Sexes

Planning the End of Abortion

State legislatures have enacted a slew of abortion restrictions in recent years. Americans United for Life wrote most of them.

• Olga Khazan
• July 16, 2015

What Does the Planned Parenthood Video Show?

A secretly recorded conversation with the group’s medical director has ignited a heated debate over its handling of fetal tissue.

• David A. Graham
• July 15, 2015

The Captivity of Motherhood

What has—and hasn’t—changed since The Atlantic published a 1961 essay on the plight of the housewife

• Wednesday Martin
• July 15, 2015

Even Nuns Aren't Exempt From Obamacare's Birth-Control Mandate

A federal appeals court rules that the Little Sisters of the Poor received a sufficient religious accommodation.

• Emma Green
• July 14, 2015

Gay Marriage and the Future of Evangelical Colleges

Now that same-sex couples have the right to wed, will higher-ed institutions that condemn LGBT students still be eligible for federal funding?

• David R. Wheeler
• July 14, 2015

Demi Lovato’s ‘Cool for the Summer’: The Next Great Gay Anthem?

It’s the anti-‘I Kissed a Girl,’ which is a good thing.

• Spencer Kornhaber
• July 14, 2015

What Other Activists Can Learn From the Fight for Gay Marriage

The success of the gay-rights cause has many in politics—particularly on the left—hoping to replicate the model.

• Molly Ball
• July 14, 2015

The Women Who Rule Pluto

The New Horizons team may include more women staffers than any other NASA project in history.

• Adrienne LaFrance
• July 13, 2015

Reddit Gets Ugly, Then Gets What It Wants

The company’s embattled CEO, Ellen Pao, who lost a landmark gender-discrimination suit earlier this year, resigned following a week of scandal.

• Matt Schiavenza
• July 10, 2015

The K-12 Binary

Schools are becoming ground zero for clashes over transgender rights.

• Alia Wong
• July 9, 2015

Are Gorgeous Comediennes Really That Rare? Your Thoughts

Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner recently made controversial remarks about female beauty and humor. Our readers join the public debate that ensued.

• Chris Bodenner
• July 8, 2015

'Curious Monsters' on American Currency

When the Treasury Department selects a woman for the new $10 bill, it will also be promoting a new model of femininity.

• Allison K. Lange
• July 8, 2015

Why More Women Are Turning to Heroin

As opiate abuse swells in the United States, women are particularly at risk.

• Adrienne LaFrance
• July 7, 2015

A Father’s Struggle to Stop His Daughter’s Adoption

In the United States, when an unmarried man has a baby, his partner can give it up without his consent—unless he happens to know about an obscure system called the responsible father registry.

• Kevin Noble Maillard
• July 7, 2015

‘BBHMM’: Rihanna's New Video Does Exactly What It's Supposed To

The singer’s violent revenge fantasy was intended to provoke outrage, and to get people to talk about her. It succeeds on both counts.

• Spencer Kornhaber
• July 6, 2015

The Grass Ceiling: How to Conquer Inequality in Women's Soccer

An attorney who helped players file a gender-discrimination lawsuit over artificial turf in the World Cup proposes a way forward for the sport.

• Hampton Dellinger
• July 5, 2015

Michael Eisner to Goldie Hawn: Most Beautiful Women Can't Be Funny

The Disney CEO and the Oscar-winning actress compare notes on Hollywood.

• Spencer Kornhaber
• July 3, 2015

The Gender Politics of Magic Mike XXL

Can a movie about male strippers be a loud affirmation of feminism? Three Atlantic writers discuss.

• Spencer Kornhaber, Megan Garber, and Sophie Gilbert
• July 2, 2015

My Brother's Keeper, but Maybe Not My Sister's

The White House is pushing a new initiative to keep young men of color out of prison and improve their outcomes. But what about young women?

• Emma Green
• July 2, 2015

Can Women’s Soccer Maintain Its Momentum?

Every four years there’s renewed interest in the sport following the FIFA World Cup. But this time, there’s a chance that it could endure.

• David Sims
• July 1, 2015