Feminist weekly: icymi 2021 headlines

News clippings and #FeministWins curated by Contributing News Editor Annie Wu Henry. Here are the headlines that defined 2021. ⏬ Scroll for #FeministWins at the bottom.

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🗞 ICYMI 2021 HEADLINES

📌 On January 6, 2021, a mob of supporters of President Donald Trump attacked the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.

America's 2020 Presidential Election had record breaking voter turnout, even with all of the barriers of the pandemic, and on November 7, 2020, the votes and electoral tally proved Joe Biden victorious. However, at the beginning of 2021, America faced one of its darkest days for democracy. On January 6, 2021, U.S. Congress convened to certify Joe Biden’s electoral victory. Outside however, thousands of protesters gathered in Washington D.C. for the “Save America” rally to support former President Trump, who alleged rhetoric about the election being stolen and calling on supporters to take action. The rally escalted, with attendees attempting a coup, as they violently breached the U.S. Capitol building, parading hate-symbols throughout the halls, and some making it as far as the Senate chamber. The insurrection resulted in 5 dead, including the death of a Capitol police officer, and more than 140 others injured. The event, comprised largely of pro-Trump supporters, caused roughly $1.5 million in damages. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spoke after the domestic terrorist attack, about how she feared for her life, the trauma after the event, and detailed about how she sought refuge from other congresswomen, including Representative Katie Porter. As a result of the attack, former President Trump was impeached— for an unprecedented second time— for “incitement of insurrection" with only one week remaining in his term. There is still an ongoing bipartisan investigation, and more than 700 people involved in the riots have been charged with various crimes so far.

👎 Legislation around the World is Leading to Human Rights being Under Attack

2021 was a year in which human rights were consistently under attack. In particular: trans rights, and reproductive rights. Beating last year's record, this past year was the most violent year against the trans community. Although we saw Sarah McBride elected as the first trans state senator, in 2021, more anti-trans bills were introduced in state legislatures in than in any previous year on record and 17 anti-LGBTQ bills have been fully enacted into law in the U.S. Further, according to Human Rights Watch, at least 68 countries have national laws criminalizing same-sex relations between consenting adults and at least nine countries have national laws criminalizing forms of gender expression that target transgender and gender nonconforming people. Another harmful attack in full force this year was the fight against reproductive rights. For the first time ever, the U.S. had over 100 abortion restrictions enacted in one year, coming out at 106 (as of Dec. 15). This includes one of the most restrictive bans in Texas, which makes it illegal to receive abortion care after 6 weeks and allows citizens to receive a reward for turning in those who aid people getting abortions. The U.S. Supreme Court also heard Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization on Dec. 1, 2021, which is the first case to directly challenge Roe v. Wade since 1992. Poland's Constitutional Court said that terminating pregnancies due to fetal defects should be banned, which has essentially implemented a near total ban on abortion. However, not all of the abortion laws made were negative. The Beninese parliament approved a new law in October that helped facilitate abortion, Thailand's parliament voted by a large majority to allow abortions up to the 12th week of pregnancy, and the Supreme Court in Mexico, Latin America's second most populous country, declared an absolute ban on abortion unconstitutional.

🧠 Conversations around mental health this year made headlines, with prominent figures in sports, music and even the Royal Family speaking out about the topic.

In the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (which occurred in 2021 due to a year delay because of COVID), gymnastics phenom Simone Biles withdrew from the Team USA final during citing mental health concerns. This decision came just a few weeks after women's tennis star Naomi Osaka withdraw from the French Open to preserve her mental health and advocating that ''it's OK to not be OK'. As two of the most admired athletes in the world, also both being women of color, these decisions sparked unprecedented conversations about mental health. Earlier in the year, Oprah interviewed the Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markel and Prince Harry, in which Meghan opened up about her mental health struggles and the racism she has experienced. On the music scene, actor and singer Joshua Bassett opened up about his mental health struggles throughout the year. He shared that he he was hospitalized and underwent surgery, in part caused by stress, as well as opening up about as a man, showing emotions and attending therapy. He has also pledged to donate100% of his earnings from his new song “Crisis” to mental health organizations in perpetuity. As the conversataions about mental health continue to gain prominence, we can also see how pressures from the media, gender, sexuality, race, and even online discourse all must be part of the conversation as well.

🎉 #FREEBRITNEY

As 2021 comes to a close, Britney Spears is free! This past year, the #FreeBritney movement gained national, even global, traction, as the pop icon spoke out against her 13 year conservatorship. The movement started way back in 2009, when super fan Megan Radford aimed to draw attention to the singer's conservatorship. Since the movement began, millions of fans have shared online and even protested in real life, for Britney's rights. Under the conservatorship, Britney had virtually no control over her personal or financial life, and her father Jamie Spears had control of her estimated $60 million estate. She remained virtually silent on the topic since the arrangement was put in place in 2008 as a result of a series of personal issues that played out in the public eye. However, this past summer, Britney shared two emotional court testimonies, one in which she stated she had been forced to perform and take birth control and lithium medication against her will. As of November 12, 2021, the court-ordered arrangement was terminated and Britney Spears has said the #FreeBritney movement saved her life. "The #FreeBritney movement -- you guys rock," Spears said. "Honestly, my voice was muted and threatened for so long, and I wasn't able to speak up or say anything... I honestly think you guys saved my life, in a way. 100 percent."

✊🏿 Accountability not Justice: Derek chauvin, Kim Potter, the three men who murdered Ahmaud Arbery, and more are convicted.

*TW: Police, Murder, Racism*
While the United States, and beyond, still has systemic change needed for racial justice, equality, and equity, this year marked some historic cases for accountability. In 2020, videos of racial injustice went viral, with the a video of Ahmaud Arbery getting shot by men chasing him in a truck being widely spread at the beginning of the year. This year, when put to trial all three men accused of killing Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia were found guilty of his murder and Georgia repealed the vague "Citizen's Arrest" law that was used to defend the men charged. The officer that held George Floyd to the ground for over nine minutes, Derek Chauvin, was put on trial as well. Chauvin, who is white, was found guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, and on June 25, 2021, Chauvin was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison for the second-degree murder. This verdict marked the first conviction of a white officer in Minnesota for the murder of a Black person. While Chauvin was on trial, just around 10 miles away, another innocent Black man was killed. Daunte Wright, who was 20 years old, was stopped by two white officers for a traffic violation. When Wright broke free from the officer who was trying to handcuff him, former Officer Kim Potter called out a warning, suggesting that she was using her taswer, and fired a single shot that killed Daunte. In December 2021, Kim Potter was placed on trial, in the same courtroom where Chauvin’s trial was carried out. The jury found Potter guilty of both of the charges she faced, of first-degree and second-degree manslaughter. This was the second time a white officer was convicted for killing a Black person. While these verdicts are far from universal, these cases are a testament to the power of video evidence, public pressure, and community activism.

🙌 India Farmers protests: women were at the forefront of the largest protests in the world leading to victory

👉Read about it on TIME and BBC

🚨 The Taliban returned to power, putting the rights of Afghan girls and women in jeopardy.

Just two weeks before the U.S. was set to complete its troop withdrawal after a costly two-decade war, the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, capturing all major cities and the capital of Kabul in just days. When the Taliban retook control, the extremist militant group attempted to present a more moderate view when it comes to the rights of women. However, many Afghans, as well as those around the world, feared that the Taliban would reimpose its harsh interpretation of Islamic law and carry out revenge attacks against those who worked with the Americans or the previous government. Unfortunately, many of these fears have come to life, with the Taliban abolishing the Ministry of Women's Affairs being abolished, banning women from appearing in media entertainment, girls and women not being allowed to return to secondary schools, most women still not being allowed to return to work, and more.

🔥 Climate Change is Here

This year, the UN Secretary General António Guterres’ described the UN report released in August as, “a code red for humanity.” The 4,000-page report concluded that humanity faces catastrophic climate change unless the emission of heat-trapping gases is slashed — which was fairly obvious given the extreme weather and natural disasters that occurred throughout 2021. The American southwest experienced record drought, Belgium and western Germany were wrecked with record flooding, Greece experienced vicious wildfires, India and Nepal had late season monsoons, Texas experienced freezing weather conditions, and more. While there were some positive steps to fighting for the planet, such as President Biden committing the United States to rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement, China agreeing to discontinue financing coal-fired power plants overseas, Iceland opening a facility to take carbon dioxide out of the air, and countries pledging at the COP-26 meeting to take steps to address climate change, pledges aren’t accomplishments. Climate change is here, and the countries and corporations that must take action before the irreversible damage is done, have continually failed to meet the challenge.

📣In 2021 there were strides towards accountability for the survivors of sexual assault

*TW: Sexual Assault, Harassment and Misconduct*
According to RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network), every 68 seconds, an American is sexually assaulted, meanwhile, only 25 out of every 1,000 perpetrators will end up in prison. This year, there were some strides towards accountability for the survivors of sexual assault. A $380 million settlement has been made to compensate the survivors of Larry Nassar, the former doctor for the U.S. women's gymnastics team. The settlement comes after a 5-year legal battle that the survivors brought against the USA Gymnastics governing body, U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee. After being accused and investigated for sexual harassment and misconduct, NY Governor Andrew Cuomo left office and was replaced with Kathy Hochul, the NY Lieutenant Governor who has been an advocate for women facing domestic and sexual violence, establishing a transitional home for domestic violence victims in 2006 and leading the "Enough is Enough" campaign to fight sexual assault on college campuses. Hochul denounced Andrew Cuomo's actions saying his resignation was the "right thing to do", calling his behaviour "repulsive & unlawful." Finally, as the year comes to a close, Congress is finalizing its legislation on sexual misconduct reform, 4 years after its #MeToo moment. The bipartisan legislation would end the forced use of arbitration for on-the-job harassment and for survivor advocates, the is long overdue. However, with all of the pushes and wins for accountability and consequences, it must be remembered that true justice is that no assault, abuse, harrassment or misconduct takes place. "Justice has been done insofar as it can be, and it is good that we rejoice in that," tweeted Rachael Denhollander, the first woman to publicly accuse Nassar of abuse. "But remember that tomorrow everyone wakes up still living the consequences. Don't lose that reality in the midst of sober rejoicing in the truth."

💉 As the COVID-19 virus continues to mutate, life-saving vaccines and boosters were available in record time

After a year of battling with the COVID-19 pandemic, 2021 brought a vaccine, actually, multiple! The COVID-19 vaccines were developed at an impressive speed — with this being the quickest any vaccine has ever been developed, easily toppling the previous record of 4 years. Not only were they developed in an efficient timeframe, the COVID-19 vaccines are effective. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are both more than 90 percent effective against early COVID-19 variants, with over 7.4 billion doses being administered in 184 countries in the first eleven months of 2021. However, due to the virus being extremely adaptable, and the inability to get the world population to a herd immunity vaccination rate, the virus has since mutated into multiple variations. The Delta variant, was first identified in December 2020 in India, and has had a much greater infection rate. Then, as the year came to a close, South African scientists identified the emergence of the Omicron variant in November 2021, and it spread quickly around the world. Booster shots are now being given to held prevent the spread and severe cases. Globally 8.81B doses have been given, with 3.77B (48.3% of the population) being fully vaccinated. However, the virus is still extremely dangerous, and precautions like masking, social distancing, quarantining, and frequent testing must be taken. Globally there are 287M cases and over 5.43M have died from COVID-19.

🪧 Women of Myanmar lead protests after Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar president is arrested and military coup takes over

👉 Read more on NY Times

(Image courtesy of Women Rise NFT)

🌅 Rise in NFTS

While the exact date that non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, were introduced to the world is not clear, 2021 changed the game. On March 13, 2021, Christie’s sold the first NFT artwork for $69 million. This sale signified a shift in how people are able to create, purchase, and authenticate digital art, as well as the accessibility of these actions. “NFTs aren’t just about art being sold on the blockchain. It is about community, movement and impact. For example, through the “Women Rise” project, my team and I are donating a portion of profits to four organizations that support women’s rights and girls education, with a focus on girls education in Afghanistan," said Maliha Abidi of Women Rise. NFTs could be an opportunity for feminist artists but the environmental impact is a genuine concern in blockchain technology and is wider than the NFT discussion. Countless pieces of digital art and even real world items have been turned into NFTs, including examples like the Nyan Cat GIF, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s first tweet, and Nike sneakers.

The people of the Tigray region in Ethiopia are facing Famine, war, and violent ethnic cleansing.

With the ongoing civil war in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, a man-made famine designed by the Ethiopian government is now expected to affect over 900,000 Tigrayan people. (Via AP) While, sexual violence against women and girls in Ethiopia's Tigray region amount to war crimes, Amnesty says, officials on the ground say the violence shows signs of ethnic cleansing. (Via CNN) The United States has been aiding with food in the region, but this week the aid will run out for millions of people as the Ethiopian government is obstructing humanitarian aid and personnel, including land convoys and air access to the region.The famine conditions in the Tigray region has been called the world’s worst hunger crisis in a decade. Learn more about the war and ways to get involved at 👉 Omni Tigray.

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🏆 Feminist Wins of 2021

✅ Vice President Kamala Harris became the first woman to hold the role in January.

✅ Amanda Gorman also made history as the youngest known inaugural poet.

✅ Historical moment as Keechant Sewell, the first Black woman, of New York City's new head of police dept takes position.

✅ In early 2021, Deb Haaland was sworn in as the secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, making her the first Native American cabinet secretary in the history of the United States.

✅ 93-year-old activist Opal Lee, lead the push to make Juneteenth a national holiday — she succeeded.

✅ Darnella Frazier, the teen who filmed George Floyd's murder, was awarded an honorary Pulitzer Prize on Friday.

✅ In March, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala became the first woman and first African to lead the World Trade Organization since it was founded in 1995.

✅ France inducted Josephine Baker into its Pantheon.

✅ Two Trans Women Elected to Congress for First Time in Mexico’s History.

✅ Chloé Zhao became the first Asian woman to win a Golden Globe for best director: Zhao ended up taking home the Oscar, becoming only the second woman ever and the first Asian woman to win the directing award.

✅ The Keystone XL pipeline has been officially cancelled by the developer

✅ The 2022 BRIT Awards will feature all gender-neutral categories.

✅ The Pride flag has been updated to be more intersex inclusive.

✅ A new plan created by Indigenous groups will protect 80% of the Amazon rainforest in Peru and Ecuador.

✅ Nazrul Islam Ritu becomes the first transgender mayor in Bangladesh.

✅ Canada has banned LGBTQ+ conversion therapy.

✅ Chile became the 31st country in the world to pass marriage equality.

✅ Taylor Swift's Red (Taylor's Version) broke the record for the most-streamed album in a day by a female and Taylor broke the record for the most-streamed female in a day in Spotify history.

✅ 100,000 protesters demanded concrete climate action at COP26.

✅ Three nations are now 'carbon negative'—absorbing more carbon than they produce.

✅ Lawmakers in at least 8 states are spending millions more on mental health services. (Via Good Good Good Co)

✅ DREAMers are protected from deportation.

✅ Scotland has made history by becoming the first country in the world to make teaching LGBTQ+ history in schools mandatory!

✅ Germany elected its first two transgender women to parliament.

✅ Afghan Soccer Stars were able to stay safe and seek refuge within Australia.

✅ For the first time since the debut of the Paralympics in 1960, Paralympians were paid the same for their medal wins as their Olympic peers.

✅ Naomi Osaka says she will donate her tournament prize money to relief efforts for Haiti.

✅ According to the International Olympics Committee, the 2021 Tokyo Games are the first to be gender-balanced, with 49 percent women competing.

✅ Laurel Hubbard of New Zealand was the first transgender athlete to qualify for the Olympics in its 125-year history.

✅ Raven Saunders protested on the podium at the Tokyo Olympics with her hands crossed in an X to represent "the intersection of where all people who are oppressed meet."

✅ Tommy Dorfman announces she is a trans woman and will no longer play male characters.

✅ Black Women on the Bench — Biden on track to appoint a record number of Black women to be federal judges.

✅ Norwegian Women’s Beach Handball Team is Fined for Not Wanting to Wear Bikini Bottoms

✅ For the first time in MLB history, a game featured an all-women broadcast team.

✅ 14-year-old Zaila Avant-Garde became the first African-American Scripps National Spelling Bee champion.

✅ Mj Rodriguez Becomes First Trans Woman Up for Major Acting Emmy.

✅ Raiders DE Carl Nassib became the first active NFL player to come out as gay.

✅ Sarah McBride was sworn in as the first openly transgender state senator.

✅ Economist Janet Yellen became the first woman to head the Treasury Department since it was founded in 1789.

✅ Beyoncé awarded her 28th grammy at the 2021 Grammys, giving her more Grammy wins than any woman in history.

✅ Viola Davis became the most-nominated Black actress in Oscars history and the only Black woman to be nominated twice for best actress, with a total of four nominations.

✅ KATHY HOCHUL WAS SWORN IN AS NEW YORK’S FIRST FEMALE GOVERNOR.

✅ In May, Simone Biles became the only woman to ever attempt — and complete — a Yurchenko double pike vault in competition at the US Classic.

✅ "Jeopardy!" champion Amy Schneider is breaking records as the highest-earning woman in the show's history.

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