FOR THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF Ms. MAGAZINE, I PUT TOGETHER A TIMELINE THAT COVERS THE MILESTONES IN THE MAGAZINE’S HISTORY AS WELL AS THE TUMULTUOUS EVENTS TAKING PLACE IN THE WOMEN’S MOVEMENT.
1972 – Preview Issue excerpted in New York Magazine’s 1971 year-end issue and released on its own in Spring 1972. Introduces the term Ms. (The New York Times resists using it until 1986). Contents includes ground-braking features “Click! A Housewife’s moment of truth,” by Jane O’Reilly, “Welfare is a women’s issue” by Johnnie Tillmon, and “I have had an abortion” petition signed by 53 well-known women. (Over 1400 women signed on and their names were published in September, 1972.)
“We are the Crazy Lady” by Cynthia Ozick, is the first of regular fiction. Future writers include Margaret Atwood, Mary Gordon, Hilma Wolitzer, Sylvia Plath, and Alice Walker. (She becomes a Contributing editor in 1975 and is on the cover in 1982).
1972 – July – first monthly issue, with Wonder Woman on the cover (story by Joanne Edgar), including the classic satire “I Want a Wife” by Judy Syfers.
With that issue, Ms. becomes the first women-owned, women-run and all-women staff monthly. Harry Reasoner said it wouldn’t last five issues. (He was forced to retract his statement, years – not months – later.)
1975 – “Exclusive! The Case of Karen Silkwood: Dead Because She knew Too Much” by B.J. Phillips breaks the story of the woman who tried to report serious and suspicious failures the Kerr-Mcgee plutonium plant. (The movie, “Silkwood,” starring Meryl Streep, comes out in1983.) Ms.’s commitment to investigative journalism is unique among women’s magazines. As is coverage of international stories. “The International Crime of Genital Mutilation” (1980) elicited pressure on The World Health Organization to take up FGM.
Other unique features include Populist Mechanix, Ms. Gazette, “Where to get Help,” “Woman’s Body/Woman’s Mind”
1987 – Ms. is bought by Fairfax, an Australian media company. Anne Summers is editor.
1989 – 1998 – Ms. has a sequence of publishers.
1990 – Ms. goes totally ad free
1998 – Ms. bought by Liberty Media, a consortium of feminists.
2001 – The magazine is bought by The Feminist Majority Foundation. It becomes a quarterly. The editor is Katherine Spillar.
2022 – Ms. celebrates 50 years of continuous publication.
Equal Rights Amendment (first introduced in 1923)
1972 – passed congress and sent to the states for ratification.
1977 – backlash builds
2021 –38 states ratified, as required.
2022 – Stalled. Awaiting final approval by the U.S. Archivist David Ferriero (who retired without doing so) in order to be officially added to the Constitution.
Abortion
1973 – legalized through the second trimester by Supreme Court Roe V. Wade decision.
1973 – “Never again” article by Roberta Brandes Gratz includes a photo of a woman’s body, victim of a botched abortion. The photo becomes an iconic image of abortion rights movement.
1976 – Hyde amendment – Outlaws the use of federal funds for abortions.
2020 – Individual states begin to enact legislation that makes abortion hard or impossible to get.
2022 – Polls continue to show that nearly 70 % of Americans support Roe v. Wade.
2022 – “Never again.” Again. Supreme court overturns Roe v. Wade. (In the meantime, it has been legalized in Ireland, Colombia, Mexico, Argentina.)
Salaries
1972 – Women make 59 cents to every dollar men make. Numerous law suits – including the well-known action at Newsweek Magazine – follow.
2009 – Lily Ledbetter Act (signed by President Obama) affirms the right to equal pay.
2020 – Women make 82 cents to every dollar men make. (Less for women of color.)
Sports
1972 – Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in “any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” Most dramatic impact is in college sports. Women are admitted, but they aren’t always welcome.
1973 – Girls admitted to the Little League – after a mother/daughter team sues the organization.
1973 – Tennis star Billie Jean King (on the July cover) beats Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes.” She fought for equal prize money; the “Virginia Slims tournament” was one outcome.
2022 – World-Cup winning women’s soccer team successfully sues U.S. Soccer for equal pay and support for women’s and men’s teams.
Work
1972 – “Help Wanted” ads are separate for women and men. Women are excluded from applying for the more interesting and better paying jobs and directed to secretarial, household help, teaching and other “helping someone else” jobs. The Supreme Court outlaws the practice in 1973.
1972 – Most other careers as well as the access to job training were virtually closed to women.
1973 – “Lost Women” – “Aphra Behn: Novelist, Spy, Libertine” is the first in a department designed to find and recognize the many women in history whose work would have been acknowledged if they had been men.
1972 – The Equal Employment Opportunity Act empowers the EEOC to go to court with discrimination cases
1973 – “Coffee, Tea, or Fly Me” by Lindsy Van Gelder reports on the – successful – efforts of “stewardesses” to improve their status (they had been required to be a certain age, weight, and single). Lindsy had participated in early planning meetings for the magazine and as staff writer, became the go-to reporter for any and all topics.
1976 – “How to Start Your Own Business” – a special section by Karen Zehring.
Some of the many firsts: supreme court justice (Sandra Day O’Connor), astronaut (Sally Ride; she is on the cover in 1983 and takes a copy of that issue into space), priests (Pauli Murray in 1972), TV and movies (Barbara Walters, first female news anchor) military (Brigadier General Jeanne M. Holm, U.S. Air Force). Editors were also on the lookout for women at the beginning of their careers. Alice Walker wrote about Judith Jamison (1979), Susan Dworkin on Meryl Streep (cover 1979). Mary Peacock monitors style; Arts editor Harriet Lyons “finds” Alice Neel in 1973 and assigns a piece to Cindy Nemser; Susan McHenry and writer Susan Dworkin follow the theater. They are backed up by assistant editor Ann Hornaday, who goes on to become Senior Film Critic at the Washington Post.
1984 – Carol Gilligan, author of “A different Voice” is the “Women of the year.” Followed, over the next six years, by Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro, singer Dolly Parton, Olympic marathoner Joan Benoit Samuelson, journalist and defender of the Everglades Marjorie Stoneman Douglas, tennis star Serena Williams, among others.
Women’s Health
1970 – “Our Bodies, Ourselves” published by The Boston Women’s Health Book Collective, launches the women’s health movement.
1972 – Childbirth is a secret event. The standard practice is to anesthetize the mother out of the experience (even when an emergency occurred, and a decision is called for).
1972 – Pharmaceuticals only tested on men and adjusted for women by scaling doses back to small men.
1972 – Many diseases – like heart attack and Parkinson’s – afflict women differently from men, but because they weren’t cited in medical texts their symptoms are ignored.
2022 – Women now control their delivery experience, but maternal mortality is at third-world levels
Sex and Gender
1972 – The first issue contains an excerpt from “Lesbian Love and Liberation” by Del Martin and Phyllis Lyons.
1972 – “Liberated Orgasm” by Barbara Seaman (author of the controversial book
“The Doctor’s Case Against the Pill” in 1969).
1974 – “Getting to know me” by betty Dodson, an introduction to masturbation
1975 – “What Every Woman Should Know About Men”– Alan Alda’s satire on masculinity coins the phrase “testosterone poisoning.” Another popular satire is “If Men Could Menstruate” (1978) by Gloria Steinem.
1976 – “How’s Your Sex Life? Better? Worse? I forget” cover story
1977 – “If she shoe doesn’t fit, change the foot” by gloria Steinem. Transsexual Renee Richards’ experience raises complex issues for feminists.
1977 – Betty Friedan who had previously called lesbians a “lavender menace,” votes in favor of the “Sexual Preference” resolution at the Houston Conference.
1985 – “Is One Woman’s sexuality Another Woman’s pornography?” Mary Kay Blakely heroically tackles the very contentious issue among feminists.
2000s – LGBTQ rights emerges as a movement
2013 – Same sex marriage formally authorized by the supreme Court. Again in 2015.
Finding the words (“It used to just be called ‘life’.”)
1976 – “Battered Wives ”(sic) cover story by Judith Gingold – first national magazine to address issue of domestic violence.
1977 – “Sexual Harassment on the Job” by Karen Lindsey. The act is portrayed on the cover by puppets. A Speak Out on the subject, is organized by Karin Lippert (one of countless demonstrations, celebrations, events, and press conferences she managed).
1982 – “Date Rape: A Campus Epidemic” by Karen Barrett about a government-funded survey on Date Rape, conducted by Mary Koss
1985 – “Date Rape: The story of an Epidemic and those who deny it” by Ellen Sweet.
1991 – Anita Hill testifies against Clarence Thomas’s nomination to the supreme court. He is approved. (Hill chooses Ms. to publish her story of what happened.)
1994 – “Violence against women Act” passes. Reauthorized in 2000 and 2005, expires in 2018/19 and is reauthorized again in 2022
2006 – The “Me Too” movement build pressure for change. Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby are indicted for their conduct: others, like Bill O’Reilly and Roger Ailes, are disgraced. Fox was fined $1 million for their conduct by the New York City Commission on Human Rights
Children
1971 – President Nixon vetoes a comprehensive childcare bill.
1973- “Stories for Free Children” becomes a regular feature, edited by Letty Cottin Pogrebin, then a book.
1974 – Letty Cottin Pogrebin’s selection of nonsexist toys – an annual holiday feature, along with the cover message “Peace on Earth, Good Will to People”
1975 – “Kids in the Office” cover story features Ms. staffer Phyllis Langer and her daughter Alix, who grew up in the Ms. office. “Tot Lot” – a room in the Ms. offices outfitted for the children of staff and visitors – established.
1974 – “But What About the Children?” first of regular articles calling for universal childcare and paid “maternity leave.”
2020 – Covid quarantine dramatized the pressure on women to assume caretaking role; many have to leave the workforce. U.S. is the only industrialized country that does not provide some government-funded childcare.
Politics
1970 – Bella Abzug goes to Congress. She is one of 10 women in the house and 1 in the Senate. (Jeannette Rankin was the first, in 1917.)
1971 – National Women’s Political Caucus founded by Shirley Chisolm, Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan, Bella Abzug.
1972 – In “The Gender Gap” (a term invented by Bella Abzug) Gloria Steinem analyzes the finding that men and women vote differently. A pattern that continues.
1973 – “The Ticket that Might Have been.” Shirley Chisolm, the first Black woman elected to Congress and first women to run for president, and former Congresswoman Sissy Farenthold. Newsstands in the South refused to display the issue.
1973 – Rating senate candidates “Feminists Vote the Rascals in or out.” First rundown of candidates’ stands on issues important to women. Regular reports on politics and politicians prepared by Mary Thom and Joanne Edgar.
1975-1978 – the number of women in public office more than doubles from 7,782 (4%) to 17,782 (10.9%)
1984 -Geraldine Ferraro is first woman on a national ticket, running as Vice President with Walter Mondale
1985 – Emily’s List founded to raise funds for women candidates and train them to run.
2016 – Hillary Clinton is Democratic candidate for President.
2020 – Kamela Harris elected Vice President.
2007-2011 and in 2019 – Nancy Pelosi is speaker of the house, the third highest office in the country.
2022 – 24 women in the Senate, 121 in the House.
Strength in numbers
1970 – 50,000 women march down Fifth Avenue – an inspiring show of strength on the 50th anniversary of suffrage for women. Bella Abzug and Gloria Steinem address the crowd.
1977 – Houston – First national assembly of women (since Seneca Falls in 1848) attended by 2,000 delegates women from every state. 15,000 more attended (including Ms. editors Gloria Steinem, Pat Carbine, Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Mary Thom, and Joanne Edgar). Chaired by Bella Abzug, dignitaries included Barbara Jordan, Betty Ford, Rosalynn Carter, Ladybird Johnson. Approves a national women’s agenda.
1975 – The first UN sponsored “World Conference on the Status of Women,” held in Mexico. Issues a “Declaration on Equality of Women and Their Contribution to Development and Peace.”
1980 – The second World Conference, held in Copenhagen. Report on the Conference called for “Equality, development, and Peace.”
1985 – UN World Conference, held in Nairobi. (The first Conference to offer childcare). Raises the issue of Violence Against Women
1995 – UN Women Conference in Beijing – 189 countries represented by 17,000 delegates, plus 30,000 activists in a separate Forum. Hillary Clinton speech that asserts “Human rights are women’s rights, and women’s rights are human rights.”
January 24, 2017 – Inspired by outrage at the Trump election, national and international marches take place the day after his Inauguration. Half a million women gathered in Washington and millions more in cities around the world to show their support for reproductive rights, LBGTQ rights, Black Lives Matter, climate action, and social justice.
Advertising
1972 – Publisher Pat Carbine assembles, trains, and inspires the first all-woman magazine sales department. They venture out into a hostile world soliciting ads for things that women actually buy – cars and electronics. Cathie Black, Valerie Salembier, Brette Popper, Julie Lewit-Nirenberg, Anne Holten, and Janice Grossman go on to be publishers of major publications.
1972 – The “No comment” feature – sexist ads contributed by readers -becomes a magazine mainstay calling attention to ads that demeaned women, even independent women. “She brings home the bacon and fries it up in a pan.” Letters from readers are also the basis for many articles.
1990 – “Sex, Lies, and Advertising” by Gloria Steinem exposes the power magazine advertisers have over editorial.
Xxxxxx
Founding Editors: Pat Carbine, Joanne Edgar, Nina Finkelstein, Mary Peacock, Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Gloria Steinem, Mary Thom.
Editors Emerita: Suzanne Braun Levine (1972-87), Robin Morgan (1990 to 1993; she had been a contributing editor since 1977), Elaine Lafferty (1993), Marcia Ann Gillespie (who had been a contributing editor and before that editor of Essence, a pioneering “life-style” magazine for African American women from 1971-1980) (1995-2000).
Ms. Books, TV, Events
1972 – The Ms. Foundation for Women established (by Pat Carbine, Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Gloria Steinem, and Marlo Thomas).
1973 – “The First Ms. Reader” edited by Francine Klagsbrun
1973 – “Free to be You and me” TV show produced by Marlo Thomas, becomes a book.
1974 – Ms. metric Mile run at Olympic invitational Track Meet at Madison Square Garden.
1980s – Ms. inaugurates program to provide the magazine to women in prison.
1974 – 1977 “Women Alive!” A PBS series, produced by Joan Shigekawa, reports on current feminist issues raised by Ms. “Norma Rae” (1979) starring Sally Field is based on one episode.
1976 – “Women Together: A History in Documents of the Women’s Movement in the United States” edited by Judith Papachristou
1979 – “Ms. Guide to a Woman’s Health” by Cynthia Cooke, M.D. and Susan Dworkin
1980 – Ms. Board of Scholars established. Feminist scholar and founding editor of the academic journal “Signs” Catharine R. Stimpson is the chair. With her comes Sign’s M.E. Martha Nelson (She went on to become Time, Inc.’s first female Editor in Chief and, in 2015, to Yahoo’s Global Editor in Chief.)
1980 – “Decade of Women: A Ms. history of the seventies in words and pictures” by Suzanne Braun Levine and Harriet Lyons, introduction by Gloria Steinem
1981 – “She’s Nobody’s Baby: American women in the 20th century” Peabody Award Winning HBO documentary (produced by Suzanne Braun Levine and written by Susan Dworkin), and book.
1981 “Fine Lines: The Best of Ms. Fiction” edited by Ruth Sullivan
1981 – Ms.’s revival of the spirit of Wonder Woman (and persistence by Karin Lippert) convinces DC Comics head, Jenette Kahn, to persuade her parent company Warner Communications, to establish The Wonder Woman Foundation, awarding grants to women over forty, to celebrate her 40th anniversary. It lasts just one year.
1982 – “Stories for Free Children” (edited by Letty Cottin Pogrebin)
1985 – “I Never called it Rape: The Ms. Report on Recognizing, Fighting and Surviving Date and Acquaintance Rape” by Robin Warshaw (Ellen Sweet, consulting editor) published. Reprinted in 1994, Updated in 2019 (Introduction by Wheatley Tanner Letters, Foreword by Gloria Steinem).
1987 – “Letters to Ms. 1972-1987” edited by Mary Thom with a foreword by Gloria Steinem
1990 – “Ms. Money Book – Strategies for prospering in the coming decades” by Emily Card, with Susan McHenry.
1997 – “Inside Ms. 25 years of the magazine and the feminist movement” by Mary Thom.
2002 – 30th anniversary issue “30 years of reporting, rebelling & truth-telling” (Edited by Suzanne Braun Levine, with Mary Thom, Gloria Jacobs, Joanne Edgar) a progress report.
2002 – “The Best of 30 years of Fiction and Poetry” issue (edited by Robin Morgan, with Mary Thom, Joanne Edgar)
We remember Ms. Staff:
Carl Barile
Elayn Bernay
Ingeborg Day
Bea Feitler
Nina Finkelstein
Susanna Goldman
Rhoda Katerinsky
Michele Kort
Phyllis Langer
Cathy O’Haire
Lillian Perinciolo
Joan Philpott
Margaret Sloean
Jana Talton
Arthur Tarlow
Mary Thom
Ellen Willis
Audrey Wilson
Esther Wilson