Americans Want a Feminist Future—But in Order to Make it Happen, We Have to Rethink Our Entire Political System  

In the first episode of Looking Back, Moving Forward, experts in gender and politics examine the promise of a truly representative democracy—and what it will take for feminists to build one.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris listens to President Donald Trump delivers his inaugural address on Jan. 20, 2025. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images)

Donald Trump has insisted that he has a “mandate” from voters to peddle his wildly unpopular policies — and, apparently, to stop at nothing to enforce them. But in reality, Americans by and large want a feminist future.

“What is the feminist agenda? Wherever you measure it,” Celinda Lake said in an interview for the Ms. Studios podcast Looking Back, Moving Forward, “it is wildly, wildly popular.” 

During our interview, Lake — pollster, political strategist and president of Lake Research Partners — rattled off the evidence: “Equal pay: Men and women are adamantly in favor of it, and everybody believes that women are not paid the same as men, and they think it’s bad for families.” 

Every state in the country is 10 points more pro-abortion than it was before Dobbs,” she continued. “Every single state. … When we were doing work on structural racism, Black women’s maternal health was the single best example of that in people’s minds. They thought: Something is structurally very wrong here. There’s no other explanation. … Democrats, Republicans and Independents want to spend more at the state and federal level on children’s programs — not less, more.”

The first episode of Looking Back, Moving Forward digs into the history and future of the feminist fight for both political representation and political power. The experts I spoke to for the episode reminded me that feminists have the power to redefine our democracy — and that rumors of our defeat have been greatly exaggerated. You can listen to the episode now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio or wherever you get your podcasts. (And don’t forget to like, follow, and subscribe so you don’t miss the next episode!)