THIS IS WHAT “40” LOOKS LIKE
Ms. Celebrates a Birthday!
Gloria Steinem memorably said, when on her 40th birthday, someone said she didn’t look forty, “This is what 40 looks like!” Now, the magazine she co-founded and I edited for 17 years is turning 40.
To commemorate that occasion the New York City Council – the city of its birth – issued a proclamation to honor the magazine, the women who created it and its readers. Signed by Christine C. Quinn (for the Entire Council), the first woman New York City Council Speaker who hopes to be the city’s first woman mayor and Council Member Gale A. Brewer honored Ms. for “40 years of service to its readers who have shared their struggles, achievements and stories within its pages, and by so doing, have changed the world.”
Ms. Magazine, Wonder Woman and
40 Years of Change
Marlo Thomas
The Huffington Post
June 13, 2012
You can’t judge a book by its cover. But you can absolutely judge a magazine that way — because the cover is a good indication of what the magazine cares about. And that is precisely, why 40 years ago, women everywhere began grabbing up Ms. magazine with both hands. From the start — and continuing today — those covers have instantly told you that Ms. cared about what women cared about. With an editorial team staffed with revolutionaries, Ms. not only had the wisdom to imagine the perfect combination of image and cover line to capture the concept of an important issue; it also had chops to bang out the story.
Ms. magazine’s 40th Anniversary
Let the Celebrations Begin!
The Clayman Institute for
Gender Research
By Suzanne Braun Levine
This year is the 40th Anniversary Year of Ms. Magazine. Hard to believe, and for those of us involved in that history, it is very moving to remember those early years. The birthday events began at The Clayman Institute for Gender Research at Stanford University on January 26th as part of a four-month long celebration of feminism.
Whose Narrative Is It, Anyway? Some Thoughts On Sandra Fluke and
Hester Prynne
Suzanne Braun Levine, Huff/Post50 The actress Julianne Moore recently sounded off about celebrity magazines. “They encourage young women and some middle-aged women to be interested in somebody else’s narrative rather than their own,” she told Moremagazine. “I don’t want my daughter or her friends to be interested in Jessica Simpson. I want them to be interested […]
Welcome to Feminist.com
By Marianne Schnall, Founder &
Executive Director
“A central hub for leading feminist thought-leaders”
Feminist.com was founded in 1995, as a few women and I gathered around the kitchen table in my New York City apartment. The web was pretty new back then, and we wanted to tap into its amazing power to offer people around the world access to information about human rights, women’s issues, health, anti-violence resources, grassroots activism, women’s businesses, and pretty much anything that could possibly support a world where men and women are allied, empowered and equal.
What We Left Behind: Girdles, Silence and Illegal Abortion
By Suzanne Braun Levine,
Huff/Post50
When I went to work at Ms. in 1972, I wore a matching pink skirt and blouse — and a girdle. I had just gotten married and was, therefore, not able to get a bank loan without my husband’s approval. I had given up playing basketball (half-court for girls) in college because no coach or court could be found. And I had had an illegal abortion.
“We’re Looking for America’s Best
Intergenerational Communities!”
By Suzanne Braun Levine
It seems self-evident that generations can reinforce each other – by sharing the stories of their lives, by working together, and by living together in communities that are responsive to the needs of citizens of all ages. But those communities are too few and far between.
THE PURPOSE PRIZE
MEET THE 2011 WINNERS!
By Suzanne Braun Levine,
Civic Ventures Board Member
I joined the Board of Civic Ventures in 2009, and one of the most inspiring elements of their mission is the discovery and celebration of outstanding social entrepreneurs in the Encore stage of life. The winners of the Purpose Prize have been selected from hundreds of nominees, and having had the honor of being one of the judges, I can tell you that the choices were tough to make; there were many resourceful and courageous candidates for this year’s prizes.
HOW YOUNG WE WERE! Celebrating 40 Years of Ms. Magazine and the Movement
By Suzanne Braun Levine,
Ms. Editor, 1972- 1988
I was interviewed recently for an article about the early days of Ms. magazine, which is about to be forty years old. Soon after that I was interviewed for an article about Our Bodies, Our Selves which was first published around the same time. When thinking about those days and looking at some photographs, my first thought is How Young We Were! And my second is How Brave We Were! Now I have another thought: How Lucky We Were! to be there.
The Sophia Smith Collection – New Home for My Ms. Magazine Papers!
By Suzanne Braun Levine
I am thrilled to announce that my “papers” – the boxes of stuff that I always meant to sort our and never did – from my years at Ms. Magazine (1972 – 1989) are now in the Sophia Smith Collection of Women’s Archives at Smith College. Along with other collections from those exciting days, including Gloria Steinem’s papers, they should be accessible soon. My papers from my time as (the only woman) editor of The Columbia Journalism Review will be there too.