Just hours after being inaugurated, President Joe Biden signed 17 executive orders undoing some of his predecessor’s most egregious and discriminatory actions, from reversing the Muslim Ban to ensuring that the U.S. reenters the Paris climate agreement. And though he hasn’t yet signed an executive order, Biden is also preparing to reverse the global gag rule: a devastating policy that bans funding for international health groups that even mention abortion to their patients.
So you can imagine my surprise when I saw, on Biden’s first full day in office, the hashtag “#BidenErasedWomen” trending on Twitter. Had the new president done or said something offensive about women already? …
As Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States, I waited for the wave of relief to come over me. Friends were posting on Twitter and Instagram about how they hadn’t stopped crying since the morning, and how they felt hope for the first time in four years. I was desperate to feel the same.
The truth, though, was that I felt numb. Call it a defense mechanism or a trauma response to the violence and injustice of the Trump administration, call it the dull exhaustion of dealing with a deadly pandemic over this last year. …
When New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced this week that the state would start making the Covid-19 vaccine available to people over 65 years old, my first reaction was relief. The news meant my parents, both of whom are in their mid-seventies, would finally get some sort of assurance in the near future. The second feeling I had was one of pure and overwhelming exhaustion, because I knew I was about to spend countless hours trying to help my mom and dad schedule those vaccination appointments.
I’m far from alone. American women, who overwhelmingly are tasked with caretaking for senior parents, now have another huge responsibility added to their already very full plate of child rearing and domestic work. …
Andrew Yang appears to be just a tad out of touch. The former presidential candidate and current New York City mayoral hopeful really stepped in it on Monday when he expressed incredulity about parenting while stuck in a two-bedroom apartment in Manhattan. “Can you imagine trying to have two kids on virtual school in a two-bedroom apartment and then trying to do work yourself?” Yang said to the New York Times, Actually yes, Andrew, a lot of us can imagine it! We might even have been living it for the past year.
Yang, who has spent the better part of the past few months at his second home in upstate New York, drew well-deserved ire over his tone-deafness — as well as the fact that he’s running to take charge of a city he largely hasn’t lived in during its most difficult time. …
As insurrectionists stormed the Capitol on Wednesday, encouraged and inspired by Donald Trump, I was struck by how many people were apparently surprised. Pundits and politicians alike remarked how “unbelievable” the terrorism was, how shocking it was to see law enforcement’s lack of preparedness. Chief of DC Metropolitan Police Robert Contee even said on Thursday that there had been “no intelligence” to suggest Trump’s mob of supporters would attempt a breach of the U.S. Capitol.”
That’s just not true. For weeks — months, even — extremist Trump supporters had been openly discussing violently overthrowing the government. Some said they were telling their families goodbye because they expected to be killed in the melee. …
Earlier this week, amid the usual barrage of dystopian headlines, I was treated to a rare and unexpected bit of good news: television host and new mom Meghan McCain pushing for paid parental leave on The View. “We are the only developing nation that doesn’t supply women with paid family leave,” said McCain, who has until now remained silent on the issue. “We as conservatives have to come together and allow all women in this country, no matter where they’re from or their socioeconomic class, the capacity to have what I just had.”
She’s right to point out that it’s hypocritical for America to claim to be a country that cares about “family values” while denying the most basic support to women who have just given birth. But it’s frustrating that it took having a child herself for McCain to come out in support of something that feminists have been ringing the alarm about for decades. …
Since Covid-19 hit, I’ve become a bit of a TikTok addict. The social media app offers entertaining, quick content that makes me feel connected to what young people are up to, an algorithm that’s proven remarkably mindful of my interests: dog videos, mom humor, and — of course — feminism.
It’s pretty heartening to watch a younger generation of women pick up the mantle of innovative activism and run with it. I’ve seen teens dancing to voicemails of their abusive ex-boyfriends as a way to raise awareness about red flags in dating, watched young women rapping about online abuse, and laughed as college clinic escorts superimposed pieces of broccoli onto anti-abortion protesters’ faces (trust me, it’s hilarious). …
When you think of conspiracy theorists, it’s likely you’re picturing an older white man holed up in a basement surrounded by newspaper clippings and a scribbled-on blackboard. The more accurate and modern picture, though, would be someone sleeker and more surprising: A younger, white, stay-at-home mom who dabbles in Instagram influencing.
Whether it’s Covid, QAnon, or vaccinations, there’s a new generation of conspiracy moms bringing a facade of palatability to some of the most dangerous ideas in America. …
There’s a picture from 2003 that I can’t seem to forget: It shows President George W. Bush, flanked by a gaggle of other old and smiling white men, signing into law sweeping anti-abortion legislation. The photo serves as a reminder that the regulations that most affect our lives and families are often decided by people who will never have to make the same kinds of decisions we do about our bodies and futures — people who often need remedial biology lessons about female anatomy.
I’ve thought about that picture often this week as conservatives continue to whine about the all-female senior communications team announced by the incoming Biden administration. (Apparently, an all-male group rolling back women’s bodily autonomy is not nearly as controversial to some people as women creating press strategy.) …
One of the great ironies of being a mother in the United States is that while you’re told you have the “most important job in the world,” you are given zero money, little support, and none of the protections or respect that one would expect to accompany a role society says is indispensable. Mothers are supposedly invaluable, but our payment only comes in platitudes.
As we stretch into the ninth month of the pandemic, things are still looking grim: Over 1,000 people are dying of Covid every day, unemployment is at record rates, and women are leaving the workforce in numbers so high it could undo decades of economic progress. And while a vaccine appears on its way, it’ll be months before its availability and impact will change Americans’ everyday lives. Given this new reality, it’s absurd that this country hasn’t started to pay people to stay home. Parents, especially — who don’t know whether their children will be in school from one week to the next and who are navigating the full-time work of caring for children during a national crisis — need to be paid. …
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