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Beanie Feldstein, MJ Rodriguez, and Britney Young Are Redefining What It Means to Be Leading Ladies


Actors Beanie Feldstein, Britney Young, and MJ Rodriguez rocked the big and small screens this year in awe-inspiring ways. You probably recognize Feldstein best from the summer movie Booksmart. Meanwhile, Rodriguez brought tears to your eyes as Blanca on FX’s Pose. And Young has been killing it on GLOW for three seasons now.

These performances couldn’t be more different, but they’ve all had similar effects on viewers: We were captivated and transformed by them. Credit for that goes to Feldstein, Rodriguez, and Young, who have changed the landscape for women in Hollywood just by being themselves. They’ve each pushed the needle forward for representation in various ways—be it race, gender, sexual orientation, size. At Glamour’s Women of the Year Summit, these three women got together and talked about how they’re disrupting the system.

Growing up, Rodriguez, Feldstein, and Young didn’t really see themselves reflected on screen. “There wasn’t a lot of representation for young African American trans women,” Rodriguez told Vogue senior culture editor Estelle Tang, who was moderating their panel at the summit. “But I found comfort in watching shows like Will & Grace and Noah’s Arc. It made me feel included at a young age.”

Young, meanwhile, didn’t see good representation for either plus-size women or bi-racial people. “There were larger people on film and TV, but they were never shown in a positive light” she said. “They were always the bully, the prison guard. I never saw a nice plus-size girl who wasn’t being mean to people. [Bi-racial representation] was never shown in a positive light, as well.”

Feldstein had a similar experience growing up. People constantly told her she’d grow up to play Tracy Turnblad on Hairspray, but that role never interested in her. She wanted to be seen for all her complexities and nuances. , “[Tracy] is not who I am. I’m so many other things, let me show you all the other roles I can play,” she said. “Thank God things changed as I got older, and we have so much room for growth.”

We do have room for growth, but these three women are playing a huge part in moving things along. They’re using their positions of fame and power to impact the sets and projects they work on. Feldstein says she learned a lot from her Lady Bird co-star Saoirse Ronan on how to set the tone of a set. “Stepping into slightly bigger roles [like Monica Lewinsky in American Crime Story, her next project] at the center of a story, I think, ‘What would Saoirse do?’ To be the center of a story and hold that space is intimidating, but watching her do it was [inspirational].”

Beanie Feldstein, Britney Young, and MJ Rodriguez at Glamour‘s 2019 Women of the Year Summit.  

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All 5 Living First Ladies Have Spoken out About Trump Separating Immigrant Families at the Border


All five living first ladies have officially weighed in on the Trump immigration policy of separating undocumented children and their parents at the border.

On Sunday, former First Lady Laura Bush published a heartfelt Washington Post op-ed about the policy and Melania Trump released a statement saying that she “hates to see children separated from their families.” Yesterday, Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Rosalynn Carter also spoke up, expressing their views on Twitter.

As Time reported, Carter released a statement that was tweeted by The Carter Center, the non-profit organization she started with her husband Jimmy Carter. In the message, she recounted her own experiences working with refugees as first lady and called out the current administration’s policies.

“When I was first lady, I worked to call attention to the plight of refugees fleeing Cambodia for Thailand, I visited Thailand and witnessed firsthand the trauma of parents and children separated by circumstance beyond their control,” Carter said. “The practice and policy today of removing children from their parents’ care at our border with Mexico is disgraceful and a shame to our country.”

Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton also expressed their views on Twitter. Obama retweeted a link to Bush’s Washington Post op-ed, writing, “Sometimes truth transcends party.” Clinton also shared her thoughts through a tweet and said, “What’s happening to families at the border right now is a humanitarian crisis. Every parent who has ever held a child in their arms, every human being with a sense of compassion and decency, should be outraged.”

In her op-ed, Bush wrote that the government “should not be in the business of warehousing children in converted box stores or making plans to place them in tent cities in the desert outside of El Paso.” She also said, “I appreciate the need to enforce and protect our international boundaries, but this zero-tolerance policy is cruel. It is immoral. And it breaks my heart.”

Melania Trump shared in her statement that she “hopes both sides of the aisle can finally come together to achieve successful immigration reform.”

The policy of forcible separations has come under fire as videos and stories have emerged, showing children in detention centers. Protests and demonstrations have erupted in cities across the country, according to CNN.

Calls for Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to resign are pouring out of Washington after a Monday evening White House press briefing, where the administration doubled down on the zero tolerance policy.

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4 Presidents and 4 First Ladies Honored Barbara Bush in This Incredible Photo


It’s not often you get past Presidents in the same room—and sometimes, with our political climate, the chances of everyone coming together like that seem close to zero. But such moments do exist—remember when five living former Presidents came together for hurricane relief last October? They looked like they were having a pretty great time, too.

Well, it’s happened again—with the addition of one very notable person from the current administration. At former First Lady Barbara Bush’s funeral on Sunday, former Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama gathered for a photo together. But also, notably, joining the picture were Former First Ladies Laura Bush, Hillary Clinton (who was also very close to being President!), and Michelle Obama—as well as First Lady Melania Trump representing the current administration.

The best part? Even given the solemn context for the photo, everyone looks like they’re genuinely enjoying each other’s company (look at Melania’s smile!). Of course, everyone’s going to agree with each of the ideologies or decisions the individuals in the photo have made. Regardless, it’s beyond refreshing to see these historic figures as people, not their politics—and it’s a reminder to all of us that maybe we can find some commonalities too.

Courtesy Paul Morse-Office of George H. W. Bush

The photo’s quickly gone viral on Twitter since, with many Americans on both sides of the aisle feeling their spirits lifted by this historic coming-together.

RELATED: All Five Living Former Presidents Came Together for the One America Appeal Concert





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First Ladies Usually Get Their Moment in the SOTU Speech; Last Night, Melania Didn’t


When Barack Obama delivered his first State of the Union address in 2010 he brought lawmakers to their feet when he spoke about his wife Michelle and her work in her new role. “I want to acknowledge our First Lady, Michelle Obama,” he said, “who this year is creating a national movement to tackle the epidemic of childhood obesity and make kids healthier.” Mrs. Obama, who officially launched her Let’s Move! campaign the next month, was so embarrassed by the praise that she mouthed the words “sit down” to the crowd. President Trump’s State of the Union, in stark contrast, was almost an hour-and-a-half long—the third-longest State of the Union in history—without any meaningful mention of his wife, Melania.

The State of the Union was Mrs. Trump’s first public appearance since the allegations were revealed that her husband had conducted an affair with porn star Stormy Daniels, and her cream-colored Christian Dior pantsuit sent a strong message. The color white has come to symbolize the suffragist movement of the 19th and early 20th centuries, and the pantsuit is synonymous with her husband’s rival, Hillary Clinton. Hillary’s penchant for pantsuits even inspired a secret Facebook group—“Pantsuit Nation”—of mostly female supporters during the 2016 election. It was a stunning fashion choice for the wife of a man accused of cheating on her.

But Trump may have been sending a message of his own, as he defied tradition last night and virtually left his wife out of his speech almost all together, except for two brief perfunctory mentions: at the beginning (“Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, the First Lady of the United States, and my fellow Americans”), and when he was introducing a guest in the First Lady’s box (“We heard tales of Americans like Coast Guard Petty Officer Ashlee Leppert, who is here tonight in the gallery with Melania”). It’s as if she’s a nonentity in his White House.

PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS

First Lady Hillary Clinton at the State of the Union in 1996.

The tradition of presidents honoring their wives goes back more than two decades. After Laura Bush calmed the nation following the terror attacks of September 11, her husband, George W. Bush, praised her in his first State of the Union: “I hope you will join me in expressing thanks to one American for the strength and calm and comfort she brings to our nation in crisis, our First Lady, Laura Bush.” In 1996, Bill Clinton, no stranger to a strained marriage, took a moment to recognize his wife’s contributions to his administration, when he gushingly said,  “I would like to take just a moment to thank my own family, and to thank the person who has taught me more than anyone else over 25 years about the importance of families and children—a wonderful wife, a magnificent mother and a great First Lady. Thank you, Hillary.” For Melania, there was no such praise—not even a mention of the role she has carved out for herself as a caring mother to the Trumps’ 11-year-old son Barron.

First Lady Nancy Reagan during post-summit State of the

PHOTO: Terry Ashe

First Lady Nancy Reagan at the State of the Union in 1988.

This could, of course, change if the Trumps can move past this period of obvious tension in their relationship or Melania chooses a more active role. Ronald Reagan gave his most touching compliment to wife Nancy at his last State of the Union, in 1988, as he pointed to her campaign to combat drug abuse. “The war against drugs is a war of individual battles, a crusade with many heroes—including America’s young people, and also someone very special to me,” Reagan said. “She has helped so many of our young people to say ‘no’ to drugs. Nancy, much credit belongs to you, and I want to express to you your husband’s pride and your country’s thanks. Surprised you, didn’t I?” George H.W. Bush similarly praised his wife, Barbara, at his last turn on that stage: “When Barbara holds an AIDS baby in her arms and reads to children, she’s saying to every person in this country, ‘family matters.’”

Like many of her predecessors, Mrs. Trump has felt great pressure to live up to the endless and undefined expectations that accompanies the archaic position of First Lady. So far she’s chosen to stay out of the fray; others, including Lady Bird Johnson, Rosalynn Carter and, of course, Hillary Clinton, tried to reshape the role by becoming deeply involved in their husband’s administrations. (Lady Bird and Rosalynn even looked over their husband’s State of the Union speeches and offered suggestions.) It is hard to imagine Melania doing the same, especially to no applause by her husband.

Kate Andersen Brower is a CNN contributor and the author of the New York Times bestsellers First Women: The Grace and Power of America’s Modern First Ladies and The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House.



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