The Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF) is a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

headquartered in

Arlington County, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...

, whose stated mission is to advance non-violence and women's power, equality, and economic development. The name Feminist Majority comes from a 1986

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...

/ Gallup

public opinion poll An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a survey or a poll (although strictly a poll is an actual election) is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions ...

in which 56 percent of American women self-identified as

feminists Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male poi ...

. President and one of the founders,

Eleanor Smeal Eleanor Marie Smeal ( Cutri; born July 30, 1939) is a modern-day American feminist leader. She is the president and a cofounder of the Feminist Majority Foundation (founded in 1987) and has served as president of the National Organization for Wom ...

, chose the name to reflect the results of the poll, implying that the majority of women are feminists.

History and structure

The FMF—an

IRS The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory tax ...

501(c)(3)

tax deductible Tax deduction is a reduction of income that is able to be taxed and is commonly a result of expenses, particularly those incurred to produce additional income. Tax deductions are a form of tax incentives, along with exemptions and tax credits. T ...

—is a research and education organization and the publisher of ''

Ms. Ms. (American English) or Ms (British English; normally , but also , or when unstressed)''Oxford English Dictionary'' online, Ms, ''n.2''. Etymology: "An orthographic and phonetic blend of Mrs ''n.1'' and miss ''n.2'' Compare mizz ''n.'' The pr ...

'' magazine. Founded in 1987 by

, Peg Yorkin,

Katherine Spillar Katherine Spillar is the United States, American executive editor of ''Ms. (magazine), Ms.'' and co-founder and executive director of the Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF) and the Feminist Majority. Early life Katherine Spillar grew up in Texa ...

, Toni Carabillo, and Judith Meuli, it has offices in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, and

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Its chair is Peg Yorkin. FMF became the publisher of ''

'' in 2001, supporting the magazine in becoming a

. Co-founded in 1972 by political activist and feminist

Gloria Steinem Gloria Marie Steinem (; born March 25, 1934) is an American journalist and social-political activist who emerged as a nationally recognized leader of second-wave feminism in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Steinem was a c ...

, ''Ms.'' is a

women's magazine This is a list of women's magazines from around the world. These are magazines that have been published primarily for a readership of women. Currently published *'' 10 Magazine'' (UK - distributed worldwide) *''Al Jamila'' (Saudi Arabia) *'' All ...

owned and produced by women that publishes articles on the conditions of women in the United States and abroad. The FMF has several campaigns and programs that deal with

Women's Health Women's health differs from that of men in many unique ways. Women's health is an example of population health, where health is defined by the World Health Organization as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not mer ...

and

Reproductive Rights Reproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to reproduction and reproductive health that vary amongst countries around the world. The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights as follows: Reproductive rights rest o ...

domestically and abroad, including: * National Clinic Access Project * Campaign for Women's Health *

Mifepristone Mifepristone, also known as RU-486, is a medication typically used in combination with misoprostol to bring about a medical abortion during pregnancy and manage early miscarriage. This combination is 97% effective during the first 63 days of ...

* Feminist Campus (Choices Campus Leadership Program) * Global Reproductive Rights Campaign * Campaign for Afghan Women and Girls * Emergency Contraception Initiative * National Center for Women and Policing * Education Equity Program *

Rock for Choice Rock for Choice (or Rock 4 Choice) was a series of benefit concerts held over the ten-year period between 1991 and 2001. The concerts were designed to allow musicians to show their support for the abortion rights movement in the United States and ...

Organizational timeline

* During 1989-92, the FMF conducted the ''Feminization of Power'' campaign, recruiting an unprecedented number of women to run for public office, resulting in doubling women's representation in the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

in 1992 (the Year of the Woman). * In 1992, FMF helped to secure support for the Iowa Equal Rights Amendment and, in 1996, it helped to counter an anti-(reverse)discrimination ballot measure in California. *In 2004, the Feminist Majority was one of five principal organizers of the " March for Women's Lives", which brought more than 1.15 million women and men to Washington, D.C., in support of reproductive rights. *In 2006, FMF failed to overturn an anti-discrimination

ballot measure A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

in Michigan (the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, which passed in 2006 and was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2014) and to pass a

ballot initiative In political science, an initiative (also known as a popular initiative or citizens' initiative) is a means by which a petition signed by a certain number of registered voters can force a government to choose either to enact a law or hold a p ...

in South Dakota to

repeal A repeal (O.F. ''rapel'', modern ''rappel'', from ''rapeler'', ''rappeler'', revoke, ''re'' and ''appeler'', appeal) is the removal or reversal of a law. There are two basic types of repeal; a repeal with a re-enactment is used to replace the law ...

a state abortion ban. *On March 23 and 24 of 2013, FMF hosted its 9th Annual National Young Feminist Leadership conference in

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...

, with speakers such as

Dolores Huerta Dolores Clara Fernández Huerta (born April 10, 1930) is an American labor leader and civil rights activist who, with Cesar Chavez, is a co-founder of the National Farmworkers Association, which later merged with the Agricultural Workers Organiz ...

(President, Dolores Huerta Foundation/Co-Founder United Farm Workers/Recipient of Presidential Medal of Freedom), Morgane Richardson (Founder of Refuse The Silence), Monica Simpson (Executive Director, Sister Song), Ivanna Gonzalez (Who Needs Feminism?).

Legislative initiatives

The Feminist Majority has also been a leader in legislative victories for women including amending the Civil Rights Act of 1991 to provide for monetary damages to women who win sexual harassment and sex discrimination lawsuits in court; winning passage of the

Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) is a United States labor law requiring covered employers to provide employees with job-protected, unpaid leave for qualified medical and family reasons. The FMLA was a major part of President Bill C ...

; the

Violence Against Women Act The Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA) is a United States federal law (Title IV of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, ) signed by President Bill Clinton on September 13, 1994. The Act provided $1.6 billion toward investi ...

and the

Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act The Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE or the Access Act, Pub. L. No. 103-259, 108 Stat. 694) (May 26, 1994, ) is a United States law that was signed by President Bill Clinton in May 1994, which prohibits the following three things: ...

, in 1994; passing the

Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban The Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban, often called the "Lautenberg Amendment" ("Gun Ban for Individuals Convicted of a Misdemeanor Crime of Domestic Violence", , ), is an amendment to the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act of 1997, enacte ...

, in 1996; restoring

Title IX Title IX is the most commonly used name for the federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other educat ...

, in 1988, and then successfully defending Title IX against the Bush administration's attempts to discourage discrimination against men, in 2003, among other victories. The Feminist Majority continues advocating for U.S.

ratification Ratification is a principal's approval of an act of its agent that lacked the authority to bind the principal legally. Ratification defines the international act in which a state indicates its consent to be bound to a treaty if the parties inte ...

of, both, the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

Women's Rights Treaty CEDAW, the ''Convention to End all forms of Discrimination Against Women'') and the

International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt) is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals f ...

Controversies

Despite its declared support of non-violence, the FMF endorsed the war in Afghanistan with the justification that it would help to protect and liberate Afghan women, a position which has been criticized by some, including American politician

Tom Hayden Thomas Emmet Hayden (December 11, 1939October 23, 2016) was an American social and political activist, author, and politician. Hayden was best known for his role as an anti-war, civil rights, and intellectual activist in the 1960s, authoring t ...

References

External links

Feminist Majority Foundation online

Feminist Majority

Choices Campus Leadership Program

Ms. Magazine

National Center for Women and Policing

Campaign for Afghan Women and Girls

"Overview of the Feminist Majority Foundation"
FMF Campus Program. {{Authority control Feminist organizations in the United States Organizations established in 1987 Women's political advocacy groups in the United States Second-wave feminism 1987 establishments in Virginia History of women in Virginia Equal Rights Amendment organizations