“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 …

The “Queen Sacrifice”: It’s Just Business

Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit enraptured millions when it was released in late 2020. The show, named after a well-known chess opening move, follows the life of Beth Harmon, an orphaned chess prodigy. Though utterly brilliant and able to quickly rise through the ranks of the elite chess players, she finds herself constantly embattled by drug …

Care Ethics and Patriarchy: The Importance (and Burden) of Caregiving

Theories of morality have been at the forefront of humanity’s philosophical discourses for millennia. Throughout our history, we have developed a significant number of theories aimed at determining what is right and wrong, and how one should live with respect to that morality. While many of these theories were developed and discussed hundreds of years …

Menstrual Hygiene Equity in U.S. Women’s Prisons and Jails

Menstrual equity, or the understanding that to have an equitable society everyone who menstruates should have access to quality hygiene products that are safe and affordable, has been seriously overlooked. In the US, approximately two-thirds of low-income women struggle to afford menstrual products.[1] This issue could be partially addressed through the removal of the sales …

Waist Trainers and The Controversial Revival of the Corset

Beauty practices around the world rise and fall as time goes, each one meaning something different for women. The fall of corsets led to girdles, and then to Spanx; now, "waist trainers" are being promoted by popular celebrities across social media, leading to a revival of the corset in mainstream fashion under a different name.      …

The Forgotten Crisis: Rural American Women, Domestic Violence, and Murder

Country life is often romanticized as a serene and bucolic lifestyle, an embodiment of the American dream, but for many women in rural areas, this dream is a living nightmare. Every day in the United States, about three women will be murdered by an intimate partner[1] and countless women will experience domestic violence. Being from …