"This is not a time to congratulate ourselves," legendary feminist leader Gloria Feldt said in a message to Ms. readers Monday. "It is the time to press forward with eyes on the overarching goal of full equality for all women. All humans, for that matter. Go win elections. Give money or time to candidates you support or run yourself. Start companies that build wealth at the Apple level or run them. Raise feminist kids. Give to social justice causes. Invest in women-led businesses and buy from companies with female-friendly policies. Find the cure for cancer, solve climate change. Do one small thing every day to help another woman succeed. Use your power to lead men and women together to a healthier, more just world. Nobody has to do everything, but everybody can do something."
This week, women in every sector and in every corner of the country took her advice.
“We must safeguard our electoral process and our very democracy from outside threats,” Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota said this week. “For this reason, the current investigations into corruption must continue. And when there is an abuse of power of this magnitude, it is our responsibility to stand up for what is right."
Of course, the week also got off to a feminist start—because the Emmy awards this year, in which women took home awards by the literal armful and celebrated their sisters on stage, was a feminist fête. Countless celebrities used their speeches to issue powerful calls to action. "Step out of line ladies," Alex Borstein urged. "The next time a woman, and especially a woman of color... tells you what she needs in order to do her job, listen to her," Michelle Williams instructed. "Believe her." And RuPaul reminded us that we had Voter Registration Day to ring in this week, too: "Go and register to vote!” he shouted. “Go to vote.gov and vote! Register!"
Feminist voters are registered and ready for what's yet to come—sounding off in new polls on economic justice and organizing for civic engagement on campus. New numbers are proving that women will be a force to reckon with in 2020—so it's probably a good thing that we're already raising our voices.
Despite all of these headlines, many stories this week that are just as urgent and important in the fight for equality didn't get the attention I think they deserved. In case you're wondering what noise feminists were making this week below the fold, I've rounded up five pieces below from the last week.
For centuries, survivors have been warned that rape accusations “ruin a man’s life”—yet an alleged serial sexual assailant is the President and two men accused of sexual misconduct sit on the Supreme Court. In the midst of this current moment—with #MeToo exploding in the background, and allegations against Kavanaugh once again making headlines—we must stop asking that question of alleged perpetrators and demand that survivors, and their own well-being, be at the center of these conversations.
Donald Trump spent the majority of his 37-minute speech Tuesday before the United Nations General Assembly cynically co-opting human rights language in service of his violent, nationalistic agenda. The only thing new in Trump’s third address to the UN appeared to be the manner of its delivery, which the New York Times called “unusually flat” and “monotone.” But regardless of how it sounded, his trademark message of hate and discrimination, showcased yet again on the world stage, remains just as troubling to supporters of human rights.
I help lead contraceptive access initiatives across the country at Advocates for Youth. Through our work with young people and partner organizations, I’m constantly seeing how prescription requirements and age restrictions place unnecessary burdens on young people attempting to access contraception. But what if things were easier? What if young people didn’t have to jump through so many hoops to access birth control?
This year marks the 40th anniversary of Jean Kilbourne’s pioneering film, Killing Us Softly, which examined how images of women in ads influenced how society views women. Kilbourne’s work created a whole new field of feminist media criticism, and showed generations of college students how images of women in advertising can have real life consequences. But even though her mission started 40 years ago, this problem has not disappeared—in fact, it’s only gotten worse with the rise of the Internet and social media. At a recent event at Smith College, she explored the fights that remain in ending media sexism.
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