35 Is the New Ms.

Unbelievable but true: Ms. Magazine has its 35th anniversary issue coming out. And in the spirit of feminism, I will say that she does look her age: this is what 35 looks like.

I have known Ms. for most of my life. And I have my mom to thank for that.
She'd stash her Ms. Magazine along with her trash magazines in the bathroom. We'd run hot bubble baths and have a read while we were having a soak.

So this was my introduction to what I should call bathtub feminism. Given Ms. Magazine’s thirty-five year status, I thought it natural to ask my mom if she remembers when Ms. first hit the newsstands. And how.

She told me she remembered reading about the ‘click’ — like an epiphany, but one realized by many, many women during this time. Ms. magazine brought to her isolated home the news that women everywhere weren’t buying the line that they were considered second-rate for carrying on the role of “women’s” work. She realized she wasn’t alone. Click!

I found the article on the “click." The article is titled, “The Housewife’s Moment of Truth,” by Jane O’Reilly, printed originally in the spring of 1972. The article starts, “It is the click! of recognition, that parenthesis of truth around a little thing . . .the moment that brings a gleam to our eyes and means the revolution has begun.”

Well, I may be late to the revolution, but I’m glad Ms. is still fighting the good fight.