This week at Stanford University, the Clayman Institute for Gender Research celebrates the 40th anniversary of Ms. Magazine with a series of lectures and activities. Some of these include a screening of The Education of Shelby Knox, with a discussion with Shelby afterwards; a panel with Ms. editors about the role the magazine has played [...]

At the beginning of each year, most of us consider changes we would like to make in our personal lives. I decided to bypass the usual weight and fitness resolutions and focus on institutions I’d like to change. The list is long, but I have prioritized mass-market advertisements because they are pervasive and have the [...]

If you’ve been following us, you know that over the past few years Fem2.0 bloggers have written extensively about public policy, and its role in women’s lives not just here in the United States, but abroad as well.  Most of us tuned in last night to watch President Obama’s Third State of the Union to [...]

In an attempt to give myself some me-time, I’ve been trying to read more lately. I used to be a voracious reader and have a degree in English Lit. But after years working as a journalist and professional writer, which makes reading a little like work sometimes, and now in my perma-exhausted state of motherhood, [...]

The first time I remember being sexually harassed, I was walking out of my 8th grade history class when Eric came up behind me and snapped my bra.  Loudly.  Painfully. For 13 year old me, it was humiliating and shameful.  I was so struck that I didn’t know what to do in response.  Later that [...]

Like many DC transplants, I had stars in my eyes and aspirations of changing the world when I moved to the city 6 years ago. I went full speed ahead, achieving my goals of working for national women’s organizations and finishing graduate school. I learned some hard lessons, most notably that building authentic professional relationships [...]

War can be an intimate experience, often in a deeply personal way, even though it’s a shared collective event.  People experience the physical effect of war through their bodies and perceive their emotional experience in their minds.  My grandmother lived through an occupation, and her strongest memories were of being hungry.  Of her brother being [...]

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post thinks the debate surrounding abortion, or what he refers to as “Roe Week,” is absurd. In his latest column, Milbank criticizes abortion provider Merle Hoffman for raising a ‘false alarm’ about the threat to reproductive rights in this country.  He then goes on to cite the numerous marches and [...]

It had been a lovely wedding, and now the reception was packed. We sat down to dinner; at my table was my husband and three of our friends, along with three of the groom’s friends from grad school. Introductions were made and small talk ensued, and as our salad courses were cleared away one of [...]

What does war look like?  Taste like?  Smell like?  Images and soundtracks come to mind from centuries of conflict: guns roaring, cannons booming, flesh burning, bombs exploding. These are the sights and sounds that remind us of what we know to be a universal truth: no matter where, when, how, or why . . . [...]