The truth isn’t so easy. I had a choice of going either to school or surviving. I had to help my madrecita put food on the table and raise my brother. But the system doesn’t reward those priorities. Instead, the system made me and my family suffer. It’s deporting my friends, it’s killing families, it’s putting children in cages, and keeping thousands of people in danger across the border. It’s this system that these women on stage are fighting every day.
My mom, sitting right there, the love of my life, that beautiful woman, is a woman who knows how to play both mama and papa. She’s a woman who gave up her dreams, left everything behind in Peru, like so many mothers may be doing at this moment. The story I continue to write is her story, and tonight, I want to give her some hope in writing a new chapter in her life.”
She then called her mother up to the stage and presented her with a gift: an envelope containing her green card. “You’ve been waiting for this for the past 17 years,” she said, “and I’m happy to let you know that you are finally getting it.”
The women then led the audience in a chant: “When immigrant rights are under attack, what do you do? Stand up. Fight back!”
A leader in providing legal services to immigrants in federal detention centers and in the community, RAICES is a resource for asylum-seeking families in a system designed for them to fail. With over 10 million undocumented individuals in the U.S., RAICES helps unaccompanied children, single adults, families, and the LGBTQ community feel welcomed, safe, and protected in their new cities.
With the enactment of the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance policy, RAICES’ work is more vital than ever. And after raising $20 million through a Facebook fundraiser amid nationwide uproar over family separations—it’s clear that they’re not slowing down. The majority of RAICES’ employees are female, and women hold most of the leadership positions, so Glamour was honored to welcome the change-makers at the annual awards ceremony.
Find out more about Glamour’s 2019 Women of the Year here.
Chris Cuomo with his wife, Cristina Greeven Cuomo, and their three children
Courtesy of Chris Cuomo
One of the first cases that came up after Roe affirmed that women could make their own decision. Planned Parenthood v. Casey asked whether or not a woman had to tell her husband before she got an abortion. Why? Because the idea that she needed permission was an extension of our patriarchal society, the notion that a woman is chattel and does what a man says. I’ve raised my daughter to never, ever seek a man’s approval for anything.
I used to joke that I was a shotgun-and-shovel kind of guy: If you’re coming to my house to date my daughter, you better be hands-up and have packed a lunch because it’s going to be a long day for you. But I evolved because as she got older, I realized that I didn’t want to insulate her—I wanted to equip her to make the best choices. Now I tell her: You do whatever you want as long as it’s on your own terms. And if you’re not sure, you can talk to me or talk to your mom (she’s the smarter one anyway).
The cascade of abortion bans completely contradict what I’ve told her that her reality should be. I’ve always tried to make her feel assured that there are no limitations on who she wants to be. That nobody gets to define her except herself. This is not about being pro-choice or pro-life—that’s not an accurate reflection of what this fight is about. This is about pro women’s choice and anti women’s choice. There are people who believe women should not have this choice. That’s what motivated her to go down and march—her fear for herself, her future.
I let her go to the march. She stopped by my office afterward, safe, tired, and hopeful. My fears, however, haven’t dissipated. I worry, of course, that she’ll lose the right to control her body and reproductive health. But increasingly that’s the least of my concerns. If we allow our society to decide that people don’t have determination over their lives, their futures, their bodies, where does it end? Where will that lead us? If you can tell somebody, “I’m sorry, sweetheart, you can’t have this procedure,” what’s next? We don’t know. Maybe: We’ve decided we don’t like physical augmentation either; we don’t like you changing how you look because it’s not how God made you. We’ve decided you must always submit to men, to your husbands, because that’s what scripture says. And on and on.
I’m also afraid for her generation and how this might jaundice their views of our democracy. What is a more powerful and corrosive way to make people not want to participate than to rob them of their most personal, intimate, and profound choices? How can we move forward when a generation could feel so disempowered from making decisions?
The parenting struggle I have now is that I have to help my daughter understand that she lives in a society that doesn’t necessarily agree about what’s best for her. That’s not easy. I tell her she has a right to feel the way she does, and that sometimes you have to fight for things that you shouldn’t have to fight for at all.
But I’ve also told her I will fight with her. I will ask men to stand alongside her and her fellow protesters. Nobody’s saying we want abortions because we’re in the people killing business. Nobody’s happy to have an abortion. We’ve had difficult pregnancies, we’ve had things not go our way. We’ve had to agonize about what to do. We know the pain of it. My wife had to suffer, and I suffered by her side. There’s a pain in the powerlessness of how little we men can help.
On March 8—International Women’s Day, no less—28 members of the world champion United States women’s soccer team filed a gender discrimination suit against U.S. Soccer. “Each of us is extremely proud to wear the United States jersey, and we also take seriously the responsibility that comes with that,” team member Alex Morgan told the Associated Press. “We believe that fighting for gender equality in sports is a part of that responsibility. As players, we deserved to be paid equally for our work, regardless of our gender.”
The U.S. women’s soccer team first began their fight for equal compensation in 2016, when five players filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) asking to be paid as much as the players on the men’s team. But the EEOC has still not issued a decision in their case. Then in 2017, they negotiated a new collective bargaining agreement—which increased their salaries and practice conditions—with U.S. Soccer that will run through 2021. And so the new gender discrimination suit is a further step—one that former soccer player, coach, and two-time Olympic gold medalist Abby Wambach cheers.
Since she retired from the sport in 2015, Wambach has dedicated herself to ending sex discrimination. At Barnard College’s graduation in 2018, Wambach turned her commencement address into a call to action. She told the graduating class, “Like all little girls, I was taught to be grateful. I was taught to keep my head down, stay on the path, and get my job done. I was freaking Little Red Riding Hood. The message is clear: Don’t be curious, don’t make trouble, don’t say too much, or bad things will happen. I stayed on the path out of fear—not of being eaten by a wolf—but of being cut, being benched, losing my paycheck. If I could go back and tell my younger self one thing, it would be this: ‘Abby, you were never Little Red Riding Hood, you were always the wolf.’” The speech has been viewed over 180,000 times and inspired her upcoming book, WOLFPACK, a guide for women to unlock their own power.
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Watch Wambach deliver her viral address at Barnard College’s 2018 commencement
As the highest all-time goal scorer for the national team—and the world record holder for international goals for both female and male soccer players with a whopping 184 goals—Wambach is one of the most recognizable face in women’s soccer. But for much of her career, Wambach explains she felt so fortunate to be able to compete in the game she loved that she never fought to be appropriately compensated for shattering those records. It’s a choice she now deeply regrets. Wambach could see just how badly the women’s team had been treated—and decided her decades of silence and servitude to the sport were over.
Wambach now travels the country as a crusader for equal pay across all industries, telling women that feeling “grateful” for their work should never stop them from demanding what they’re entitled to. Here, she opens up to Glamour about the U.S. women’s soccer team’s revolutionary discrimination suit—and how she champions the team from the sidelines.
Glamour: In your viral Barnard speech, you describe this moment when you appeared at the ESPY Awards, side by side with Peyton Manning and Kobe Bryant—and it dawned on you that they had so much more financial security going into retirement than you. What was it like to have that realization, then go back to your hotel room?
Abby Wambach: I played professional sports, so I lived a very privileged life where I was traveling the world representing my country. At the time, I thought this was better than most women’s experience, because I was really successful. But then I got back to the hotel and I started to understand what had really gone on here, and it was this anger-provoking moment that made me realize that even though I felt that I was one of the women who got a seat at the table, next to Kobe and Peyton, I was walking into a very different retirement. For me, that was the minute I figured out what I was going to do for the rest of my life: I was going to focus that energy and that rage, which turned into my Barnard speech, and now this book. It’s a sobering moment for women when we’re made very aware of where we stand in the order of things. But I don’t like to just sit into despair, I’m about action—so this is my attempt to help change the realities of women everywhere.
After last week‘s weird episode, The Big Bang Theory is back on track with the return of “Fun with Flags,” no mention of Leonard donating his sperm, and Sheldon powerfully sticking up for Amy (you tell ’em, Dr. Cooper). The episode also introduces Sean Astin and Kal Penn as physicists who could make or break Shamy’s Nobel prize hopes, though the Muppet’s Statler and Waldorf, two cranky obnoxious dudes, could have easily played the same parts.
Anyway, “The Confirmation Polarization” starts out on a high note when Amy receives an encouraging email from Dr. Pemberton (Astin) and Dr. Campbell (Penn) during a taping of “Fun with Flags.” They seem to confirm Sheldon and Amy’s theory about Super-Asymmetry, which sends Sheldon and Amy into a state of delirium. (They’re so excited that Penny, Leonard, and the rest of the gang hear them from across the hall and assume they must be having sex.)
Sheldon and Amy tell Professor Siebert their news, and he suggests they could be looking at a Nobel-winning achievement. If they do win, they’ll be the 39th and 40th Nobel Laureate winners from Cal Tech. Surprisingly Sheldon doesn’t ask for a statue of himself immortalized on the campus, but you know that’s coming. Later, Shamy meets with Drs. Pemberton and Campbell, who reveal this happened so fast because their experiment accidentally confirmed Super-Asymmetry. Sheldon and Amy are not amused. Pemberton and Campbell don’t even understand Super-Asymmetry, but they don’t care. They’re just excited to be in Los Angeles and have tickets to a taping of Ellen. “Look at the four of us,” Dr. Pemberton says, “changing the face of physics!”
Um, “the four” of you? Yep, apparently Pemberton and Cambell need to attach themselves to Sheldon and Amy’s theory if there’s any hope to win a Nobel.
PHOTO: Michael Yarish/Warner Bros. Entertainment
Later, Sheldon meets up with Leonard, Howard, and Raj to complain. Raj says he shouldn’t worry because, “Super-Asymmetry is your paper. Everyone knows you discovered it first.” Raj is right, Leonard says, but the Nobel committee has often favored scientists like Pemberton and Campbell. Either way, the whole thing is infuriating. (Not as infuriating, of course, as Leonard thinking of donating his sperm to Penny’s ex-boyfriend.)
Sheldon then tells Pemberton and Cambell not to steal his idea; they can come up with their own. Campbell’s all, “Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.” Pemberton snidely says, “Wouldn’t that be something though!” Forget what I said about these two acting like Statler and Waldorf. They don’t belong in a nice theater balcony. They deserve to live in Oscar the Grouch’s trash can.
They eventually say they understand where Sheldon is coming from, but they’re going to be part of this submission anyway. Sheldon’s not thrilled—but if that’s what it takes to win a Nobel, he’s not going to say no. But that’s when Pemberton and Campbell drop another bombshell: Only three of them can be named to the discovery, not four. (Side note: When did this thing turn in to a ride at Disneyland, where there’s only room for a set amount of people in a row? Glad I never had Nobel ambitions.)
Sheldon wants Pemberton or Campbell to leave their name off the discovery, but neither’s willing to budge. They reason that they’re all physicists; since Amy is a neuroscientist, she doesn’t belong. Sheldon storms out, but first he makes Pemberton and Campbell think he’s on their side. Little do they know there’s still 10 minutes left in the episode, and Sheldon’s not going down without a fight.
Sheldon returns home for dinner with Amy and reluctantly tells her that only three people can share a Nobel prize. He explains that Pemberton and Campbell’s university is recommending the two of them and Sheldon, and they want Cal Tech to do the same. If they present a united front, they’ll have a better shot at winning. Amy reacts as if she’s had the wind knocked out of her. “That makes sense,” she says, still in shock.
Sheldon says he won’t leave her off the submission, but Amy says maybe he should. Now Sheldon’s shocked. “This has been your lifelong dream, and maybe you won’t get another chance,” she says. “I don’t want to be the reason you don’t win a Nobel.”
Then, in the blink of an eye, Sheldon turns into Mr. Romance and tells Amy she’s the only reason he even deserves a Nobel. Amy is touched but says if his best shot is to partner up with those idiots (my words, not hers), he should take it. “I just want you to be happy,” she says. Amy, we do not deserve you.
Sheldon makes it seem as if he’s going to move forward with this plan, but there’s one more surprise left. In the next scene he storms into Professor Siebert’s office and demands that Amy’s name be included on the submission. “I will not be part of an award that does not recognize the value of her contributions,” he says. “You either include both of us in the recommendation letter or don’t bother writing one.” More of this Sheldon, please!
PHOTO: Michael Yarish
Surprisingly, Siebert doesn’t stand in Sheldon’s way. Siebert acknowledges that it might cause a fight with the other team, but he also respects Sheldon’s decision. “You and Dr. Fowler have my full support.”
Sheldon’s shocked, but also impressed with himself. I’m impressed with him, too. Amy can fight her own battles, but Sheldon’s looked up to superheroes his entire life—it’s nice to see him kind of turn into one, too.
With Keeping Up With the Kardashians now marking its 15th season of petty fights and rich people drama on the network, its main star, Kim Kardashian, has reached a creative milestone in her own right. The reality star appeared on the latest episode of Ashley Graham’s podcast to talk about the longevity of her career, revealing that E! has always given her unprecedented creative control when it comes to editing and approving scenes for the show. “I’m not in the actual editing room but I watch every cut and every edit,” she explained. “And that, I think, has always been the magic to being ourselves and showing everything, because we know that we could really have a say in it. [It’s] really rare for them to give us that from the start.”
Kardashian’s control is similar to the one her mother, Kris Jenner, has possessed for many years on the network, which has been criticized for the sheer scope of its influence—by fellow E! stars, no less. Still, Kardashian makes it clear that her creative involvement isn’t to make her look better in comparison to other family members: “We’ve never really edited out crazy content.” All of their infamous on-screen fights, in fact, have become a fundamental tenet of the show—as silly as that sounds—but re-watching those moments when they air still isn’t a fun experience for the family.
“When you watch it, you get heated all over again. We literally start fighting all over again over the same thing,” Kardashian continued. “Even if we like are so crazy mad at each other, it won’t be long before we’re all good. The fact that so many people text me even now if a rerun comes on, they’re like, ‘Are you and Kourtney okay?’ And I’m like, ‘We went on vacation together. This has been months since we filmed that.’” Ah, the magic of television.
A quick refresher for those who already forgot about this: Sunday’s episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians showed Kim and Kourtney having a Very Serious Argument about the schedule for their family Christmas card photo shoot. Kourtney wanted to stop at 4 P.M., which didn’t set well with Kim. Things ended in a blow-out, with Kim saying Kourtney is the “least interesting to look at,” so it doesn’t matter if she’s a part of the shoot. Keep in mind this for their family Christmas card so, yeah, way harsh, Tai.
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The drama spilled over to Twitter, with Kourtney, Kim, and Khloé all taking shots at each other. Things seem to be OK now, though. The sisters were in attendance at Kylie’s 21st birthday party last night, which they joked was actually all their 21st birthdays.
Kourtney uploaded a photo of her lewk from the night on Instagram, captioning it, “Thank you for all of my birthday wishes.” (Her real birthday is in April, just FYI.)
Shortly after, Kylie left a comment that seemed to poke fun at Kourtney and Kim’s squabble. “Happy birthday,” she wrote. “You’re so interesting to look at.”
Check out the comment for yourself, below:
PHOTO: Instagram
So what does this mean? Is the fight truly over? Did it ever really happen? After all, there is a theory that Kris Jenner orchestrated the entire thing for ratings. Regardless, if Kylie’s making jokes, then all is probably well in the Kardashian-Jenner household. And cheers to that, because I’m already excited for the next Christmas card.
