Women's News: The G.O.P. grapples with women's issues

Hello and welcome to your mid-week women’s news update. Here’s what’s on the rise today:

Spotlight

• Trump told a recent rally crowd that “women love” him, but polls suggest a different story—according to recent results, women voters prefer Kamala Harris over Trump by 13 points. 

  • The finding seems to affirm the G.O.P.’s concern that its historic opposition to abortion and reproductive rights will be a liability among women voters. To mitigate this risk, Trump and other Republican candidates are downplaying their track records and rebranding themselves as champions of women's issues.

  • This strategic pivot is exemplified by figures like Representative Michelle Steel, who now advocates for IVF access despite having previously backed measures that could undermine it.

  • But it’s Trump himself who has the most turbulent relationship with women and reproductive issues—shortly after declaring women love him, the former president slammed his sexual misconduct accusers with force what was “startling even by Trump’s combative standards,” deploying an almost decade-long playbook of denigrating women.

World

• In rural China, groups of women are fighting for land and property rights, challenging a tradition in which wives who marry outside their villages are denied key benefits, land ownership, or compensation.

• Protests over the August killing of a female trainee doctor in India are spreading worldwide, with demonstrators gathering in 130 cities across 25 countries to demand greater safety for Indian women.

• Kensington Palace released a video announcing the end of Kate Middleton’s chemotherapy treatment but did not say whether the Princess of Wales is officially cancer-free.

Business and Tech

• OnlyFans’ revenue grew 20% in 2023, according to its annual earnings report, bringing in a whopping $1.3 billion.

  • 70% of the site’s creators are women, meaning roughly 2.9 million women earned money through the adult content platform last year.

• Selena Gomez has achieved billionaire status at just 32 years old. Most of her wealth comes from the cosmetics brand she built, Rare Beauty.

Election Watch

Sports

• As the NFL season kicked off last week, the league’s cheerleaders are still fighting for better pay, ten years after the first lawsuits attempted to change their low wages and gendered treatment.

• Meanwhile, Taylor Swift appeared at the Kansas City Chiefs’ opening game. Her attendance is controversial—while some “hate” what she’s done to the NFL, other fans plan to spend more money on tickets and merch because of Swift’s presence.

• The WNBA season came to an abrupt end for star rookie Angel Reese, who fractured her left wrist on Friday.

Culture

• Country Music Award nominations were announced and observers were quick to point out a glaring omission—Beyoncé’s new album, Cowboy Carter, received zero nominations, despite having topped country charts after its release.

• A new Hulu series, "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives," follows the influencers known as #MomTok as they navigate the aftermath of a controversy while trying to reshape their image and address the stigma surrounding gender roles in Mormon culture.

Further Reading