Women and Girls

As Melissa dug deeply into the issues involving America's children, she began to focus greater attention on topics revolving around the conditions and experiences of of girls and women. While at Time, she was a lead reporter on the cover story, "Women Face the 90s: In the '80s they tried to have it all. Now they've just plain had it. Is there a future for Feminism?" When Time published its special issue,"Women: The Road Ahead," her groundbreaking story "Coming from a Different Place" addressed socialized gender differences through the lens of psychological research directed by Carol Gilligan. As the editor of Nieman Reports, Melissa commissioned stories about girls' and women's lives and asked women journalists to write about challenges they confront due to their gender. Her storytelling project, "Touching Home in China: in search of missing girlhoods" revolves around a cross-cultural exploration of girls' lives are like in rural China. This multimedia project – with its stories, lessons and resources – is narrated by American adoptees and Chinese girls. 

Daughter. Wife. Mother., Touching Home in China

In traditional Chinese culture, a son’s life is told in the characters of his name. A month after he’s born, his paternal grandfather bestows on him a distinctive name. Often this name bespeaks strength and leadership ...

Onward, Women, Time

 The superwoman is weary, the young are complacent, but feminism is not dead. And, baby, there's still a long way to go.

Exits and Entrances: women's careers in transition, Wellesley Magazine

Sitting outdoors on an oddly warm December 2012 afternoon, I let my boss know I'd be leaving my job as the executive editor at the investigative-journalism institute at Brandeis University ...