A wake up call for women
What women can do to counter the movement limiting women's rights.
Welcome to Own Your Ambition, the weekly newsletter designed to empower and give professional women the tools they need to be successful. As a former CEO who made it to the C Suite from an entry level, I know first hand what it takes for women to realize their ambition and reach their career goals.
In the current environment, women face the real possibility of having their rights limited. What we’ve witnessed so far with abortion rights, the elimination of DEI initiatives is only the beginning.
How do we stand up to the ongoing assault on gender equality and control of our bodies?
The bottom line is that we can’t stay silent. We know how to do this and we need to take action now. We can learn from our history of resistance and protest.
In this newsletter, I have a conversation with Dr. Ann Olivarius, a veteran of the feminist legal movement, for her thoughts on the current state of affairs and what we can do to push back effectively.
Our history
Beginning in the mid-19th century, several generations of woman suffrage supporters lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied, and practiced civil disobedience to achieve what many Americans considered a radical change in the Constitution – guaranteeing women the right to vote. Some suffragists used more confrontational tactics such as picketing, silent vigils, and hunger strikes.
In July 1848, 300 people convened in Seneca Falls, New York to fight for the social, civil, and religious rights of women. This women’s rights convention is referred to as the First Wave of Feminism.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, one of the meeting’s organizers, began with a speech on the convention’s goals and purpose:
“We are assembled to protest against a form of government, existing without the consent of the governed—to declare our right to be free as man is free, to be represented in the government which we are taxed to support, to have such disgraceful laws as give man the power to chastise and imprison his wife, to take the wages which she earns, the property which she inherits, and, in case of separation, the children of her love.”
Emily Davison, an English suffragette, “fought for votes for women in Britain in the early twentieth century. A member of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) and a militant fighter for her cause, she was arrested on nine occasions, went on hunger strike seven times and was force-fed on forty-nine occasions. She died after being hit by King George V's horse at the 1913 Derby when she walked onto the track during the race.”
These early feminist movements, though imperfect, did eventually result in landmark political and legal reforms that gave women the right to vote and to own property.
According to women’s rights attorney Dr. Ann Olivarius, the current rollback of women’s rights across multiple fronts from the overturning of Roe v. Wade to the federal government and corporations dismantling DEI policies, is a wake up call for women to continue to fight back.
Olivarius has spent more than four decades fighting for women who have faced workplace discrimination and sexual assault. As a 21-year-old student at Yale, she helped lead the landmark Alexander v. Yale case, which established that sexual harassment in education violates Title IX. The case forced universities to take responsibility for protecting students, something now at risk under today’s legal and political climate.
As a veteran of the feminist legal movement, Olivarius has been at the forefront of major legal and cultural shifts, including coining the term “date rape” and advocating for revenge porn laws. She currently leads McAllister Olivarius, a transatlantic law firm fighting for survivors in cases ranging from corporate discrimination to sexual violence by religious cult leaders.
In my recent conversation with Olivarius, we discussed what women can do in today’s environment to counter the movement limiting women’s rights.
The current environment
“In America, women’s rights expanded continually since the beginning of the 20th century, picking up speed after the 1950s. We are now suffering a major backlash. Our legal and political reversal is reflected in changing cultural attitudes – according to a new Pew Survey, in 2022, 28% of Republican men thought women should return to “traditional roles”. In 2024 that had risen to 48%, almost half. Republican women have gone from 22% to 37%.”
According to Olivarius, “We are fighting back in a rapidly changing and increasing polarized environment. That’s both a challenge and opportunity. The challenge is that a growing subset of the populations claims to be explicitly more ideologically opposed to our goals of equality. The opportunity is that those we are now seemingly fighting to curtail their own rights haven’t yet experienced living without them.”
She continues, “When progressive values were in the ascendant, it was cost-free for opponents to make feminism and equality the font of all evil. But now reality is setting in: men who gleefully proclaim by word and deed their right to subjugate women have curtailed abortion access, cut back programs that helped women beat workplace discrimination and fired them from senior positions in the armed forces. Living without these basic measures of equality may confound those who thought they were permanent.”
Yet, Olivarius believes this inevitable dissatisfaction can be our opportunity. “When IVF clinics are shutting down, women are losing their jobs and families get poorer, when more and more women die from sepsis in childbirth like they already do in Texas, when the massive cuts to the federal programs result in a real loss of service and help to Americans, when women are forced out of jobs because anti-discrimination laws are undermined, leaving families poorer, we progressives must be ready with an argument and a solution.”
Olivarius points to some of our recent victories, especially in reproductive justice. “Abortion is generally popular in America, and where it’s been banned, there has been strong electoral push back on the state level. Abortion-rights referendums were successful in 7 out of 10 states in 2024, including deeply conservative states won by Donald Trump that same day, such as Montana and Arizona.”
What can women do today?
“What might work today is reminding all Americans that feminist goals are also their goals. We must push for “equality” means simple fairness, like being paid what you’re worth, just like your husband. We need to remind the husbands that equal pay means the whole household earns more.”
We need to wrench the Overton Window back towards the center, and we must make that effort on the county, state and federal level. It won’t be a quick fix, and we won’t know in advance exactly what will work – but we must do all of it, and as hard as we can.
Will a leader emerge from the resistance? Olivarius comments, “It would be lovely if a charismatic leader would emerge in a timely fashion to heroically lead the way for us all – but we can’t and shouldn’t sit around and wait for that.
Instead, we each have to get on with the work in front of us. The best person to bring change to, say, a school board in Alaska, will be a person from that school district in Alaska. They will know the issues and the language of that community much better than someone writing talking points for them in California.
I can’t think of an aspect of American life untouched by the current administration’s attacks. We will have to push back on so many different fronts and if we each start by doing what we can, where we are, a leader will likely emerge from that very process.”
It starts with each of us doing what we can.
What you can do starting now
Advocate
• Join or support feminist movements that push for gender equality.
• Participate in protests and demonstrations to raise awareness about issues like reproductive rights, equal pay, and gender-based violence.
• Use social media platforms to amplify voices, share stories, and mobilize support.
• Engage with policymakers by signing petitions, writing letters, and attending town hall meetings.
Engage politically and know your rights
• Know your rights and educate others about laws protecting women’s rights.
• Support and vote for candidates who prioritize gender equality policies.
• Run for office or support female political leaders to push for legislative changes.
• Work with legal organizations to challenge discriminatory laws and policies.
Fight for women’s financial empowerment
• Fight for equal pay and workplace rights by joining labor unions or negotiating salaries.
• Support women-owned businesses and advocate for equal opportunities in entrepreneurship.
• Push for better maternity leave and childcare policies in workplaces.
Build awareness and empower young girls
• Educate young girls about their rights and empower them to speak up.
• Create and promote gender equality programs in schools and workplaces.
• Challenge harmful stereotypes in media and everyday conversations.
Stand up against gender-based violence
• Support organizations that help survivors of domestic abuse, harassment, and assault.
• Push for stronger laws and enforcement against gender-based violence.
• Encourage a culture of consent and respect in personal and public spaces.
I have to wonder if the reason more women are landing in MAGA …besides not realizing they are voting against their rights to be trad wife influencers…is because they are exhausted and just want to “a stay at home woman” or a “kept woman”? I’ve seen a few young ones say this. As a former submissive, white woman evangelical, right-wing republican, they have no idea what they are in for. So I think we have to add this to the list as well unless I missed it. It was an awesome freaking list and a great reminder of why we need to deconstruct the ideology of patriarchy. Loved this piece!
Yes! As someone who is passionate about empowering women (and really, all people at risk of violence), standing UP and standing FOR safety, empowerment, and rights of all makes sense. Together, we can accomplish much!
I am heartbroken that my daughters have fewer rights than I did at their age. I agree--we all do our part--whatever that might be. A choir of resistance--many voices, one goal.