Quick Hits
-
U.S. CEO association The Business Roundtable is launching a program called the Workforce Partnership Initiative to help close the workforce skills gap by providing STEM training for women and minorities. The future is now! Fortune
-
Katie Haun has been named the first female partner of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. Fortune
-
Mattel Inc. has released Robotics Barbie dolls — and no, we’re not talking artificial intelligence. The new Barbies are engineers, building robots while wearing lab goggles, all while still looking glamorous. They're part of a new initiative to promote different jobs to girls, and prove that women can be both brainy and beautiful. Bloomberg
-
The United States Open has announced that it will revamp how it seeds players returning from having children after receiving some major flack for seeding Serena Williams at #138, even though the athlete has won Wimbledon seven times. We’re marking this one a major win for moms returning to the workforce. The New York Times
-
The most recent batch of primaries has seen 32 of 61 women competing for congressional seats to secure spots in the November election, bringing the total number of female primary victories thus far up to 169. Bloomberg
-
Perhaps the most stunning of the upsets occurred when 28-year-old activist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez beat longtime incumbent House Representative Joe Crowley in New York’s Democratic primary. Ocasio-Cortez made heavy use of grassroots organizing to pull off the win and ran on a Democratic Socialist platform, calling for universal healthcare and the abolishment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Bloomberg
-
Spice Girls fans, rejoice! Mel. B, better known as Scary Spice, has revealed that the group will reunite for an upcoming tour. Friendship truly does never end. Glamour
In the News
Uncertainty in the Supreme Court
So much news about the Supreme Court has been coming out lately, it’s enough to make our heads spin. Lucky for you, InHerSight is unpacking all the major updates:
-
Last Tuesday, the court ruled that crisis pregnancy centers, or anti-abortion pregnancy centers, are not required to share information about abortion options to patients.
-
That same day, the court ruled to uphold President Trump’s travel ban, deciding that his proposal to ban immigration and travel from Iran, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, North Korea, and Venezuela was a national security issue rather than a discrimination issue. All but two of the impacted countries are Muslim-majority, and the president has a record of discrimination against Muslims, not to mention the fact that the two non-Muslim countries didn’t even appear in the original version of the ban.
-
Last Wednesday’s announcement that Justice Anthony Kennedy set the news cycle into a frenzy, worrying abortion rights activists in particular. Kennedy, a right-leaning moderate, often acted as a tie-breaker on important cases concerning marriage equality and reproductive rights. President Trump has promised to quickly nominate a replacement, who will likely be much more conservative than Kennedy, creating a majority-conservative bench. This could spell bad news for Roe v. Wade, which Trump vowed to overturn during his campaign. Resentment has also bubbled up amongst congressional Democrats. They say a replacement shouldn’t be nominated until after the midterm election, since Congress blocked President Obama’s nomination following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia until after he was out of office, allowing Trump to appoint conservative Justice Neal Gorsuch instead of Obama’s moderate pick, Judge Merrick Garland. A nomination only requires a Senate majority of 51, which Republicans currently have — something Democrats hope could change by November. But tbh, it seems fairly certain that Trump will get his replacement pretty soon, so if anyone is attached to any rulings, they should be prepared to fight for them. NPR
#MeToo Check In
For anyone who’s scoffed at the #MeToo moment or written it off as merely words of bluster, read this and weep — the movement has outed 417 high-profile corporate abusers, according to a New York crisis center study. Of these, 193 have either been fired or left their jobs and 122 have been put on leave, suspended, or are facing investigation; they’re no longer in the positions that gave them the power to assault and coerce. Unfortunately, 69 have faced no repercussions, but the study says that even though the rate of new accusations is diminishing, firing rates for perpetrators are rising. Of the 417 accused, all but seven were men. The study sends a clear message to abusers — the world is watching, and Time’s Up. Bloomberg
Heroes of the Week
-
Terry Crews. It’s always hard to speak publicly about sexual assault, but for men, the stigma can be even worse. That’s why it was so important to see Crews go before the Senate last week to share the story of his own assault by a Hollywood executive. And even when he was rudely mocked by 50 Cent, he still took the high road. Thank you for your bravery, Mr. Crews. Jezebel
-
Rashida Jones and Donald Glover. The two stars have teamed up in a hilarious Time’s Up PSA video to mock traditional anti-rape rhetoric. Rather than advising women on how to avoid assault, the video turns the narrative around (rightly so), placing responsibility on men. Watch the video for some very sage advice if you’re ever in doubt of whether it’s acceptable to tell your coworker they look sexy in their pants, or if it’s okay to greet them with a full-on kiss. Variety
-
Taarini Dang. 14-year-old Dang has started a venture capital firm to help raise money for women in tech. She’s already raised $100,000 and has set a new goal for $1 million. Dang, girl! We’re huge fans, even if your success at such a young age makes us feel as little ashamed of our own middle-school-era nonsense. The Mercury News
-
Young Jean Lee. Lee has become the first Asian American woman to have a play appear on Broadway. What makes us love her even more? Her play, entitled “Straight White Men,” is about three brothers who must confront their privilege and identities as straight white men in America during Christmas in the wake of their mother’s death. Women’s Media Center
Around the World
-
A survey from Reuters has named India as the most dangerous country for women. But the women of India aren’t taking the violence lying down — self-defenses classes, like those held by the Delhi Police Department, are becoming increasingly popular. Indian women and girls have been rising up throughout 2018 to demonstrate their outrage and refusal to accept this as the status quo. CNN
-
Clare Smyth, the Northern Irish chef who catered Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s wedding, has been named the best female chef in the world at the World’s 50 Best Restaurants gala. Smyth criticized the controversial award, saying at the gala, “I would love to see very soon that we don’t need gender-specific awards because women will have recognition and there will be a balance in the industry.” The Guardian
-
The number of single mothers in Japan has risen by 50 percent since 1992. This, coupled with Japan’s sizeable wage gap, has caused Japan to have the highest child-poverty rate in working single-parent households among OECD nations. Bloomberg
-
The death sentence of a Sudanese teenager who killed her husband after he raped her has been overturned. Human rights and anti-child marriage activists are calling this a victory for women’s rights and are fighting to have her jail sentence overturned as well. Independent
