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The New York Times Just Transformed Its Obituaries Section for International Women's Day, and It's Long Overdue
Overlooked no longer.
Since 1851, The New York Times published thousands of obituaries. The vast majority featured white men. So, what is the issue with that?
For people thinking of their local obituary pages, this seems insignificant or irrelevant. For most Americans, the obits just list deaths and funeral arrangements. But for major national papers like The Times, an obituary resembles a feature article, covering only those lives of importance.
Therein lies the problem. For 167 years, The New York Times deemed most women unworthy of recognition on their obituary pages.
Now, for International Women's Day, The Times wants to rectify that gender bias. They selected 15 women who deserved recognition.
Their choices include civic leaders like Ida B. Wells, authors like Syliva Plath and Charlotte Brontë, and Chinese poet and revolutionary Qiu Jin.
@nytimes I’ve been writing the NYT for a long time asking them to stop only profiling men. The Obit pages are still skewed.— Jeanne Koenings (@Jeanne Koenings) 1520520415.0
Amazing that Diane Arbus didn't get a NYT obit on her death in 1971! (her famous solo @MuseumModernArt show & the A… https://t.co/jFlmeDdtge— Ivan Kreilkamp (@Ivan Kreilkamp) 1520514195.0
New Obit for "Sylvia Plath" in NYT. The Bell Jar was one of the first books I read fully, amazing women's writer. s… https://t.co/OsJ1Vm26ac— potty mouth bakery (@potty mouth bakery) 1520512961.0
In 2004 when Gloria Anzaldua passed, I was naively aghast that @nytimes didn't run an obituary for her. Now NYT inv… https://t.co/5dE9QKLgR8— Robin Bernstein (@Robin Bernstein) 1520510194.0
The obit that Ida B. Wells should have had in NYT, written for #InternationalWomensDay Overlooked No More: Ida B. W… https://t.co/XAOK1fry0y— K.R. Luebbert 📚 (@K.R. Luebbert 📚) 1520509626.0
Honestly, that the NYT omitted these women from their obit pages sorta blows my mind. Also, Ada Lovelace, Charlotte… https://t.co/GQoYeDim7Y— Joanie MacPhee (@Joanie MacPhee) 1520519976.0
From Charlotte Bronte's NYT obit. On #InternationalWomensDay, let's no longer tell women that writing is for men… https://t.co/7Tk99MSTJJ— Elizabeth Djinis (@Elizabeth Djinis) 1520519212.0
Overlooked No More: Henrietta Lacks gets an obit in the NYT https://t.co/W2nqI7xpyC— Ross Cheit (@Ross Cheit) 1520518731.0
Some truly incredible stories of women long overlooked https://t.co/Kwh0XfPOtN Also: "even in the last two years, j… https://t.co/YWhOOmoa62— Carrie Brown (@Carrie Brown) 1520516766.0
@jessicabennett NYT obit for Ida Tarbell, whose muckraking journalism led to breakup of Standard Oil and stronger a… https://t.co/yipT0eFapE— Julia Angwin (@Julia Angwin) 1520516571.0
The New York Times acknowledged they continue to have a problem in 2018 with gender bias and overall diversity. Women comprise over half the population, yet garner only 20 percent of their obituaries. They asked for the public's assistance in identifying other important people who deserved a place in their pages.
We’ll be adding to this collection each week, as Overlooked becomes a regular feature in the obituaries section, and expanding our lens beyond women.You can use this form to nominate candidates for future “Overlooked” obits, and read an essay from our obituaries editor about how he approaches the challenge of diversifying subjects."
Who would you nominate?
The NYT is publishing obituaries for women and POC who didn't get them when they died. Who would you suggest? https://t.co/ig0uSttsba— Jennifer Jett (@Jennifer Jett) 1520516208.0