Issue 144 — October 5, 2020
I’ve gotta tell you, I get really tired of people complaining to me about something they saw in the news coverage of women. Whether it’s criticizing or loving Kamala Harris’s Chucks or the tone and timbre of a female leader’s voice, and don’t get me started on Hillary Clinton’s ankles and yellow pantsuit, women in leadership roles are scrutinized and stereotyped much more often than men. That’s surely true.
Read MoreSimone Biles is on the new August cover of Vogue. Viola Davis is on the August cover of Vanity Fair. It’s a good month for visual representation of strong BIPOC women leaders in mainstream media. But it’s been a long time coming. And it’s not nearly enough.
Even as the Biles’ photo shoot was criticized for how the lighting reflected the athlete’s skin tone as photographed by Annie Liebowitz, the trend of celebrating a wider range of women leaders is positive. Davis’ cover story was the first ever by a Black photographer, Dario Calmese.
Read More“No one will believe you. They will call you a liar. Do you think women are idiots?” It’s a turning point in the recent movie, “Bombshell,” when Charlize Theron playing Megyn Kelly says it in a meeting at Fox News. The movie has many shocking and pivotal moments, from Nicole Kidman playing Gretchen Carlson who says, “Someone has to speak up, someone has to get mad,” to the emotional breakdown of Margot Robbie playing a fictional character, Kayla, who was sexually assaulted by FOX News head Roger Ailes in his office.
Read More“Appoint yourself,” Elaine Welteroth, author, journalist, “Project Runway” judge and former editor in chief of Teen Vogue, told a crowd of close to 2,000 at the 34th annual Chicago Foundation for Women luncheon. “We have a responsibility to make a difference right where we are.”
Read MoreI distinctly remember when the actress Diahann Carroll began starring in the sitcom “Julia” about a nurse who’s also a widowed single mom to an elementary school-aged son living in suburbia. Sounds pretty ordinary, right? But Julia was Black, it was 1968, and the Civil Rights Movement was in full bloom of progress and simultaneously receiving violent pushback.
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