"As I wrote this edition of Transformations during the latter half of 2016 and the first half of 2017, the larger social and political context was very much on my mind. While I summarized the latest research on such topics as women's leadership, backlash against competent women, sexual harassment, transgender identity, reproductive justice, and feminist activism, a presidential election campaign was being held. For the first time in American history, it pitted a male and a female candidate from the two major political parties against each other, and it was remarkably bitter and divisive. During this time period, sexual assault and harassment were constantly in the news: Donald Trump was caught on tape bragging about grabbing women by the genitals, and retaliated with accusations about former president Bill Clinton; Fox News head Roger Ailes was forced to resign after a longtime culture of harassment at the network was revealed; and a pending sexual assault lawsuit against Bill Cosby repeatedly made headlines. A "bathroom bill" discriminating against trans people was on, off, and on again. State legislatures and the Trump administration moved to restrict women's reproductive rights in the U.S. and around the world. And this was just the United States. Globally, girls and women were being kidnapped and held as sex slaves by terrorist groups. Nearly two out of five female murder victims were killed by partners or former partners. Two-thirds of the world's illiterate people were female; and sex trafficking continued unabated. As I joined the millions of people who marched in global protest on January 21, 2017, I thought: Whatever one's stance on political or social issues, gender is still a very important category"-- Read more...
