Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/24680
FALL 2009 · VOLUME XIX · NUMBER 4 EXECUTIVE EDITOR Katherine Spillar MANAGING EDITOR Michel Cicero SENIOR EDITOR Michele Kort ASSOCIATE EDITOR Jessica Stites GLOBAL EDITOR Robin Morgan MONEY EDITOR Martha Burk BOOK REVIEW EDITOR Mary Ellen Strote CONSULTING EDITOR Gloria Steinem COPY EDITING Sarah Chung, Miriam Jacobson COLUMNIST Donna Brazile PROOFREADER Laura Smith STRATEGIC PLANNING/MARKETING ADVISOR Kathy Bonk INTERNS Nina Boutsikaris, Katie Farden, Leanne Mirandilla, Paula Silinger, Fredrika Thelandersson ART DIRECTION: Brandi Phipps EDITORS EMERITI Suzanne Braun Levine, Robin Morgan, Marcia Ann Gillespie, Elaine Lafferty FOUNDING EDITORS Patricia Carbine, Joanne Edgar, Nina Finkelstein, Mary Peacock, Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Gloria Steinem ADVISORY BOARD Justine Andronici, Linda Basch, Ph.D., Kathy Bonk, Martha Burk, Ph.D., Gaylynn Burroughs, Nohelia Canales, Helen Cho, Abigail Disney, Kim Gandy, Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Ph.D., Elizabeth Hemmerdinger, Dolores Huerta, Lisa Lee, Ph.D., Camryn Manheim, Rielle Montague, Kathy Najimy, Amy Richards, Alix Ritchie, Lorraine Sheinberg, Eleanor Smeal, Jane E. Smith, Ed.D., Katherine Spillar, Ronnie Steinberg, Ph.D., Gloria Steinem, Jenny Warburg, Evelyn White, Jacqueline Woods, Peg Yorkin, Helen Zia COMMITTEE OF SCHOLARS Chair: Bonnie Thornton Dill, Ph.D., Women’s Studies/Consortium on Race, Gender & Ethnicity, U. of MD; Linda Basch, Ph.D., President, National Council for Research on Women (NCRW); Kum-Kum Bhavnani, Ph.D., Gender and Third World Development, UC Santa Barbara; Nohelia Canales, M.S., Life Sciences, ELAC; Jennifer Cognard-Black, Ph.D., Women Novelists and Feminist Theory, St. Mary’s College of MD; Irasema Coronado, Ph.D., Border Politics, College of Liberal Arts, U. of TX, El Paso; Norlisha F. Crawford, Ph.D., English/African American Studies, UW Oshkosh; Kelly Brown Douglas, Ph.D., Religion, Goucher College; Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Ph.D., Comparative Women’s Studies, Spelman College; Carol Hardy-Fanta, Ph.D., Gender, Race/Ethnicity and Politics, UMass Boston; Valerie Ann Johnson, Ph.D., Africana Women’s Studies, Bennett College; L. S. Kim, Ph.D., Film, Television and Digital Media Studies, UC Santa Cruz; Allison B. Kimmich, Ph.D., Executive Director, National Women’s Studies Assoc.; Kimi Lynn King, J.D./Ph.D., Political Science, U. of N. TX; C. Nicole Mason, Ph.D., Women of Color Policy Network, NYU Wagner; Irma McClaurin, Ph.D., Associate Vice President for System Academic Administration, U of MN; Gwendolyn Mink, Ph.D., Government, Smith College; Layli Phillips, Ph.D., Women’s Studies, Georgia State U.; Barbara Ransby, Ph.D., African- American Studies and History, U. of IL, Chicago; Ronnie J. Steinberg, Ph.D., Sociology, Political Economy of Inequality, Vanderbilt U.; Nayereh Tohidi, Ph.D., Women’s Studies, Women in Islamic Studies, CA State U., Northridge; Funded by the Ford Foundation Ms. (ISSN 0047-8318) is published quarterly by Liberty Media for Women, LLC (GST # 897165296RT), which is wholly owned by the Feminist Majority Foundation, 1600 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 801, Arlington, VA 22209. Vol. XIX, No. 4, Fall 2009. Publications Mail Sales Agreement No. 1571516. Periodicals Postage Paid at Arlington, VA, and at additional offices. Copyright © 2009 by Liberty Media for Women, LLC. Reproduction in any manner, in whole or in part, in English or other languages, prohibited. All rights reserved throughout the world. Ms. is a registered trademark of Liberty Media for Women, LLC in the United States and other countries. SEND EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE TO: 433 South Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90212 Ms. community regular membership fee: $45. Send change of address or membership fee to: Ms., P.O. Box 97313, Washington, D.C. 20077-7049, or call (866) MS AND ME (866.672.6363). Please allow six to eight weeks for deliv- ery of first issue. Postmaster: Send address changes to Ms., P.O. Box 97313, Washington, D.C. 20077-7049. Ms. is printed on recycled, processed chlo- rine-free paper. PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA letters GLORIA INSPIRES Ten years ago, I received a press release that Gloria Steinem would be traveling to the state of Oregon for her “Why I’m Not Voting for Nader” campaign. Journalists were invited for the ride, and I, a manag- ing editor of a weekly newspaper in Polk County, Oregon, was seriously considering it. Not because my pub- lisher would let me write about it, but because my daughter, Alexis, was on the staff at her school newspaper, and I’d always called her “Little Gloria.” “Gloria loves young women,” said the woman whose number was on the press release when I called to see if my 15-year-old daughter could ride on the bus with Steinem, too. That day was the beginning of a journey that would change our lives in ways we couldn’t have imagined. Alexis watched and listened in shock when, during the interview she con- ducted with Steinem, Gloria was in- terrupted by a call and she told the San Francisco Chronicle that she was “busy with another journalist.” I found out in small but telling ways just how much Gloria Steinem lives her talk. That kind of commitment inspires others. It inspired me to work today as an advocate for victims of do- mestic violence and sexual assault. Ms. magazine inspires me each time I pick it up. Thanks for all you do. —Virginia Solan Moscow, ID Editors’ note: We’re sure you’ll enjoy reading Gloria’s 75th birthday wishes, on page 42. I’m 15 years old and I have become obsessed with the history, achieve- ment and work that Ms. magazine has done. I first learned of the magazine when I was watching Oprah with my mother [and] the segment was on 6 | FALL 2009 Gloria Steinem. Right away I was fas- cinated with feminism. [It was] awe- some to see amazing women change our history. I learned how a woman does not need a man to survive. I learned that a woman can do any- thing and she is just as powerful as a man. So I wrote you [this] letter say- ing how much I enjoy reading your magazine. I’m so proud to be a woman who has just as many rights as any man. —Grace Morgan Via email FREEDOM FIGHTER Thank you for your touching article regarding the life of Dr. George Tiller [“A Man Who Trusted Women,” Summer 2009] and the families he helped saved. Anti-choice conservatives often speak of the “freedom” we soldiers fight for, but in truth, people like Dr. Tiller are the true fighters of freedom for women everywhere. George Tiller woke up each day risking his life so that women could have the freedom to choose. For him, the fighting never stopped, and even when the workday was over, the threats of losing his life for something he believed in fol- lowed him. He never took off the uniform, he was never off duty and he rarely got recognized for the dan- gerous yet noble line of work he chose. I am in awe of Dr. Tiller and his work, for I cannot ever imagine myself doing the dangerous, yet highly necessary work he did. To Dr. Tiller and abortion providers every- where: thank you. In fighting for women’s right to choose, you enhanced the lives of my mother, sis- ters, friends, classmates and fellow soldiers, and as a result you also enhanced mine. —Sgt. Marc Loi Baghdad, Iraq www.feminist.org