In each issue of Ms., we track research on our advances in the fight for equality, catalog essential quotes from feminist voices, and keep track of the many milestones of the feminist movement. was count also online – in this bi-weekly summary.
May we never forget
“If I can get our Latino, Latina students to feel empowered and show them that they too can excel and be in leadership roles and have a voice, you know why not? I do that all day. …. I was just trying to be available and present with my students. I want them to see that they can too. They can do hard things if they want and are interested.”
– New President-elect of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, Raquel Martinez, on the impact she hopes to have as the organization’s first Latina president in 107 years.
Raquel Martinez, Principal of Stevens Middle School in Pasco, Washington, has been named President-elect of the National Association of Secondary School Principals. She is the first Latina to hold this position. (Courtesy National Association of Secondary School Principals)
“President Biden missed an important opportunity to bring abortion justice into his first federal budget since the end of Roe by failing to eliminate all abortion cover bans.
“We welcome the Hyde Amendment exclusion and ban on DC residents, but the fact that other reporting bans affecting federal employees, those in federal custody and Peace Corps volunteers still remain in place is simply irresponsible. This policy denies people the freedom to make their own decisions and they all must go. Congress needs to be bolder and pass spending legislation without a cover ban. Abortion justice cannot wait.”
—All* Most notably President Morgan Hopkins on the release of President Joe Biden’s new federal budget, which maintains coverage bans that limit insurance coverage for abortions.
“I am honored and excited to join the Smithsonian as founding director of the American Women’s History Museum. … I look forward to working with colleagues to leverage the Smithsonian’s magnificent portfolio of museums, educational resources, and research—and its unrivaled collections. Museums play a crucial role at the interface between science and public access. Giving voice to the stories of American women takes conscious conversation, creative input, and vigorous curating.”
– Nancy Yao, the first director of the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum, in a statement on her appointment to the role. The museum was founded in December 2020. Yao was previously President of the Museum of Chinese in America in New York City.
“Because the only way the arc of history will bend toward justice is if we all lean together to bend that arc toward representation, justice and liberty. We rely on democracy. We lean together… Together we can do it.”
—Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (DN.M.) during the RepresentWomen’s Democracy Solutions Summit on March 9th. The third day of the event aimed to unpack systemic explanations for gender differences in national politics and to propose possible solutions such as ranking decisions.
milestones
+ Everything Everywhere All at Once star Michelle Yeoh made history at the Oscars Sunday nightwho became the first Asian woman to win the Best Actress award.
“For all of the little boys and girls who look like me tonight, this is a beacon of hope and opportunity,” Yeoh said. “And ladies, don’t let anyone tell you you’re past your prime. Never give up.”
+ A new, non-hormonal form of male birth control is being studied at Weill Cornell Medicine, where researchers have determined the drug to be safe when tested on mice. The drug can be given as a pill or injection, and is taken as needed before sex, rather than daily or monthly.
“A lot of men are trying to own their reproductive rights, and they want something,” said Dr. Helen Bernie, director of male sexual and reproductive medicine at Indiana University. “I hope it’s useful, but it’s a long way from mice to humans.”
+ Virginia State Senator Jennifer McClellan (D) was the first black woman to win a seat representing Virginia in Congress after a special election on Tuesday 21 February. Her district includes Richmond and other southern counties, most of which are reliably Democratic.
“It still blows my mind that we’re having premieres in 2023,” McClellan said. “My ancestors fought really hard to get a seat at this table, and now I won’t be the only one who will have a seat at the table in Congress; I’ll be able to bring that policy making table to communities that never really had a voice before.”
+ Elite athletes Serena Williams and Brittney Griner were both honored at the NAACP’s Image Awards on Saturday, February 25. Williams won the Jackie Robinson Sports Award, while Griner attended the show with her wife and was praised by the evening’s host Queen Latifah.
+ Only 12 states have taken action to protect incarcerated parents and their families in the US, but over 5 million children nationwide have incarcerated parents. Seven states have enacted “caregiver mitigation and distraction laws” to keep parents out of jail and instead direct them to substance abuse rehabilitation or surveillance programs. Five others have introduced proximity laws to ensure parents are not sent to jail inaccessible distances from their children.
(prison policy initiative)
+ Shinta Ratri, an advocate for transgender rights in Indonesia, died in Yogyakarta on February 1 at the age of 60. Shinta came out as transgender at a young age and founded an Islamic boarding school – Pesantren Waria al-Fatah – in 2008 to provide a safe place for other transgender youth.
“The first thing I say to every trans woman who comes here is that there is no sin in being a trans woman,” Shinta said in a 2021 Vice interview. “In this world there are not only men and women. Here we are. There are also us trans people.”
+ Former South Carolina Supreme Court Justice Kaye Hearn retired last year at 72, leaving the state with no female judges. The General Assembly elected her successor, Justice Gary Hill, on February 8, leaving the state with five men to make the final decision on abortion bans proposed by Republican lawmakers.
“There were two equally qualified women running for office who had also served longer than him on the Court of Appeals, our second highest court. I’m just disappointed with this timing. … We’ve had a woman on the South Carolina Supreme Court for 35 years. And to be honest, it never occurred to me that we wouldn’t have at least one wife,” Hearn said. The five women serving in the state Senate refused to vote for Hill’s appointment.
“Our Supreme Court went all-male because my peers, who are overwhelmingly male and overwhelmingly rabid anti-abortion advocates, did not believe that a woman could be impartial on this matter,” Senator Sandy Senn (R) said.
How are we?
+ That’s according to a study by the Pew Research Center Parenting drastically benefits from fathers’ salaries while penalizing mothers. Working fathers aged 25 to 54 earn more than the average for men and significantly more than women in gainful employment. Women, on the other hand, often face an additional bias of having children, resulting in lower salaries.
+ This is what the latest surveys have shown Americans still feel strongly about reproductive rights, with 39 percent of Republicans and 62 percent of Americans describing themselves as “pro-choice.” However, seven out of ten respondents fear for the “endangered” future of abortion rights in the United States.
(Navigator)
+ The federal government received a “C” rating from 72 percent of women small business owners for the effectiveness and accessibility of the program. The Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Voices survey also found that 89 percent of female respondents felt disadvantaged compared to their male counterparts. Almost all women entrepreneurs surveyed — 99 percent — said existing government programs do not provide adequate support.
“They represent a small minority of the total, but we know for sure that they have an outsized impact of this ongoing trend,” said Dane Stangler, the Bipartisan Policy Center’s director of strategic initiatives.
+ A survey by Handshake – a popular career networking platform for college students – found a significant discrepancy in expected salaries between women and men in Gen Z. Surveyed students identified a total of $82,000 as a high starting salary given the rising cost of living in the US, but Gen Z women expected $6,200 less than men. The discrepancy was exacerbated by the underrepresentation of women in areas with high salary expectations such as engineering.
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