By Emily Park

At Catcall, we’re all about turning catcalling on its head and calling out the patriarchy with stories that inspire the shes, theys, gays and highlight the work that needs to be done to dismantle systemic inequalities. We’re proud to bring you the July edition of Babe Monthly with the major headlines, stories, and stats in feminist news that have surfaced over the last month. 

STORIES & ACHIEVEMENTS

What US shotputter Raven Saunders’ Olympic podium protest means for her and her message to the world

The 25-year-old has spoken out about her identities as a Black queer woman who has struggled with issues of mental health and views herself as at that intersection personally. In an interview with NBC, the Olympian explained her gesture as representative of “the intersection of where all people who are oppressed meet.” Read more here.

These lady motorcyclists rule New Orleans, and are now the faces of Rihanna’s latest Savage X Fenty Collection

The Caramel Curves are an all Black-female motorcycle crew based in New Orleans, Louisiana, and are front and center in this latest campaign. Read more here.

Mj Rodriguez becomes first trans woman up for major acting Emmy

Rodriguez is nominated in the lead drama actress category for her fierce and formidable portrayal of house mother and nurse Blanca Rodriguez on FX’s ballroom culture period drama “Pose.” Read more here.

Allyson Felix wins 11th Olympic medal and becomes most decorated U.S. track athlete of all time: feminist recap of the 2021 Olympic Games

Felix’s historic win is especially meaningful given her comeback to the sport after a life-threatening pregnancy two years ago. Overall, the 2021 Tokyo Olympics have seen wins for women and gender equality across the board. The 2021 Tokyo Olympics were gender-balanced for the first time in history, with 49% of the athletes being women. Read more here.

THE ROAD TO EQUALITY….

THE GOOD

Paralympian medalists will finally earn as much as Olympians at the Tokyo games

The U.S. Olympic Committee board made a decision after the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games to give Paralympians a 400% increase for each medal win. Read more here.

Federal judge temporarily blocks Indiana abortion ‘reversal’ law

U.S. District Court Judge James Patrick Hanlon, an appointee of former President Trump, ruled that the abortion-rights groups challenging the law had “a reasonable likelihood of success” on their claim that it violates the free speech rights of abortion providers. Read more here.

Cheerleading could have a place at the Olympics. It’s ‘huge’ for a sport that’s long been stereotyped.

The list of sports slated to be included at the 2024 Paris Olympics — which will include 50 percent female athletes, a first for the Games — has already been approved, meaning that the 2028 Los Angeles Games are the earliest that cheerleading could make its Olympic debut, Read more here.

Colorado will provide birth control, reproductive care for immigrants without documentation

The fund, set to start in January, will apply to women who would have otherwise qualified for Medicaid. The new law also will allow Medicaid recipients get a year’s worth of birth control pills at one time, a practice recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Read more here.

THE SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN

Simone Biles is being applauded for her strength. Society owes her more, these Black women say.

For many Black women fans watching the media frenzy, not enough has been said about the overt racism Black athletes often encounter during competition, the trauma of fighting racism under public scrutiny, and the tendency for White people to idealize Black athletes — only to discard them when they do not live up to their expectations. Read more here.

The Cuomo report was led by New York’s first Black woman attorney general. It’s what ‘a meaningful investigation looks like,’ advocates say.

Experts and advocates for sexual harassment prevention in the workplace characterize the attorney general’s focus on the broader workplace culture as crucial to framing and understanding how sexual harassment can proliferate. Read more here.

Washington Post reporter Felicia Sonmez is suing the paper for gender discrimination

Last month Washington Post reporter Felicia Sonmez filed a lawsuit against the newspaper for discrimination, alleging that editors barred Sonmez from reporting on stories involving sexual assault after she came out as a survivor of sexual assault herself. Now, the lawsuit has also revealed that while the Post barred Sonmez from reporting on certain stories they allowed another reporter who had been accused of workplace sexual harassment to continue reporting on similar stories. Read more here.

USA fencing team wears pink masks In protest of teammate accused of sexual assault, and in support of survivors

Hazdic’s teammates were so outraged by his participation they all decided to wear pink masks, while Hazdic was singled out wearing a plain black mask. This simple act sparked a conversation about the lack of regard USA Fencing has for preventing sexual assault Read more here..

THE BAD

In one month, abortion could be essentially illegal in Texas

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 8 into law in May, banning all abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, before most people know they are pregnant. While the Texas law is unconstitutional under Roe v. Wade, both sides say it won’t be as easy as others to challenge because unlike any other antiabortion restriction, the Texas law can be enforced by almost anyone. Read more here.

State policy trends at midyear 2021: Already the worst legislative year ever for U.S. abortion rights

More abortion restrictions—90—have already been enacted in 2021 than in any year since the Roe v. Wade decision was handed down in 1973. Each additional restriction increases patients’ logistic, financial and legal barriers to care, especially in regions where entire clusters of states are hostile to abortion. Read more here.

Halfway through the year, 2021 is already the worst year ever for anti-trans legislation

According to the Human Rights Campaign, there are currently over 250 proposed anti-LGBT bills across the country. The vast majority fall into two categories: bills that seek to criminalize gender-affirming health care for trans minors, and bills that seek to ban trans youth, or trans girls specifically, from playing on the sports team that matches their gender. Read more here

Sha’Carri Richardson’s cannabis suspension is emblematic of a larger issue, Black women in the industry say

Black women who have advocated for the legal use of marijuana, in particular, say Richardson’s case is a prime example of how marijuana is still stigmatized and misunderstood. To them, her punishment represents the enduring harm of U.S. drug laws, highlighting the high price Black people have often paid when those rules are enforced. Read more here.

Norwegian women’s team fined for refusing to wear bikini bottoms, sporting shorts instead

The men’s teams on the other hand are allowed to wear shorts, with the IHF requiring only that the shorts, “if not too baggy, can be longer but must remain 10 centimeters above the kneecap.” Read more here.

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

“We have to protect our mind and our body, rather than just go out there and do what the world wants us to do.”

– Simone Biles