"Ms.--in 1972--normalized being a woman, abortion and all. And here we are, 50 years later, needing that now more than ever." --Sarah Silverman, comedian, actor, and writer For the past five decades Ms. has been the nation's most influential source of feminist ideas, and it remains at the forefront of feminism today, affecting thought and culture with a younger-than-ever readership (ages 16-20!). Ms. was the first U.S. magazine to:
- feature prominent American women demanding the repeal of laws that criminalized abortion
- explain and advocate for the Equal Rights Amendment
- rate presidential candidates on women's issues
- feature domestic violence and sexual harassment on its cover, long before either was widely understood or acknowledged
- commission and publish a national study on date rape
Here is the best reporting, fiction, and advertising, decade by decade, as well as the best photographs and features that reveal and reflect the changes set in motion by Ms., along with the iconic covers that galvanized readers. Here are essays, profiles, conversations with and features by: Alice Walker, Cynthia Enloe, Pauli Murray, Nancy Pelosi, bell hooks, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Brittney Cooper, and Joy Harjo, as well as fiction and poetry by Toni Morrison, Joyce Carol Oates, Adrienne Rich, Rita Dove, and Sharon Olds, and many others.