On Thursday night, Biles became the first American woman to win four all-around titles at the world gymnastics championships. On Friday, she broke another world record when she took home a gold medal on vault (though she didn’t perform the historic “Biles vault”). That decision led to her 13th world title, which is more gold medals than any gymnast, male or female, has ever won in the event’s history.
Watch her record-making vault routine below:
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As if that isn’t amazing enough, Biles also took home silver on the bars. Despite making history in more ways than one, however, Biles isn’t what you’d call ecstatic: As she wrote on Instagram, “Although I still placed 1st and MADE HISTORY I’m not entirely pleased with my performance. I’m still trying to find my confidence. But I won’t give up.”
But stay tuned, Biles fans: She might leave the competition with even more medals as she is set to compete in floor exercise (she’s the reigning Olympic champion) and balance beam later today. There’s one more record she might clear, too: According to NBC, if her winning streak keeps up, Biles will become the first woman to medal in every event since 1987.
Longtime sports journalists Andrea Kremer and Hannah Storm will make history this week as the first female duo ever to call an NFL game as part of Amazon Prime Video’s newest streaming efforts.
Amazon has announced it will offer “Thursday Night Football” for Prime customers, and they’ve tapped Kremer and Storm to provide commentary and analysis for 11 of the games they’ll show, kicking off Thursday when the L.A. Rams host the Minnesota Vikings. Their decision to hire the award-winning sports commentators was quickly hailed as a refreshing change in sports journalism, and both women released statements expressing how excited they are to work together.
“Teaming up with Hannah and Amazon for this is truly special,” Kremer said. “Hannah is a brilliant journalist and she has been a friend for many years. With decades of experience as storytellers, we will be bringing a different voice and viewpoint to covering the game of football.”
Storm also praised her new partner in a statement: “I can’t imagine embarking upon this new role with anyone better than Andrea. A lifelong friend with Pro Football Hall of Fame credentials, she is the perfect partner. Together we’re looking forward to offering a new option for Prime members on Thursday nights and I’m excited to get to work!”
Amazon Prime will also offer Spanish-language and U.K. feeds, as well as an option with commentators Joe Buck and Troy Aikman calling the games.
As NPR points out, the announcement comes just a year after Beth Mowins became the first broadcaster to call an NFL game on national television. The first woman to call an NFL game ever was Gayle Sierens in 1987, when she called a regional NBC broadcast of a Seahawks-Chiefs game.
While people flooded Twitter with positive reactions to Kremer and Storm’s game-changing news, there were plenty of gross and disappointing comments that exposed the pervasive sexism in sports. Still, both women responded with grace, choosing to thank supporters instead.
“Thanks so much to everyone who has given me and @Andrea_Kremer a shout-out today…Couldn’t ask for a better partner and opportunity! See y’all for #TNF on @PrimeVideo for a great first matchup #MINvsLAR,” Storm tweeted, while Kremer said, “Heartfelt thanks to all those who have reached out to @HannahStormESPN & me today with your words of support. Incredibly grateful for the opportunity & i feel like the players in the 2 week run up to the Super Bowl… can’t wait for gameday TNF on @PrimeVideo.”
Given that it’s 2018, it’s a little surprising to realize that the United States still has no national women’s history museum, nor is there any such building currently under construction. But the nonpartisan National Women’s History Museum organization, founded in 1996, is trying to change that: Members and potential donors gathered on Saturday for a fundraiser for the construction of just such a museum, along with the seventh annual Women’s Making History Awards. The event, held at the Beverly Hills Hotel, honored Kristen Bell, Kathy Bates, Gabrielle Union, and Black Lives Matter Global Network cofounder Patrisse Cullors for their social responsibility accomplishments. Glamour‘s editor-in-chief, Samantha Barry, was on hand to moderate a Q&A with each woman following her recognition.
Women’s history is hugely overlooked: For centuries, it’s generally been white men who have held the power to write themselves into Western history textbooks. What results is a narrative of history that often leaves out the contributions of women and people of color. (If you want some weekend reading, New York Times‘s “Overlooked” obituary series is also doing its part to change that.) The first paid baseball team in America was made up not of men, for example, but women. And then there’s Claudette Colvin, who was arrested at 15 when she refused to give up her bus seat—nine months before Rosa Parks made her famous protest.
That’s exactly why the Women’s Making History Awards exists today: to recognize women who are already making history. Idina Menzel presented an award to Bell to recognize the actress’s work with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, as well as the social justice-oriented granola bar company Bell co-founded, This Bar Saves Lives.
Actor Michael Ealy then honored Union, who works with the National Advisory Committee for Violence Against Women, for her advocacy for women’s issues and sexual assault victims.
“She was fearless, and she led from the front,” said Union about Marsha P. Johnson, a gay liberation activist who was prominent at the 1969 Stonewall uprising. “A lot of us call ourselves leaders but we stay quiet and we’re in the back. We talk about inclusion but when we go to work, it’s everybody that looks like us.”
“Anytime whole groups of people have been erased, their contributions have been erased, we tend to see them as less valuable,” Union added. “We don’t tend to see their worth.”
Sarah Paulson also gave an amazing tribute to why her American Horror Story costar Bates inspires her more than anyone else: “The work she does on behalf of the Lymphatic Education & Research Network is a striking example of her desire to move towards the greater good,” she said, noting Bates’ role as an international ambassador for those who have lymphatic diseases. Finally, Dawn Lyen-Gardner honored Cullors for founding the Los Angeles-based Dignity and Power Now organization, which advocates for incarcerated people and their families, and for co-founding the Black Lives Matter Global Network.
It’s not certain yet when the museum will finally break ground. In March 2017, a nonpartisan bill was introduced in Congress that would establish it and designate two potential spots on the National Mall—however, it’s yet to be voted on.
For more info or to find out how you can help, check out the organization’s website.
Since they began, the MTV Video Music Awards has been the embodiment of the phrase “anything goes”: in 1984, Madonna delivered the first-ever VMA performance with a rendition of her hit “Like A Virgin” wearing a white wedding dress and suggestively rolling around on stage, which—at the time—wasn’t only shocking but downright scandalous. Fast forward 19 years and Madonna did it again, this time with Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and the infamous kiss. But Madge isn’t the only star to push the envelope: each year manages to outdo the next—and we’re rarely disappointed. Ahead of the 2018 VMAs airing on August 20th, we gathered 21 of the most shocking, unforgettable, and overall WTF moments in the show’s history.
Over the past few years, Gabrielle Union has been an open book about her fertility struggles. In her 2017 memoir, she wrote about how she’s had “eight or nine” miscarriages throughout her life—most recently with her husband, Dwayne Wade—and she likened her body to a “prisoner” of trying to get pregnant. But now, at the age of 45, she finally was able to get a diagnosis.
“Toward the end of my fertility journey, I finally got some answers. Everyone said, You’re a career woman, you’ve prioritized your career, you waited too long and now you’re just too old to have a kid—and that’s on you for wanting a career. The reality is I actually have adenomyosis,” Union said at the annual BlogHer conference, according to People. “The gag is I had it in my early 20s.”
Union noted how almost all of the doctors she visited disregarded her symptoms and would solely put her on birth control as a treatment. “Instead of diagnosing me, they were like, Oh you have periods that last nine or 10 days and you’re bleeding through overnight pads, perhaps there’s something more there,” she explained. “Every doctor I saw was like, Let me put you on birth control. The pill can mask all kinds of things. It is amazing at preventing pregnancy; not so great with addressing adenomyosis.”
Adenomyosis, which is closely related to endometriosis, involves an overgrowth of endometrial tissue in a woman’s body. This can result in everything from painful menstrual periods, pelvic pain, bleeding between periods, infertility issues—as evidenced by Union—or pain when urinating or having bowel movements. “Adenomyosis happens when that endometrial tissue travels from inside the uterus and grows into the muscle of it,” Kristyn Brandi, an ob/gyn with expertise in heavy vaginal bleeding management from Boston University/Boston Medical Center, told Self previously.
Unfortunately, there’s not a cure-all treatment when it comes to adenomyosis. However, symptoms can be managed by taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, having a hysterectomy, or, yes, taking hormonal birth control.
As for Union, it’s been taxing to constantly be asked about her fertility plans while dealing with adenomyosis. “For so many women, and not just women in the spotlight, people feel very entitled to know, ‘Do you want kids?'” she wrote in her memoir. “A lot of people, especially people that have fertility issues, just say ‘no’ because that’s a lot easier than being honest about whatever is actually going on. People mean so well, but they have no idea the harm or frustration it can cause.”
Women candidates ran up the score in primaries across four states Tuesday, breaking more new ground in an election year that’s already shattering records.
Vermont became the first state to make a transgender woman a major-party nominee for governor. Minnesota might send the country’s first Somali-American lawmaker to Congress. Connecticut voters may now elect their first woman of color to the House.
That’s not all: Tuesday’s midterm votes also set new all-time highs for the number of female nominees for U.S. Senate and for governor, per the Center for American Women and Politics—just a week after women broke the record for nominations to the House.
Glamour is tracking women’s progress nationwide in a remarkable election season that will decide who controls Congress, state government, and more. Here are the highlights from the primaries in Vermont, Minnesota, Connecticut, and Wisconsin:
VERMONT
Of all 50 states, Vermont is the only one that has never elected a woman to the House or the Senate, but it just earned another distinction: Voters in the Green Mountain State made Christine Hallquist America’s first openly transgender major-party nominee for governor.
Hallquist, a former energy company CEO who supports universal health care, unions, and paid family leave, ran away with a Democratic primary contest against three other candidates, including a 14-year-old kid. She now goes up against incumbent Republican Gov. Phil Scott—a man she reportedly voted for two years ago—in the November general election.
Christine Hallquist
Scott has the advantage, forecasters say, but Hallquist, whose bio says she became the “first business leader in the country to transition while in office” in 2015, hinted the past has prepared her for the future.
“I want to remind everyone, running for governor is not the greatest challenge I have faced,” she tweeted after her big win.
Hallquist’s victory made her the 13th woman nominated for governor this cycle: Primary wins by Democrats Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Laura Kelly of Kansas raised the 1994 record from 10 to 11 last Tuesday, and Andria Tupola boosted it to 12 by scoring the GOP nod for governor of Hawaii in weekend voting.
MINNESOTA
Just hours before polls closed in the North Star State, the Democratic National Committee made its first public comment on allegations of domestic abuse against Rep. Keith Ellison, the party’s deputy chair.
“These allegations recently came to light and we are reviewing them,” the DNC told National Public Radio in regard to Ellison, who has denied accusations that emerged over the weekend about a past relationship, as reported by the Associated Press. “All allegations of domestic abuse are disturbing and should be taken seriously.”
The eleventh-hour controversy didn’t stop Ellison from winning the Democratic nomination for Minnesota attorney general.
Six Democrats tussled for a chance at the House seat being vacated by Ellison, who became the first Muslim elected to Congress in 2006. The primary winner: Ilhan Omar, whose bio notes that her 2016 election as a state representative made her “the first Somali-American, Muslim legislator in the United States.”
PHOTO: Bloomberg
Ilhan Omar
Omar, whose family spent years in a refugee camp before making it to the U.S., defeated candidates including former state House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher and Minnesota’s first Latina legislator, state Sen. Patricia Torres Ray.
Her win came just after Rashida Tlaib’s Democratic primary success in Michigan put her on course to become the first Palestinian-American Muslim woman in Congress. Tlaib faces no GOP challenger in November and is all but sure to succeed Rep. John Conyers, who stepped down amid sexual misconduct allegations. Omar’s district is heavily Democratic, but she still has to beat Republican opponent Jennifer Zielinski to get to D.C.
Both Omar and Tlaib were cheered on by New York’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Her stunning Congressional primary win has made her a messenger for other progressives, although some have not been able to match her success at the polls.
In what could be another sign of the times, two women will vie to finish the term of former Minnesota Sen. Al Franken, who resigned in a sexual misconduct scandal. Democrat Tina Smith, who was lieutenant governor when she was appointed to serve in Franken’s place temporarily, will face Republican state Sen. Karin Housley in November.
Democratic incumbent Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who’s been mentioned as a potential 2020 presidential candidate, cruised to a primary win as she goes for a third term.
Minnesota is one of 22 states that has never had a woman governor, noted the Gender Watch 2018 project. That’s not about to change, since Democrats and Republicans nominated men for the job again Tuesday—but both candidates have Native American women as running mates.
A viral video helped Democrat Randy Bryce grab national attention—and campaign cash—for a bid to unseat House Speaker Paul Ryan.
Pundits said Bryce, nicknamed “IronStache,” might have a little something for everybody: He was progressive enough to get endorsed by Bernie Sanders, but as a union man and veteran, he might also connect with working-class white guys who felt let down by the GOP.
Ryan announced this spring that he wouldn’t be running again. That wasn’t the only game-changer for Bryce—or for his Democratic primary opponent, teacher Cathy Myers.
Bryce pulled out a win over Myers Tuesday, but only after confronting damaging news reports about his past. Among the revelations: Nine arrests, including one years ago for DUI, as well as questions about Bryce’s record with child support payments and personal loans. He publicly copped to being “a man who has made mistakes,” but Myers still questioned why the unflattering stories hadn’t cost Bryce more support, including from the Democratic establishment: “If this had been a woman, they wouldn’t have touched her with a 10-foot pole,” she told Glamour in a pre-election phone call.
Bryce will face Republican Bryan Steil, a former Ryan aide, in November.
The Bryce-Myers tangle wasn’t all the news out of the Badger State: In yet another reported electoral first, two women will face off in a Wisconsin race for U.S. Senate. Democrats are backing incumbent Tammy Baldwin against GOP challenger Leah Vukmir, a state senator. Big political money’s already being spent in Wisconsin, a state Donald Trump won by a hair in 2016. More could be on the way.
Wisconsin Democrats also brawled in an eight-way primary for the chance to try (yet again) to knock out incumbent Republican Gov. Scott Walker. Voters picked Tony Evers, the state education superintendent, from a Democratic field that had also included attorney Kelda Roys, a former state legislator who famously breastfed her baby in a campaign ad.
CONNECTICUT
Jahana Hayes could become the Constitution State’s first African-American woman in Congress, thanks to her Tuesday Democratic primary victory.
If she defeats a Republican rival in November, Hayes will succeed Rep. Elizabeth Esty, who said she wouldn’t run again because she had failed to protect a female aide who reported being threatened and sexually harassed by Esty’s male chief of staff. Before the scandal, Esty was known as a champion of the #MeToo movement.
PHOTO: Chip Somodevilla
Jahana Hayes
Hayes, like many women running in the 2018 midterms, has gotten real with voters during her campaign: For the award-winning educator, that meant talking about growing up in a housing project as her “family struggled with addiction, relied on public assistance, and at one point lost their apartment” and also about her teen pregnancy.
“When we started this campaign a little more than 100 days ago, we had no organization and no network. People told us we had no chance and no business trying to upset the status quo,” Hayes told supporters Tuesday night, per the AP.
“We proved them wrong.”
Celeste Katz is Glamour’s senior politics reporter. Send news tips, questions, and comments to celeste_katz@condenast.com.
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