Mental Health Help From Beyoncé | How Figs’ Founders Are Donating Scrubs—And N95s | Lysol’s “Hygienic” History

Mental Health Help From Beyoncé | How Figs’ Founders Are Donating Scrubs—And N95s | Lysol’s “Hygienic” History | And More

Plus: What To Do If You Have To Cancel Your Wedding

I've been thinking a lot about dance recently. Now, I have dance on the brain under normal circumstances (I grew up in tap shoes and still take contemporary class today), but like anything else you can't have, it's been on my mind constantly in quarantine. I'm acutely aware of how hard this time has been for anyone who takes daily trips to a ballet studio or who spends months looking forward to attending a show at The Joyce, the Met, or any other theatre and I'm sending all my love to those who miss this community as much as I do.

And so, I wanted to share a few Forbes stories and resources about how to access the performing arts from home. There's this video interview with the artistic director of Ballet Hispanico, which has been putting on virtual performances for its fans, while this story on the New Dance Alliance explores how the organization is taking a similar digital approach to its annual festival. And if you missed the delightful YouTube concert in honor of Stephen Sondheim's 90th birthday Sunday night, a recap of the festivities (and slightly hilarious technical difficulties), along with a video of the whole thing, can be found right here.

If you want to take a dance "class" from your own kitchen, this guide has some suggestions. On my own to-do list: New York City Ballet principal dancer Tiler Peck's Instagram class! I just need to make sure I don't battement into my knife block…

Don't stop dancing,
Maggie

P.S.: Because men need to be included in the fight for gender equality, and because the unequal division of labor between the sexes has become even more painfully obvious during this pandemic, my favorite advice on the site this week looks at how to be a good workplace to ally to women during Covid-19. Women, send it to the men in your life; men, read it and absorb it.

Maggie McGrath

Editor, ForbesWomen

Inside Figs, The Female-Founded Scrubs Maker That's More Critical Than Ever

The buzzy scrubs company, Figs, was enjoying steady growth before the pandemic hit. Now, demand for its stylish wares is surging, with sales expected to hit $250 million this year. But founders Heather Hasson and Trina Spear are also trying to give back during this time, donating 30,000 sets of scrubs to hospitals in need, like New York's Mount Sinai, and paying factories to produce over one million N95 masks. The plan is to donate them directly to medical professionals.

ICYMI: Stories From The Week

No, you should not drink Lysol, or any other disinfectant. But did you know? From the 1920's until the 1950's, the brand was telling a decidedly different story—that Lysol was a trusted "feminine hygiene" product, which, among other things, was a euphemism for contraception.

Women are submitting fewer academic papers during the pandemic, a new study shows, while men are submitting up to 50% more than they usually would. This is both depressing and yet another reason why we need to talk about how the lack of equality at home affects women's careers.

Beyoncé Knowles surprised fans Wednesday when she and Megan Thee Stallion released a remix of "Savage," the proceeds of which will go Covid relief efforts in their native Houston. This follows last week's announcement that Knowles and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey are donating $6 million to support mental health and wellness organizations in Houston, New York, New Orleans and Detroit.

More upsetting women's health data has come out of the U.N., with the latest report showing that 47 million women in 114 low- to middle-income countries will likely lose access to contraception because of the pandemic, leading to seven million unintended pregnancies.

Meet Edna Matta-Camacho, a biochemist based at Canada's Carleton University: she's the founder of STEM sin Fronteras (STEM without borders), an organization trying to eliminate the gender gap and increase the participation of Latinas in STEM globally.

It was the documentary announcement heard 'round the interwebs: The Obamas' next Netflix project will be a doc about Michelle Obama. Called Becoming, it follows the former First Lady around the country as she toured the country promoting her memoir of the same name.

More ForbesWomen News →


		Check List

#1: Stop and smell the roses. No, seriously: soaking up some nature can help us switch off the parts of our brain associated with fear and stress.

#2: Give your life an audit. So you've reorganized your spice cabinet and gone Marie Kondo on your closet. What next? Consider using this time in quarantine to map out the life you want and take small steps to make some changes.