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Malia Politzer is the executive editor of piqd.com, and an award-winning long-form journalist based out of Spain. She specializes in reporting on migration, international development, human rights issues and investigative reporting.
Originally from California, she's lived in China, Spain, Mexico and India, and reported from various countries in Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Her primary beats relate to immigration, economics and international development. She has published articles in Huffington Post Highline, The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, Vogue India, Mint, Far Eastern Economic Review, Foreign Policy, Reason Magazine, and the Phoenix New Times. She is also a regular contributor to Devex.
Her Huffington Post Highline series, "The 21st Century Gold Rush" won awards from the National Association of Magazine Editors, Overseas Press Club, and American Society of Newspaper Editors. She's also won multiple awards for feature writing in India and the United States.
Her reporting has been supported by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, The Institute For Current World Affairs, and the Global Migration Grant.
Degrees include a BA from Hampshire College and MS from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where was a Stabile Fellow at the Center for Investigative Journalism.
The Growing Role Of Women In The Alt Right
In this fascinating Harper's long read, journalist Seyward Darby dives into the world of the alt-right — but looking at it through the lens of some of the women who have become leaders.
A group consisting primarily of white men, whose tenants include asserting white "identify politics" and the establishment of "white ethno-state", (male) members of the alt-right have also been known to call for the end of voting rights for women, to say that gender equality is "the mother of all delusions", and to assert that women shouldn't be involved in foreign policy "because their vindictiveness knows no bound".
It's no surprise, then, that the line women that women supportive of the alt-right tow is a complicated one: They simultaneously condemn feminism, advocate for women to take the more "traditional role" of wife and mother (to white children), while also striving to temper the misogyny inherent to the movement with their presence and support. As such, their arguments are often circular and confused: For example, that men in the movement can't be misogynists because they "love women".
In particular, this piece profiles Lana Lotkeff, an alt-right "queen bee" who also runs an online media company called Red Ice. The article also examines the path to the alt-right of several other women — including Ayla Stewart, a former self-described feminist-turned stay-at-home mom alt-right vlogger, among others.
Lana Lotkeff sees her role as rallying women to the cause, and in a recent "ideas conference" said that "lionesses and shield maidens and Valkyries" would inspire men to fight for white civilization. "What really drives men is women," she asserted. "And let's face it, sex with women."
Why women have become active in a movement that aims to curtail their freedoms is confusing: Lotkeff says that the alt-right allows her to "embrace her femininity and racial identity". But Lotkeff did get one thing right: Bringing more women into the movement will likely accelerate its growth.
