Preface: Foresight in 2020: Race and Gender in the Upcoming Election

This essay introduces contributions to a special issue of Sociological Forum titled “Foresight in 2020: Race and Gender in the Upcoming Election.” All articles in the issue can be accessed at the journal’s website, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/15737861 . They will first appear under the “Early View” tab, and later in volume 35, supplement I.     

Women of Color in State Legislatures: Gender,Race, Ethnicity and Legislative Office Holding

SUMMARY

This article investigates the puzzle of women of color's proportionately higher percentage of office holding in state legislatures compared to white women legislators by testing the predictive capacity of variables commonly used to explain percentages of women at the state level. Using an original dataset that includes characteristics for all 50 U.S. states, the results suggest that standard indicators of women's office holding do not work equally well for all groups of women. The study demonstrates that race and ethnicity do make a difference in regards to women's office holding at the state level when the racial and ethnic characteristics of female legislators are considered.     

The Forum: Second Thoughts on Presidential Politics

In this essay, we confront the “conventional wisdoms” promoted throughout this long presidential campaign. By conventional wisdoms, we mean the common knowledge of politics—the things that commentators and analysts forward as taken‐for‐granted assertions and beliefs. We will revisit just a few of the campaign season’s conventional wisdoms and review them with a sociological eye. In so doing, we find that in politics, as in most other areas, conventional wisdom can be a risky source of knowledge.     

The Influence of Term Limits on the Electoral Success of Women

ABSTRACT

In this paper I develop a theoretical approach that rehabilitates identity as a political and interpretive, not essentialist, category. To this end, I explore versions of feminist standpoint theory developed by Nancy Hartsock and Alison Jaggar. While these versions of standpoint theory have marked the significance of experience and knowledge for feminist practice, their conception of subjectivity is too unified and, therefore, creates problems for addressing the epistemological implications of “difference.” For this approach to feminist subjectivity, power relations of race, class, and nation are “differences” which are viewed as threatening endless fragmentation or promising plurality. Alternatively, following Norma Alarcon's theory of multiple-voiced subjectivity, I argue that relations of power produce complex subjectivities situated within multiple, intersecting axes of power: race, class, sex, gender, nation. These relations of power mark the terrain of experience as an interpretive field for the production of knowledge and collective identity. This approach shifts the interpretation of experience and knowledge from a paradigm of essentialism, fragmentation, and pluralist difference to a paradigm of accountability and coalition.     

Women bankers in black and white: exploring raced,classed and gendered coalitions

ABSTRACT

Black women constitute the majority of the population but they lag significantly behind white women and other groups in their participation in the labour market. Intersectionality requires that we recognise the differences in experience between black women and white women. This is not for the purposes of what some have called the “oppression Olympics” but to research the stratifications of social asymmetries in a manner that allows for an understanding of the complexity of inequality. Based on interview data and observations, we use employment equity discourses to explore the differential positions of black women and white women managers in a major bank’s headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa. A historical analysis of black women and white women’s experience illustrates the systemic and institutional aspects of intersectionality as well as the difficulties in forming coalitions between black women and white women. In the final analysis we argue that the mutual advancement of women requires historicisation and renewed commitment to partnerships to eradicate sexism and racism.     

Mentoring,Sexual Harassment,and Black Women Academics

ABSTRACT

The #MeToo Movement both within academia and popular culture has largely been seen as an issue for white women (and men). While the phrase Me Too was originally coined by Tarana Burke in 2006 to raise public awareness of sexual harassment, violence and assault experienced by women of color, the Movement has largely been whitewashed by primarily depicting victims and survivors as white women. Black women academics, like myself, also experience sexual harassment. By highlighting the ways that race-based sexual harassment further marginalizes already underrepresented groups in political science, I use my personal story to elucidate how a gender-only lens misses the complexities of Black women’s experiences with power inequities in academia. Throughout this narrative I underscore the importance of mentorship, professional networks, and the ability to harness scholarship as a vehicle to combat the pervasiveness of sexual harassment, violence, and assault for Black women in political science.     

Breaking Out of the Ivory Tower: (Re)Thinking Inclusion of Women and Scholars of Color in the Academy

ABSTRACT

In this #MeToo moment, many women of color have called out those in power, namely men, who engage in sexual harassment and toxic masculinity. Furthermore, scholars, whose personal identities and research interests lie at the margins of gender, race, class, and sexuality, have drawn increasing attention to issues of gendered and racialized biases and harassment in the Academy. During our pre-conference session at the 2018 meeting of the American Political Science Association, we discussed substantive methods for reckoning with these conditions. We worked through the theoretical frameworks of Black Feminist and queer scholarship to orient ourselves toward actions that center the most marginalized. We identified methods for generating transformative solutions to campus and departmental problems facing students, faculty, and staff with intersectional identities. In all, the workshop proved both effective and generative for all in attendance, providing those present with concrete tools to build more equitable departments and classrooms.     

Agenda Setting and African American Women in State Legislatures

SUMMARY

Political scientists have, in recent years, uncovered substantial evidence that political representation in the United States is influenced by gender and race, yet generally examine the effects of gender entirely separate from the effects of race. In this article, we explore the agenda-setting behavior of African American female state legislators. We find that African American women do respond to both women's interests and black interests. We also find that while the sponsorship of black interest measures by African American women (or other legislators) is not influenced by the proportion of African Americans within the chamber, African American women are less likely to sponsor women's interest measures in legislatures with a relatively high proportion of women present. We conclude that because of their focus on multiple groups, black women occupy a unique place in representation, and that their choices are influenced by the institutional context in which they work.     

I Am Woman,Hear Me Tweet! Gender Differences in Twitter Use among Congressional Candidates

This study synthesizes two theoretical literatures to explain gender differences in Twitter usage and effectiveness among US Congressional candidates. The first suggests that candidates in perceived disadvantaged positions, females in this case, innovate to improve their chances of success, and the second, that female politicians often adopt stereotypically masculine behaviors to be successful. On the basis of these theories, we hypothesize and confirm that female candidates are more likely than males to integrate Twitter into their campaigns, but our results are less conclusive regarding a difference in the likelihood that females use negative campaigning tactics via Twitter. Our results also indicate that those females who use Twitter more than their male counterparts tended to do better electorally, but this difference is conditional. Female Republican candidates who tweeted more increased their vote share, but the opposite is true for Democrats. We speculate that this differential effect may be a product of different audiences for social media in each party’s electorate.     

Asian Women,Job Training and the Social Organization of Immigrant Labor Markets

This paper examines the entry of Asian immigrant women into a gendered labor market via government-funded job training programs. The focus is on the intake processing of clients into an employment training program operated by a community based organization. The study reveals that women's family responsibilities and the cultural capital they bring function to screen them into or out of training programs and ultimately shape their location in the workforce. The study thus draws attention to how race, class, and gender enter into the organization of Asian immigrant women into the labor market. This investigation is based in institutional ethnography (Smith 1987), a research strategy which displays how activities in a particular setting are coordinated with more extended forms of social organization. The study shows that the overriding concern with successful placement in a job as mandated by government regulations is a critical factor in selecting the women for these programs.     

Keys That Jingle and Fold: Federal Student Aid and the Expansion of Educational Opportunity for Black Women

Since the mid-20th century, the United States has seen a dramatic increase in Black women’s educational attainment. Given Black women’s status as “double minorities” and their disproportionate representation among low-income Americans, this trend has important implications for equal opportunity in the United States. While scholars recognize higher education as a central determinant of socioeconomic well-being and political engagement, we have yet to consider the role that federal higher education policies have played in expanding Black women’s access to college degrees. This article examines the extent to which student aid programs have supported Black women’s educational pursuits and influenced their educational attainment. I find that financial aid usage is associated with greater educational attainment and is perceived by Black women as significantly expanding educational opportunity.     

Searching for the “Sleeping Giant”: Racialized News Coverage of Latinos Pre-2020 Elections

Latinos are often thought as potential game changers in the political world in the United States. As the media discusses and analyzes the 2016 election and the path to the 2020 elections, narratives on the role of Latinos leading up to the 2020 election have started to emerge. In this article, I seek to examine how U.S. daily newspapers frame the role of Latinos in the 2016 election and leading up to the 2020 elections. Previous literature has focused on the racialized media coverage of African American politicians and the effects of racial priming; however, extant literature has not explored how Latinos are framed in U.S. media when it comes to electoral politics. Using a sample of newspaper articles from the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal, I found that newspapers largely focus on the demographic changes while operating under various assumptions about those changes. First, newspapers frame Latinos as more likely to vote for a politician if they are Latino. Second, they construct Latinos as a monolithic ethnoracial group that has simplistic interests in immigration. Third, Latino voters and African American voters are often lumped into the same category when discussing mobilization. These narratives continue a tradition of framing Latinos in monolithic ways, while also showing slight departures from previous narratives.     

The Race and Class Privilege of Motherhood: TheNew York Times Presentations of Pregnant Drug‐Using Women1

Prior research has examined race and class bias embedded in media presentations of pregnant drug users; however, this past research is limited in identifying biases because it focuses on single substances—primarily crack cocaine. I build on this work by conducting a comparative analysis of more than 15 years worth of New York Times articles on three drugs (crack cocaine, alcohol, and tobacco) used during pregnancy. These three drugs have varying levels of deleterious effects on fetal development and infant health, as well as varying levels of use by poor and minority women. Because of this variation, I am able to assess whether media coverage of pregnant drug‐using women is proportional to the documented adverse consequences of specific drugs or, rather, whether media coverage is higher and more negative for poor and minority pregnant women regardless of the degree of adverse health consequences associated with the specific drug used. Through this analysis, I demonstrate that the prevalence and framing of news stories about pregnant drug‐using women has little to do with protecting the health of children. Rather, concern for children is a rhetorical tool used to define poor and minority women as bad mothers and blame them for contemporary changes in families.     

The Experiences Queer College Women of Color Have of Friendship

Research has shown that friendship between queer college women of color was beneficial to racial and sexual identity development. To date, no study has sought to discover the ways in which queer college women of color develop and navigate friendship connections in the context of a women’s college environment. Using relational-cultural theory and narrative inquiry, the researcher collected stories from participants in friendship pairs. Further, the researcher narrowed the collection of stories and selected representative narratives from two college contextual environments.     

Gender Role Orientation of Divorced Women as Related to Body Satisfaction and Interest in Work Clothing

Abstract

This study examined whether divorced women's gender role orientation is related to interest in work clothing and satisfaction with physical appearance. Extremely non-traditional divorced women showed greater concerns about modesty and less interest in looking sexually attractive in their work dress. Divorced women's marital experience was found to be related to body satisfaction and interest in work clothing. The relationships among marital experience, body satisfaction, and interest in work clothing deserve further research to better understand the impact of divorce on one's perception of the self and appearance management behavior. Suggestions are made for practitioner application of the findings.     

The Scrutinized Priest: Women in the Church of England Negotiating Professional and Sacred Clothing Regimes

This article examines the integration of women priests in the Church of England through the lens of dress. Clothing is a salient dynamic in occupational cultures, particularly in relation to the regulation of gendered bodies. Women's ordination to the priesthood was only sanctioned in 1992. Complex clothing regimes are negotiated, for ordination bestows upon the priest certain clothing rights and responsibilities. However, such attire has traditionally been associated only with the male body, creating tension in relation to women's appropriation of this sacred and professional dress. Based on in‐depth interviews with 17 Anglican clergy women, this article will focus both on the scrutiny the women experienced in relation to their clothing choices, as well as the relationship the women themselves negotiated with their clothes. It will be argued that as representatives of both a sacred and professional domain, clothing had to be carefully managed by clergy. Dress functioned as a key test in women's integration into the organization, often operating as a constraining and exclusionary mechanism.     

Lived experience of Iranian bisexual women: a thematic analysis

Abstract

Normative homo-sociality, physical sex-segregation and other oppressive gender politics in Iran raise questions about the development of bisexuality as an “identity” among Iranian women. This study examines the lived experience of Iranian bisexual women. Six self-identified bisexual women were recruited by two announcements in Iranian LGBTI community social media. After in-depth online interviews, data were coded and analyzed by inductive thematic analysis method. Seventeen themes in three broad patterns (identity, social structure and relationship) are found across and within the data. Themes such as biphobia, confusion and self-definition are in concordance with studies of the western bisexual population. Themes related to social structure are unique and reflect the particular socio-cultural condition of non-heterosexual women in Iran.     

Community Organizing with Women of Color:

The problems of women of color are related to gender, ethnic, and class inequality, yet little attention has been paid to methods for changing these structural conditions; most social work literature on gender and ethnicity has focused on individual models for change. Recent research on feminist organizing has identified ways in which community organization methods can be made more effective for use with groups of women. The implementation of these methods with women of color, however, will require addressing deficiencies of feminist theory in analyzing women's experience. This article presents one approach to organizing with women of color that suggests how race and gender issues can be worked on simultaneously. The issues and practice principles are relevant for both women of color and European American women organizing in communities of color.     

Joining the Dark Side: Women in Management in the Dominican Republic

This article presents evidence of the challenges faced by women in management in their interactions with men and other women, contesting the idea that men organizationally oppress women and suggesting instead that both men and women can be organizational oppressors of women. Using empirical evidence, this article provides new insights into the working lives and challenges of women in a Latin American and Hispanic Caribbean context. The article highlights struggles of power and credibility in women in management's relationships with men and other women. It draws on findings of research conducted in the public sector in the Dominican Republic, where in‐depth semi‐structured interviews were conducted with professional men and women. This article has significant implications for advancing understanding of the dynamics of gender and organizations in developing countries, in particular, the experiences of women in management.