Marcia G. Yerman

Mark your calendars for The Reproductive Freedom Festival on the evening of March 20. Over three hours of live performances will be streamed from a studio in Manhattan to viewers across the country — and the world. It will be accessible via computers and other digital devices for free. Pre-show highlights begin at 5:15 pm EST. The goal of the event is to foster awareness of and focus attention on the issue of reproductive rights and bodily autonomy, while anchored in Women’s History Month.

Despite our dependence on caregiving to grow and function as a society, compensation for this labor remains unfairly low. Another factor is the “motherhood penalty”: Women with children earn less than women without kids. On the flip side, fathers get a “daddy bonus,” earning more than men without children. When women move out of the workforce to raise a family, it impacts their lifetime earnings.

The stated mission of the organization is “to increase women's presence in the public debate, emphasizing those who are least often heard, including women of color, low-income women, lesbians, youth and older women.”

Students starting college this coming fall (as well as those returning) will be the first to benefit from the Sexual Violence Elimination Act (SaVE), which will require colleges to have “prevention and awareness” programs about sexual assault, dating violence, stalking, and domestic violence in place.

Wendy Carrillo is part of a field of 23 candidates who are competing to fill the Congressional seat in the 34th District in California. A child who was smuggled to America to escape the civil war in El Salvador, Carrillo has spoken about her personal journey in the context of the current fight for immigration rights.

In a poll just released by Pew, only “23 percent of women are satisfied with the way things are going in the country today.” So make a point to call your elected representatives.
Tell them you want affordable and comprehensive healthcare.

Abortion: Stories Women Tell, directed by Tracy Droz Tragos, looks at one of America’s most contentious debates through the prism of personal stories.

Women's History Month — it should be a celebratory time as women reflect on all they have accomplished.

Thanks to social media, consumers are able to reach out to brands and directly express their pleasure — or displeasure — with a company’s product. I frequently react to advertisements that annoy my sensibilities via Twitter (I give shout outs, too!), using the hashtag #fem2. This summer’s Schick ad, with three bikini-clad young women standing behind bush-type trees in front of their pubic area, irritated me to no end.

The Trump administration seems determined to turn America back to the days of the 1950s. Unequal pay, gender-rating in insurance plans, less access to birth control, and a roll back of reproductive rights are all on the list. Here's what his first 100 days in office looked like for women's rights.