In the first episode of ‘Looking Back, Moving Forward’—a new podcast series from Ms. Studios hosted by Carmen Rios—Fordham Law Professor Julie C. Suk discusses the misogyny embedded in institutions, the shortcomings of the U.S. Constitution, and the kind of change women need to achieve true equality. Suk is the author of We the Women: The Unstoppable Mothers of the Equal Rights Amendment (Skyhorse Publishing, 2020).
“If we were, in fact, not discriminating and not perpetuating anti-democratic or oppressive dynamics, you would expect gender parity in decision-making positions to emerge naturally. The fact that we don’t see that should lead us to investigate why.” – Julie Suk
“Unless and until we focus on structure and infrastructure by which power is exercised, we’re not going to make a lot of progress.” – Julie Suk
“I don’t even think that the fact that Trump won the national popular vote is an argument for his mandate, because if we actually had a national popular vote system, people would be voting and showing up differently and campaigning differently — and maybe someone else would have the mandate.” – Julie Suk
“Misogyny is a system, patriarchy is a system by which people who are in power extract benefits and value from people who have no rights.” – Julie Suk