Photo courtesy of Springboard to Opportunities; art by Brandi Phipps
‘I Have to Be There for My Children,’ But ‘My Body Was Screaming for Help’: Who Takes Care of the Mothers Who Take Care of Everyone Else?
Alexis is a mother of two in Jackson, Miss., and the recipient of one year of guaranteed income from the Magnolia Mother’s Trust. A longtime caregiver for her children and late grandfather, she is pursuing a career as a physical therapist aide and advocates for policies that better support working mothers and families.
“… I have been caring for different members of my family for years. … I was a caregiver for my grandfather until he passed away. … He took care of me my whole life, and I was able to do that for him.
“… I was a staffing specialist working through a state contract. I had no benefits, no retirement. [And] my job started having a problem with me bringing [my children].
“When I had my son in 2015 … I was an assistant manager at a fast-food restaurant making $10 an hour … I did not receive paid parental leave. They told me I could bring the baby to work.
“I am thankful for my son’s godmother. But he spent so much time with her that he was getting unfamiliar with me. I was trying to work and make sure he did not go without milk or my other son did not go without what he needed. But I also needed to be with my baby. I had to choose: Was I going to work, or was I going to be home with my baby with no money?
“Paid parental leave would have let me stay home longer and bond more with my son.
“Paid family leave would have helped when I was caring for my grandfather, too. An employer even questioned whether he was really sick.”
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As Trump Administration Decimates Title IX Sexual Assault Protections, Students Call for Abolition of Fraternities and Other All-Male Groups
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The Numbers Are In: Women Voters Powered the Blue Wave
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The Real Cost of Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ Is Just Beginning
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College Campuses Are Ripe for Sexual Violence *and* Uniquely Positioned to Fix It
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Keeping Score: Trump Administration Moves to Weaken Pregnancy Protections, Prioritizes Military Spending Over Daycare and Healthcare; Midterm Firsts and Milestones
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Vivek Ramaswamy Weaponized Childhood Rape as a Political Talking Point. Women Across The Country Are Responding. (with Moira Donegan)
In this episode, we’re looking at the upcoming midterm elections, the role of women playing in national politics, and the attacks on the women who are running for office. In Ohio, we recently saw an example of this—an unreasonably cruel and debasing attack ad from gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, directed at his Democratic opponent Amy Acton, who has said she was sexually abused as a child by her stepfather who was charged with rape and fled the state. The ad includes her estranged mother, claiming that Acton lied about the traumatic events in her childhood.
What do attacks like these say about our current political climate, and how will they influence voters? How is our cultural climate around gender impacting the midterms? Moira Donegan joins Dr. Michele Goodwin to unpack these important questions, just one week out from the election.
This podcast and many more can be found in Ms. Studios or at your favorite podcast aggregator.
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Survivors Describe How Epstein Used Their Modeling Dreams to Abuse Them
Jeffrey Epstein “used the modeling industry as a lever to try to get girls into his orbit,” says survivor Lisa Phillips.
Phillips describes how Epstein operated: He asked about her career, about how often she talked to her father (she told him not often), and he specifically wanted to know about her goals as a model. She told him her “big dream” was to work for Ford Models. He told her that she and the other model had to stay over on the island, then assaulted her later that night.
Months later, she says, he called to say he had arranged a meeting with his “great friend” Katie Ford, the CEO of Ford Models. Phillips met with Ford and became a model for the agency.
“Models were being sent to every charity event, every modeling party,” she says, “everything organized through Katie Ford and agents. … It was always us younger girls and older men. We [felt] our bodies weren’t ours and we would just have to put up with it to keep [our] career.”
Part 1 of The Pipeline to Predators, a four-part Ms. investigation into the modeling industry’s connections to Jeffrey Epstein and survivors’ fight for accountability.
The Midterms Changed Who Holds Power. What Comes Next? Congress Must Act Urgently to Address Harms Inflicted on Women and Girls
The votes of women gave Democrats control of Congress. Now, the new leadership must act quickly and decisively to reverse the Trump administration’s devastating rollbacks of women’s rights over the last two years and address the harm caused by cuts to programs essential to women and their families.
With strong majorities in the House and Senate, congressional Democrats now have the power to pass critical legislation and demand accountability from federal agencies that have flouted the law to inflict harm on women and girls. Even with Donald Trump in the White House, Congress can still secure major wins for feminist priorities over the next two years.
