[[link removed]] Ms. Memo: This Week in Women's Rights
February 23, 2022
Right now, we face critical challenges to women's equality, both in the U.S. and around the world—but it can be hard to keep up. In this weekly roundup, find the absolute need-to-know news for feminists.
Our Democracy Has Problems. Women Have Solutions. [[link removed]]
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BY CYNTHIA RICHIE TERRELL and JENNIFER WEISS-WOLF | These are trying times, no doubt. We have heard multiple well-informed people talk about plans to become self-reliant homesteaders because of “how things are going” in our country. Others have even casually mentioned that they have an escape plan lined up in case things “continue to go south.”
As Vice President Kamala Harris famously said, “The status of women is the status of democracy.” A recent essay in Foreign Affairs underscores that “the 21st [century] is demonstrating that misogyny and authoritarianism are not just common comorbidities but mutually reinforcing ills.” Knowing this, it should come as no surprise that the United States, which now sits at a stunning 72nd in the global ranking of political gender parity, is not even considered a “full democracy” by the Economist Intelligence’s Democracy Index 2021.
Extreme political and cultural polarization puts our “functioning of government” score at an all-time low, placing the U.S. below countries that have even experienced multiple military coups. The January 6th riot on the Capitol, unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud, the politicization of a public health crisis, gerrymandering … all have contributed to a real and felt decline in the quality and effectiveness of our democracy. The United States, one of the world’s oldest democracies, is now seeing a rise of antidemocratic views, not only among citizens, but squarely within its established political parties.
But never fear. We come bearing good news. There is hope. And that hope, we believe, is the shared power and potential of mobilized women to forge a new movement for a 21st century democracy. A movement guided by passion and participation. A movement designed to propel a virtuous circle of reinforcing cultural and institutional advancements, where true representation becomes a reality in our lifetimes . A movement that, as history shows, is destined for lasting success because it is envisioned and fueled by women and people of color.
We hope you are inspired and encouraged by what this slate of women experts—working at all levels to reform and revitalize our democracy—have to say. We surely are!
(Click here to read more) [[link removed]]
Read more
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For Women, the Time To Run Is Now [[link removed]] Meanwhile in Afghanistan, Women Are Suffering Needlessly This Winter [[link removed]]
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Parental Leave: The Time for Change Was Yesterday [[link removed]] Most People Want Over-the-Counter Abortion Pills, New Study Finds [[link removed]]
What we're reading:
We know it's hard to keep up with everything going on in the world right now. That's why going forward, we'll provide a weekly roundup of the stories we think are important that Ms. may not have covered. Here's what we're reading this week:
*
"Feminist
Foreign
Policies
Increase
in
Number.
Do
They
Matter?"
—
PassBlue
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*
"Justice
Breyer:
A
formidable
defender
of
reproductive
rights"
—
SCOTUSblog
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(Read
the
latest
from
"On
the
Issues"
host
Michele
Goodwin!)
*
"The
Long
Crusade
of
Clarence
and
Ginni
Thomas"
—
The
New
York
Times
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[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]] .
We're kicking off our Road to Confirmation series with a deep dive into President Biden’s promise to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court. Who are the most likely candidates? What credentials and experience would they bring to the role? What distinguishes the speculated short-list candidates from each other? And if confirmed, how would a Biden nominee influence the Court?
We hope you'll listen, subscribe, rate and review today!
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