Women’s basketball has long been overshadowed by its male counterpart. As someone who played women’s basketball for 12 years, it was painfully obvious how much viewers preferred to watch men’s games. Our varsity girls’ basketball team would have an average of 8 students at each home game compared to the men’s full student section. While it is just high school basketball, this is the same for women’s basketball across multiple levels. For example, at the University of Michigan, the women’s basketball team has an average attendance of 3,627 people compared to the men’s 12,463 average. While thes ..read more

The current state of reproductive access and care in the United States is disheartening, marked by a decline in accessibility since 2017 and a surge in barriers such as limited birth control access, geographical distances to clinics, and instances of physical harassment.1 The overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022 shifted the responsibility of protecting abortion rights to individual states, resulting in varying restrictions. Some states fully ban abortion or have minimal exceptions, while others impose gestational limits. The landscape ranges from states where abortion is blocked to those where it i ..read more

Some of my favorite childhood memories are going to the local library during the summer. I loved searching for the perfect book to escape into or a DVD to borrow. There were fantastic programs with fun snacks and crafts. I’m still a regular patron of my local library, though my relationship with the library looks different now. As my needs have changed, I’ve gotten to discover the myriad of services that libraries offer. Protecting and defending the autonomy of public libraries ensures that libraries are best able to serve their communities and by extent, women. Public libraries are magical pl ..read more

The dangerous consequences of climate change, crises, and conflict are not new topics in human rights discussions. However, it is imperative that we discuss how they affect women, children, and marginalized communities through an intersectional lens to implement appropriate solutions, services, and resources.  Sexual- and gender-based violence (SGBV) and violence against women and girls (VAWG) are complex and transverse issues that affect nearly 1 in 3 women globally.i While it is critical to address the needs of all victims and survivors, it is also necessary to focus on assisting and ra ..read more

Life for women and their families can be dramatically different from state to state.  Such factors as better wages, access to childcare, accessible health care, affordable housing, reproductive health care, women’s shelters, and so many other aspects of what makes a supportive living environment are unevenly found throughout the 50 states. Much depends upon a state’s political leadership and the policies and laws that have been adopted – or not.  States that have a history of conservative political leadership often fail to enact initiatives that would improve the lives of their constituents an ..read more

The cultural phenomenon of Christian nationalism isn’t a new concept that has recently taken root in our personal, public, and political spheres. Its presence has been ingrained in the fabric of the United States since English settlers arrived in the early 1600s. John Winthrop, a founding Puritan of the Massachusetts Bay colony, articulated the vision that the United States must be a “city on a hill”.1 This is clearly a reference to Matthew 5:14, when Jesus speaks to his disciples, as according to the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, “You are the light of the world. A city built o ..read more

When Alice Paul and Crystal Eastman authored the Equal Rights Amendment in 1923, both the state of women’s rights in America and the women’s rights movement looked very different than they do today. The ERA was proposed at a time when women could not open their own bank accounts, obtain a mortgage, could not serve on juries, and did not have the right to use contraception, among many other restrictions. Women were clearly second-class citizens. In the 100 years since women have gained a significant number of rights but continue to face numerous hurdles to gaining full equality. Although the ER ..read more

Every four years, teams around the world and millions of fans gather to cheer on the nation’s women’s soccer team. For me, it started when I was a little girl playing soccer. I looked up to the US Women’s National Team (USWNT) not only because they were excellent players, but because they were strong, resilient women. They spoke out about women’s rights, equal pay, and the countless injustices in society. I grew up watching Abby Wambach, Sydney Leroux, Megan Rapinoe, Mallory Pugh, Alex Morgan, and so many other women who played at the highest level, demanding the iconic statement “Equal Pay fo ..read more

The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina and Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard has put an end to race-based affirmative action, the practice of favoring individuals, particularly in hiring or education, belonging to groups regarded as disadvantaged or subject to discrimination to remedy a long history of discrimination. As members of a feminist organization committed to promoting gender and racial justice, it is our responsibility to understand how affirmative action impacts both racial and gender equity. Although most new storie ..read more

The Senate Judiciary Committee recently convened for a “Protecting Pride” hearing relating to the rights of LGBTQ+ Americans, one which I had the opportunity to witness firsthand.  To an observer, though, it seemed as if there were two distinct hearings.  While Democratic senators widely discussed discrimination against trans individuals, inviting multiple qualified witnesses to discuss the legal barriers placed in front of trans-Americans, especially trans minors, Republican senators seemed far more concerned with the experiences of Riley Gaines.  Gaines was an NCAA University ..read more