The STEM of Stereotypes

Gender stereotypes have often insisted that women don’t belong in STEM fields. Starting in grade school, many girls are told that because of their gender, they lack the natural talent or ability to be successful in such careers. These incorrect assumptions and myriad others undermine the contributions that women have made in the past, and …

Indigenous People’s Month, 2021: Practicing solidarity for my missing and murdered Indigenous sisters

The Role of Public Service in Protecting Indigenous People November is Indigenous Peoples Heritage Month, and this year (2021), is the first year the celebration comes after President Biden formally recognized Indigenous People’s Day, October 11th, as a federal holiday– an alternative to the controversial Christopher Columbus Day. As I, a student at the Bush …

Missing White Woman Syndrome

Gabby Petito. Elizabeth Smart. Amber Hagerman. Diana Quer. Grace Milane. Sarah Everard. Chances are you will recognize one of these names. Lauren Cho. Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman. Ashley Loring Heavyrunner. Manuela Chavero. Evelyn Hernandez. Alexis Patterson. Chances are you will not recognize any of these names. Why? There is a phenomenon which occurs in …

Seeking Permanent Liberation: The Intergenerational Cycle of Oppression in Maternal Lines

The devastating images conjured after the fall of Kabul resonate in women’s hearts around the globe. Afghani women grew up hearing stories of their grandmothers wearing mini-to-knee-length skirts, pumps, and lipstick, and going to school and work in Kabul in the between the 20s and the 60s.[1] Their mothers donned the burqa in the face …

The Uyghur Genocide: Forced Sterilization to Exterminate the Uyghur People

In the Xinjiang region of China, authorities are sentencing tens of thousands of people to work in “re-education” camps, or labor camps. One of the main reasons cited for their sentence is that they are suspected of terrorist sentiments and extremism. Extremism can be determined by whether they abstain from drinking alcohol or have a …

“Mansplaining” and Political Voice

Guest author Ben White worked for WomanStats at BYU as an intern in 2016, and graduated in 2018 with a BA in Political Science. Now, as a graduate student at the University of Texas at Austin, his research explores how gender shapes our interactions with American politics. In recent years, "mansplaining", the phenomenon of a …

Little Old Ladies in Tennis Shoes: My Experiences as a Woman in Local Government

Originally from Chicagoland, guest author Chelsea Bakaitis worked for the WomanStats Project from 2012-2014 while earning a Bachelor of Science in Geography and a minor in Women’s Studies from Brigham Young University. After leaving Utah she made Gainesville, Florida her home along with her husband, dog, two cats, and many house plants. Currently she is …

Texas Passes a New “Cyber Flashing” Law

I read a lot of news—a lot.  So I am not sure how I missed that in 2019, Texas passed a law[1] banning “dick pics” and other types of “cyber flashing.” Flashing and exposure, now possible in the digital realm, is a form of sexual harassment that is often not prioritized, and not even discussed.[2]  …

“Doxxing” And Online Threats: Why Women Are More Vulnerable to Internet Harassment

Harassment of women is omnipresent online. When women speak up about issues facing them, the old cycle of misogyny often kicks in and women become targets for harassment. In some cases, extremists have escalated gendered harassment by “doxxing” women, as a form of punishment for their actions and a tool to silence them. Doxxing, a …

Skin, Bones, and Success: The Ballet Culture and Unrealistic Body Weight Expectations

Growing up, I was a ballet dancer. From the age of three years old until I graduated from high school, I would spend countless hours every week in my local studio perfecting my pirouettes and plies. My summers were spent completing intensive ballet programs with companies in Austin, Houston, and New York and the audition …