15 Minutes of Feminism: The Olympics—An Uneven Playing Field? (with Ria Tabacco Mar)

08/10/21 • 21 min

The 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games have been rife with controversy—from rulings targeting Black athletes like Sha’Carri Richardson, to COVID protests taking place just outside the stadium, to transphobia directed at the first openly trans athletes to ever compete on this highest international stage. And what about protecting mental health and threats against Simone Biles?

Is the Olympics an uneven playing field?

Helping us to unpack this and more is a very special guest:

Ria Tabacco Mar, director of the Women’s Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), where she oversees women’s rights litigation. She was previously a senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender & HIV Project, where she helped argue the landmark civil rights case of Aimee Stephens which culminated in last year’s Bostock v. Clayton County ruling that expanded federal employment protections to LGBTQ+ people.

Rate and review “On the Issues with Michele Goodwin" to let us know what you think of the show! Let’s show the power of independent feminist media.

Check out this episode’s landing page at MsMagazine.com for a full transcript, links to articles referenced in this episode, further reading and ways to take action.

Tips, suggestions, pitches? Get in touch with us at [email protected].

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Is the Olympics an uneven playing field?

Support the show (http://msmagazine.com)

Previous Episode

15 Minutes of Feminism: What the Heck is Happening in Texas? (with Rep. Donna Howard and Ms. Digital Editor Roxy Szal)

Republican lawmakers in Texas seem obsessed with passing extreme voter suppression legislation, banning critical race theory and outlawing abortion outright. In protest, Texas House Democrats have fled the state en masse and are making national news while camped out in the U.S. capital. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has threatened to arrest legislators when they return from Washington, D.C., *and* vowed to call special session after special session until the elections bill passes. On Saturday, July 31, thousands of people descended upon the Texas Capitol with signs demanding lawmakers “Protect Voting Rights," “End the Filibuster” and “Say No to Jim Crow."

So … what the heck is happening in Texas?! If you haven’t been following along, don’t worry—we’ve got you covered in this week’s edition of “On the Issues,” 15 Minutes of Feminism. (Okay, 17 minutes!)

Helping us to sort out what the heck is happening in Texas is:

Texas state Representative Donna Howard, one of the Democrats that fled the state. She represents Texas’s own district 48, based in Austin. She’s an Austin native, has served in the Texas House of Representatives since 2006, and is a member of the House Appropriations Committee and State Affairs Committee, as well as the chair of the Women’s Health Caucus.
Roxy Szal, Ms. magazine’s digital editor and a co-producer for “On the Issues." She’s been reporting on the ground from Texas and can weigh in status of democracy in the Lone Star State.

Check out this episode’s landing page at MsMagazine.com for a full transcript, links to articles referenced in this episode, further reading and ways to take action.

Tips, suggestions, pitches? Get in touch with us at [email protected].

Support the show (http://msmagazine.com)

Next Episode

Being Asian in America (with Dr. Claire Kim, Nobuko Miyamoto and Yang Huang)

The recent rise in documented anti-Asian violence—which saw grandmothers being punched on the streets, and a major shooting in Atlanta—has raised questions about the current status of Asian American identity and safety in the U.S.
How does “Asian” fit into the American racial taxonomy, which has for so long relied on a dichotomy of Black and white?
Helping us to sort out these questions and set the record straight are very special guests:

· Nobuko Miyamoto, actor, activist, singer and third-generation Japanese American whose work has blended art and activism since the 1960s. She’s also the founder of Great Leap, a performing arts organization that promotes Asian American artistic works. She recently published a memoir, titled Not Yo' Butterfly: My Long Song of Relocation, Race, Love, and Revolution.

· Dr. Claire Kim, professor of political science and Asian American studies at the University of California, Irvine. She has written two books—Bitter Fruit: The Politics of Black-Korean Conflict and Dangerous Crossings: Race, Species, and Nature in a Multicultural Age—and is currently working on a third book, Asian Americans in an Anti-Black World.

· Yang Huang, award-winning novelist and short story writer. She grew up in China’s Jiangsu province and participated in the 1989 student uprisings before coming to the U.S. to study computer science. She’s written two novels—My Good Son and Living Treasures—and a collection of linked short stories, My Old Faithful.

Rate and review “On the Issues with Michele Goodwin" to let us know what you think of the show! Let’s show the power of independent feminist media.
Check out this episode’s landing page at MsMagazine.com for a full transcript, links to articles referenced in this episode, further reading and ways to take action.
Tips, suggestions, pitches? Get in touch with us at [email protected].

Support the show