made by an outspoken feminist—Greta Gerwig—no less!). And so it can sometimes be hard to comprehend that we’re living in the midst of a profound backlash to women’s rights. But the will to fight back is stronger than ever. And with a sisterhood as strong as ours—one that marries diverse movements under one banner, with the knowledge that none of us are free till all of us are free—we know we can make change happen.
Onward,
[[link removed]]
Kathy Spillar
Executive Editor
This Week's Must-Reads from Ms.
[link removed] [[link removed]] [link removed] [[link removed]]
ERA Centennial Convention in Seneca Falls: Intergenerational, Diverse and Determined [[link removed]] Women Are Hip-Hop’s Culture Bearers: The Ms. Q&A With Elaine Richardson and Kyra Gaunt [[link removed]]
[link removed] [[link removed]] [link removed] [[link removed]]
The Bonobo Sisterhood: The Ms. Q&A With Ashley Judd and Diane Rosenfeld [[link removed]] Girl Bond Summer: Taylor, Barbie and Power of Collective Joy [[link removed]]
[link removed] [[link removed]] [link removed] [[link removed]]
‘This Barbie Is a Feminist’: Greta Gerwig’s Barbie Reckons With Her Fraught Legacy [[link removed]] ‘Barbie’ Makes Girlhood Great Again [[link removed]]
[link removed] [[link removed]] Tune in for a new episode of Ms. magazine's podcast, On the Issues with Michele Goodwin on
Apple Podcasts [[link removed]] + Spotify [[link removed]] .
In early June 2023, for the second time in two months, Trump was indicted—this time on 37 felony counts for allegedly mishandling sensitive, classified government materials and obstruction of justice. What does this most recent indictment mean for Trump, the 2024 elections, and the future of American democracy as a whole?
We hope you'll listen, subscribe, rate and review today!
[link removed] [[link removed]]
U.S. democracy is at a dangerous inflection point—from the demise of abortion rights, to a lack of pay equity and parental leave, to skyrocketing maternal mortality, and attacks on trans health. Left unchecked, these crises will lead to wider gaps in political participation and representation. For 50 years, Ms . has been forging feminist journalism—reporting, rebelling and truth-telling from the front-lines, championing the Equal Rights Amendment, and centering the stories of those most impacted. With all that’s at stake for equality, we are redoubling our commitment for the next 50 years. In turn, we need your help, Support Ms. today with a donation—any amount that is meaningful to you [[link removed]] . We are grateful for your loyalty and ferocity .
READ THE REST [[link removed]] | GET THE MAGAZINE [[link removed]] | SUPPORT MS. [[link removed]]
[[link removed]]
[link removed] [[link removed]] [link removed] [[link removed]] [link removed] [[link removed]]
Enjoy this newsletter? Forward to a friend!
Was this email forwarded to you by a friend? Subscribe [[link removed]] .

Ms. Magazine
1600 Wilson Boulevard
Suite 801
Arlington, VA 22209
United States
Manage your email subscriptions here [[link removed]]
If you believe you received this message in error or wish to no longer receive email from us, please
unsubscribe: [link removed] .