She Should Run has found that while thousands of women consider a run for office, only 13% actually file the paperwork needed to run—meaning that to see one woman run for office, eight need to consider the possibility. In other words, to reach gender parity in public office in our lifetime, 1 million women need to explore a run for office.

Former First Lady Michelle Obama’s memoir Becoming continues to smash records. When the book was released in November of last year, it sold 725,000 copies on its first day and 2 million copies in North America within two weeks, quickly becoming the best-selling book of 2018. It also broke the record of best first-week sales at Barnes & Noble and went on to become a number one seller abroad, including in the U.K. and Germany.

Ardern has strongly refuted the notion that motherhood would interfere with her ability to lead the country. “I am not the first woman to multitask. I am not the first woman to work and have a baby; there are many women who have done this before,” she told Radio New Zealand.

"Of course it has to be led by a man, because it is a very challenging position,” Akbar Al Baker said in reference to his role as CEO at a press conference following a meeting of the International Air Transport Association’s board of governors—a group to which he had been named chair. According to Bloomberg, there were “loud groans of disapproval” following Al Baker’s comment at the Sydney event.

The Senate is where women are really picking up ground. The election of Tina Smith (D-Minn.) in January brought the total number of women in the Senate to 22, a new record. Smith replaced Sen. Al Franken, also a Democrat, who resigned his seat after allegations of sexual misconduct. Women now make up 23% of the Senate, with 17 Democrats and five Republicans. There are currently four states that have women serving as both sitting senators: California, New Hampshire, Washington, and Minnesota.

Based on existing laws, female members of the imperial family must give up their status should they marry a commoner. The same law does not apply to male members of the family and has long been a source of controversy for the Japanese imperial family.