The Remembrance of Female Editor Trailblazer Betsy Wade
By Hadley Hart
Betsy Wade, the first woman to become an editor at The New York Times, recently passed away on December 3, 2020, at the age of 91.
During the early years of her impressive career, Wade faced severe gender discrimination as the first woman to edit at the NYT in a male dominated news department. Because most women at the time were hired only to report on cooking and fashion, or other topics deemed “women’s news”, Wade was treated as an outcast in her office. Despite often moving back down to editing these “women” sections, Wade’s undeniable editing skills continually led her back up to general news.
Wade began studying gender issues at The Times in 1972, where she revealed that there were no women in the top corporate ranks or on the editorial board, and that women were paid significantly less than men with comparable jobs. In 1974, Wade led a class action suit against The New York Times, fighting for equal pay, hiring, promotions, and workplace protections. While this lawsuit resulted in The Times hiring more women across all fields, no pay raises were granted. Wade continued her career as an editor, but in 1987, she shifted to writing the Time’s Practical Traveler column until 2001, when she retired.
Besty Wade’s incredible writing and persevering fight for gender equality at the New York Times keeps her in the hearts and minds of millions. May she rest in peace.
Female Representation in Tech
By Natasha Gilman
Global star Priyanka Chopra and Anjula Acharia have emerged as two instrumental figures in tech investment. The pair’s relationship started when Acharia “invested” in Chopra and helped her have a greater influence on the global sphere.
While working as Chopra’s manager, Acharia invested in many female-founded tech businesses including ClassPass, Bumble, The Muse, and Yumi. Due to Acharia’s significant interest in tech investment, Chopra became fascinated with the subject as well. Recently, Chopra has invested alongside Achaira in Bumble and the coding-education startup Holberton. With a wide range of specialties from tech to lifestyle, Chopra and Acharia make a well-rounded and successful team. The duo has attended many events in which they raise discussions about the presence or lack-thereof of female figures in the tech industry. Although females may not be fully represented in the tech industry at the moment, women like Priyanka and Anjula are helping to shape and change it for the better.
Loli Beauty Fights for the Environment
By Mary Burdick
While the beauty industry brings joy to people across the world, it also significantly contributes to growing environmental issues with environmentally harmful packaging and distribution. Fortunately, skincare brands such as Loli Beauty are fighting to ensure their products do as little harm as possible to the environment.
Loli Beauty, a brand that sells all natural skincare products, consciously chooses glass jars to store all their products, ensuring zero waste. However, due to Amazon quality and safety regulations, these glass jars are required to be wrapped in bubble wrap when distributed to customers. By using this plastic bubble wrap, the environmental friendly goal of the company is unsuccessful, as bubble wrap takes a very long time to break down. To combat this issue, Loli Beauty has teamed up with Better Packaging Company to find a compostable alternative for the environmentally harmful bubble wrap. Now, the skincare company is able to successfully ship using amazon with completely compostable packaging. While the new packaging, composed of mostly starch fibers, is a lot more expensive than bubble wrap, this change is essential in lowering the environmental strain the beauty industry has on our environment.
