Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies

The sucky history of the breast pump

Jessica Martucci of the School of Arts & Sciences explains how the breast pump became an indispensable part of raising a baby.

Dorothy Roberts tried to warn us

A profile on PIK Professor Dorothy Roberts explores her past work detailing the criminalization of pregnancy, 25 years before the demise of Roe v. Wade.

A summer optimizing obstetrics health care

Second-year student Antoilyn Nguyen spent their summer as a researcher analyzing labor and delivery charts as part of a long-term cohort study to standardize labor induction for better and more equitable results.

Iranian woman push back against compulsory hijab

Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet of the School of Arts & Sciences says that Iranian society still struggles with how much of a role religion has played in its pre- and post-revolutionary eras.

‘Is an abortion medically necessary?’ is not a question for ethicists to answer

Holly Fernandez Lynch, Steven Joffe, and Emily A. Largent of the Perelman School of Medicine write that ethics committees are not intended to second-guess clinical judgements about medical procedures or provide legal cover for institutions.

‘It’s just getting worse.’ Central Bucks passes policy censoring class materials with ‘sexualized content’

Ed Brockenbrough of the Graduate School of Education says that conservative school censorship policies will have a detrimental and disproportionate impact on LGBTQ youth and minority students.

Female whistleblowers face more retaliation—here’s how to avoid it, according to a new study

A study by Nancy Rothbard of the Wharton School finds that women at all levels of power are far more likely than men to face retaliation when speaking up about moral infractions.

A person tearing up in a crowd of people. The person, who is holding a green bandana, wears a shirt that says "We Won't Back Down." Other people hold up signs in the crowd, including "Keep Abortion Legal."

Overturning Roe disproportionately burdens marginalized groups

For low-income people and people of color, lack of access to safe abortions in the U.S. will have a range of health and financial ramifications, compounding factors like poverty and systemic racism.

Screen grab of woman from 1970 Abortion documentary transposed over an image of the 2017 women's march on Washington.

‘Abortion and Women’s Rights 1970’: A film that’s newly timely

Five decades ago, ahead of the landmark ruling Roe v. Wade, political scientist Mary Summers worked on a documentary film. That film is gaining new viewers through a recently launched website.

Historical rendering of a courtroom in the era of the Salem witch trials.

Possessed: The Salem witch trials

This spring marks the 330th anniversary of the Salem witch trials, during which a total of 20 “afflicted girls” accused around 150 people, 19 of whom were executed. Historian Kathleen M. Brown discusses why this episode is still fascinating today.

Filters