Society
Women
About two decades ago, NPR host Mary Louise Kelly had her first child and went down the extremely common yet commonly daunting life path of balancing a demanding career with a family. As a national security correspondent on assignment war zones, she missed family events and emergency phone calls from her kids’ school. As the daily weekday co-host of “All Things Considered,...
Advocates, healthcare providers, legislators, researchers, and venture capitalists are bringing the unique health needs of women to light – from vigorous policy debates on issues affecting women’s bodies to groundbreaking research on fertility and menopause to an explosion of women-centered technology. But much more needs to be done. Gender differences in heart disease, de...
Featuring three one-on-one conversations, our tenth anniversary closing session is not to be missed! We begin with comedian Iliza Shlesinger, who opens up to bestselling author Kate Bowler about using humor to confront trauma and other health challenges. Then the spotlight moves to Mia McLeoad, an independent, and Penry Gustafson, a Republican, two of the South Carolina Si...
If Black women bear the heaviest burdens of the maternal mortality crisis—they are 2.6 times more likely to die during pregnancy or shortly after childbirth—they are also the most determined to address it. Moving beyond grief and rage, their leadership is prioritizing culturally sensitive care, respect for best practices, and greater use of community-based models and licen...
Female athletes seem to get faster and stronger every year, thanks to more sophisticated sports science, improved training techniques, and the growth in competitive opportunities made possible by greater public and sponsor interest. Yet the bias towards studying male athletes endures, women earn less than their male counterparts, and the hurdles of sexism, racism, ageism,...
For many women reaching middle age, menopause is a liberating signal that the childbearing years have come to an end. But with its characteristic hot flashes and complex effects on memory, sleep, sexual functioning, bones, and mental health, this inevitable part of aging is also marked by physical and emotional challenges. Misinformation, research gaps, cultural myths, and...
Women’s healthcare has entered a promising and transformative era driven by scientific and technological innovation. The growing sophistication and personalization of genetic testing, surgical techniques, treatments, and therapies for women are ushering new advancements in breast health, gynecologic care, fertility, oncology, depression, mental health, and more. Join our p...
Untapped market opportunities, coupled with the recognition that many diseases exclusively affect women, or affect them differently than men, are drawing venture capitalists into women’s health. These private equity investors, often entrepreneurial women, are motivated by a commitment to gender equity, a supportive regulatory environment, and awareness that there are profi...
When the US Supreme Court rolled back the 50-year-old constitutional right to abortion, attention immediately turned to the health and economic significance for women forced to carry an unwanted or risky pregnancy to term. Those profound concerns persist, but a year later, numerous unanticipated consequences are also coming into focus. The tentacles of impact stretch in al...
For decades, new therapies were routinely tested only in men, and assumed to work the same way in women. The landmark NIH Revitalization Act, with its requirement that women be included in clinical trials, rang in a new era. But on the law’s 30th anniversary, progress remains incomplete. Research into many conditions that primarily affect women are underfunded, findings ar...
The pandemic put into stark relief deeply-ingrained gender roles in society, as the burden of unpaid care fell to millions of women who left the workforce. Yet the past years have also seen record-high numbers of women running for political office and holding executive positions in Fortune 500 companies. Where are we seeing progress, and where do we still desperately need...
Right when women feel like they have it all figured out, many of them enter a stage of life in our society where they feel dismissed, ignored and cast out. The pressure is strong to try and hold onto youth as long as possible via whatever means necessary, and shame tends to accompany all of the available options. How can we learn to embrace the inevitability of aging a lit...
Jessica Cruel, Editor-in-Chief of Allure, discusses why certain beauty buzzwords are banned from the magazine, reflects on the evolution of the industry, and shares her vision for how we can further democratize beauty.
Lindy West, the original “shrill” woman, has defied the fat-shamers and misogynists and helped us redefine what it means to be beautiful. Not hiding herself away because she doesn’t fit the mold, West is an author, cultural critic, and ultimately, a model we can emulate. With a sharp eye — and tongue! — she reminds us that power, courage, and connection are beautiful, and...
It’s no secret that money in the hands of women is money well taken care of — with copious evidence to prove it. The question is how to get more money into those hands, especially now. An estimated 1.2 million women left the workforce between 2020 and 2022 — thanks largely to the pandemic’s demand for caretakers at home — effecting an enormous economic setback for women an...
In the first of a two-part discussion, experts explain the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which is widely misunderstood: What did Roe actually hold? And how does the Court’s much-anticipated Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health ruling alter the current legal landscape with regard to abortion? In the second part, panelists explore a world after Dobbs. What are the co...
From advocacy and social impact to growing a global footprint, these women have redefined what it means to create a mission-driven company. Whitney Wolfe Herd, founder and CEO of Bumble, and Jessica Alba, founder and chief creative officer of The Honest Company, paved their own paths from start-up to success by staying true to their founding principles — and not listening...
Is a thing of beauty, as Keats wrote, “a joy forever?” Or is it, as in the view of Camus, “unbearable”? The precise nature of beauty and how to understand its role in our lives may prove elusive to most of us, but it is the everyday work of philosophers. Is beauty skin deep? Is it socially and culturally determined and, if so, what are the implications? What power does it...
If there is one thing every human shares, it’s the inevitability of aging. Yet in a society that places such a high premium on youth, people over 50 are often dismissed from conversations around beauty, considered consumerist has-beens for fashion, culture, and pretty much every product excluding pharmaceuticals. Enter a new crowd of the unabashedly aging, demanding to be...
Olympian Eileen Gu and WNBA Washington Mystics team owner Sheila Johnson know firsthand the power of Title IX, and their careers are testament to why it’s been called one of the world’s most powerful laws. Though its purpose is to make sure that American girls and women can enjoy all the benefits of sport, it has changed the way women compete all around the world — and not...