Give the Gift of SWS Membership and Support SWS on Giving Tuesday!

As we embrace the spirit of giving today on Giving Tuesday, please consider giving the gift of SWS Membership to a valued colleague or student, and also supporting our organization through a donation.

Give the Gift of Membership:

SWS Membership grants them access to a wide range of benefits and resources. It’s a thoughtful way to show appreciation to someone you work closely with or a dedicated student. To gift an SWS Membership, please complete this form: https://sws.memberclicks.net/giftmemberships.

Donate to SWS:

In addition to gifting Membership, you could support SWS and all of our programming and scholarships through a donation.

To make your contribution, please complete this form: https://sws.memberclicks.net/donation-form. Please note that since SWS is a 501(c)(6) tax-exempt organization, donations to SWS are not tax-deductible.

Wishing you a joyous Giving Tuesday!

Young Chinese Women are Defying the Communist Party by Leta Hong Fincher

Young Chinese Women Are Defying the Communist Party by Leta Hong Fincher, SWS member

The pressure to marry began when Amiee was in her early 20s.

By 25, her Chinese parents were accusing her of causing them a public loss of face because she still had no plans to wed. Her father warned her that women are worth less to a man as they near the age of 30, when — according to Chinese government propaganda — their peak childbearing time has passed. When Amiee was 29, her mother threatened to jump off a building if she didn’t find a husband.

At family gatherings like Chinese New Year, relatives badgered her to help her “entire clan find peace,” she told me, and at work she was pressured into company-organized blind dates, chaperoned by several colleagues. These were “terrifying,” she said.

Read full article here: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/26/opinion/china-women-reproduction-rights.html?unlocked_article_code=1.BU0.bWQo.9dqWpeVtP2oc&smid=url-share

Sylvanna Falcón Elected President of Sociologists for Women in Society!

Sylvanna Falcón was recently elected president of Sociologists for Women in Society (SWS). Falcón’s term in the position will start at the beginning of 2024.

“I’ve been involved with SWS since I was a graduate student, and I’m honored to be elected to lead the organization,” Falcón said. “My winning this election shines additional light on our campus, and specifically the Division of Social Sciences, and I take that too as a great responsibility.”

View full article, here: https://news.ucsc.edu/2023/11/falcon-sws.html.

Congratulations to our newly elected SWS Officers! Reporting the Results of the 2023 SWS Election!

Thank you to all of you who have voted and to all of you who ran for SWS Elected Office in the SWS 2023 Election.

Also, we would like to thank all the Nominations Committee Members, that included Roberta Villalón (Chair), Sasha Drummond-Lewis, Amy Stone, Jaime Hartless, and Baker Rogers for all their work in putting together such a wonderful group of candidates for elected office.

On November 15, 2023, Barret Katuna, SWS Executive Officer and Natasha Santana, Administrative Officer, confirmed the results of the SWS 2023 Election with Roberta Villalón, SWS Past President and Nominations Committee Chair.

First, we are reporting that the proposed amendments to the SWS Bylaws will go into effect based on the affirmative vote for these amendments. These amendments will soon be reflected in the SWS Bylaws that we post on our website.

Second, we are reporting the following elected officers. Their official terms will begin during the SWS 2024 Winter Meeting.

Congratulations!

  • President-Elect – Sylvanna Falcón
  • Secretary– Crystal Jackson
  • Treasurer-Elect – Corinne Castro
  • Parliamentarian – Maria Cecilia Hwang
  • Student Representative-Elect –  Jinsun Yang

The above individuals will join SWS Council.

  •  Awards Committee Chair – Ophra Leyser-Whalen
  •  Discrimination Committee Co-Chair – Roberta Villalón
  •  Sister to Sister Committee Co-Chair – Brittany Battle
  • Social Action Committee Co-Chair – Christina Chica
  • Academic Justice Committee Co-Chairs – Florence “Emily” Castillo and Andrea Hunt (one year term)
  • Media Relations Committee Co-Chairs – Mindy Fried and Erin Baker-Giese (one year term)
  • International Committee Chair – Assata Zerai
  • Career Development Committee Co-Chair – Stephanie Wilson
  • Awards Committee Members – Jaime Hartless and Vrinda Marwah
  • Membership Committee Members  – Cynthia Deitch and Marcella Gemelli
  • Nominations Committee Members – Marni Brown and Alexis Grant-Panting
  • Publications Committee Members  –  Daniela Jauk-Ajamie and Ranita Ray

Once again, thank you all who participated in the 2023 SWS Election and congratulations to our newly elected officers!

Sociologists for Women in Society Statement on Israel-Gaza – November 9, 2023

As a feminist organization deeply embedded in intersectional, anti-racist, and decolonial feminist, queer, and trans theory and activism, Sociologists for Women in Society (SWS) decries and grieves the violence and humanitarian crisis that is increasing daily after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, where members from the group killed more than 1,400 Israelis and kidnapped hundreds of others. SWS condemns the killing of innocent lives –– whether Palestinian or Israeli. We acknowledge that Jews across the globe have historically been victims of genocide and continue to experience antisemitic discrimination and violence. The latest attacks are an egregious example. We also recognize that the political, historical, and present-day Israeli military siege of Gaza has resulted in systematic violence, expulsion, Zionist settler colonialism, sexual and racialized terror, poverty, displacement, and ethnic cleansing. Israel’s current horrific violence against Palestine has resulted in over 8,000 deaths and tens of thousands of injuries. SWS decries the impact of Islamophobia on self-identified Muslim women and LGBTQ+ people.

We are an association that promotes social justice research within local, national, and international activist spaces, and we endorse the statement issued by the International Sociological Association to express our “deep concern about the horrific events of October 2023 in Israel and Palestine, that are continuing in Gaza, as the human carnage there is unfolding in plain view. We stand by and respect the UN resolutions concerning this situation and share the call by many of our Palestinian and Israeli colleagues for an immediate release of hostages, exchange of prisoners, and the ending of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.”

SWS agrees with ISA that we:

  • “stands in solidarity with the Israeli and Palestinian social scientists who have defended human rights and raised their voices against the killing and kidnapping of civilians, the bombing of civilian infrastructure, including residential areas, hospitals, and universities, and occupation and war in general.”
  • “condemns the massacre of Israeli and Palestinian civilians. We share the repeated denunciation by our colleagues in the Israeli Sociological Society of the violence against Palestinians and the illegal colonies in the Palestinian territories over the past few years.”
  • “We also express our deep concern about and condemn the rise of antisemitism, Islamophobia, and xenophobia globally and the everyday acts of violence these entail. We are particularly alarmed by the political backlash within the international academic community.”
  • and “cannot remain silent as spaces of public and academic debate are shrinking and increasingly policed. Today, more than ever, we require critical interventions by social scientists. Academic freedom needs to be protected and promoted. Well-informed and nuanced debate and a historicized and sociological understanding of the events that have led to the October 2023 atrocities [and that continue as SWS releases this statement in November] are required to forestall further catastrophic loss of life. As stated by the Department of Historical and Cultural Studies at the University of Toronto, ‘it is not only permissible, but it is essential for scholars to situate the current war in its broad historical contexts, including those of settler colonialism.’ Our duty as sociologists is to maintain spaces of debate and foster discussion during such a critical moment.”

As a community of feminist scholars and activists, we acknowledge with humility the complexity of the issues that these events raise. Some SWS members, both faculty and students, as well as others more broadly, are currently experiencing a great deal of fear and anxiety in the academy concerning freedom of expression about the violence in the Middle East. This is especially the case for pre-tenure faculty whose area of expertise is Palestine-Israel and/or whose activist work focuses on this area, for fear of retaliation by their institutions. Many students feel that they are taking tremendous risks by even mentioning the current conflict in the classroom. As a feminist organization, SWS stands firmly in support of academic freedom and freedom of expression, which must be maintained and protected as core values in higher education. We also realize that the experience of fear and harassment surrounding the current conflict are not limited to those of us in the academy, but also threaten the well-being of feminist sociologists wherever we are based on our identities, ideas and beliefs.

Along with other feminist organizations, SWS demands an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Palestinian conflict. The violence in Israel-Palestine and other ongoing conflicts around the globe point to the critical need for our continued efforts as a feminist organization to promote social justice and a peaceful, sustainable world.


Here is a list of readings and resources:

Teach-In for Palestine: No to Genocide, No to War, Ceasefire now!

The recording of the teach-in is now available here and on their Facebook page.

Here are the resources from their call:

2024 SWS Meeting Bulletin – Need to Know!



 


Based on Lack of Usage and Other Challenges SWS will not be providing childcare services at the 2024 SWS Winter Meeting

Moving forward, we encourage members to connect with one another to explore the possibility of mutual support, especially for those with kids or anyone who enjoys spending time with children. If you’re presenting, we hope this arrangement will allow you to find someone to look after your kids, enabling you to concentrate on your presentation.

If you would like to coordinate with other SWS parents or guardians, please fill out this form: https://sws.memberclicks.net/24-wm-childcare-coordination.


SWS Cost Share Policy:

Cost shares are only available to SWS Members at the Winter Meeting.

SWS Members must stay within the SWS Hotel Block at the Winter Meeting Hotel in order to be eligible for the funds.

For more information, visit: https://socwomen.org/meetings/sws-cost-share-policy/


Volunteer at the 2024 SWS Winter Meeting!

For complimentary SWS meeting registration, we ask that our attendees register and pay the registration fee. Then once you volunteer, we will reimburse you after the meeting. There will be limited opportunities to sign up to volunteer.

If you would like to volunteer at the 2024 SWS Meeting, please complete this form: https://sws.memberclicks.net/volunteer24wm


Stay Tuned for the Registration Form to Open Later This Month!

2023 SWS Election Ballot Now Open!

2023 SWS Election Ballot Closes on

November 13 at 11:59 pm EST

Please Vote Today!

BALLOT LINK

https://sws.memberclicks.net/2023swselection

Voting ends on Monday, November 13 at 11:59 pm EST

As a team, the Nominations Committee worked very hard to fulfill our mandate as stated in the Bylaws to: “—ensure that candidates presented for election represent the diversity of the organization.” In this spirit, we devoted much time, effort, and dedication to present a diverse, and inclusive slate of candidates that is representative of the diversity of our organization with regard to race, ethnicity, sexuality, class, institutions, career stage, and regions. We are pleased with the outcome, and we know you will be as well. Now is the time for you to play your part and vote for the candidates of your choice, including the two Bylaws amendments on the ballot.

Thank you from your elected Nominations Committee.
SWS Nominations Committee

  • Roberta Villalón (Past President) Nominations Committee Chair
  • Sasha Drummond-Lewis
  • Amy Stone
  • Jaime Hartless
  • Baker Rogers

Reproaction and Sociologists for Women in Society’s presents Integrating Teaching, Research, and Activism Series

You’re invited to our Integrating Teaching, Research, and Activism Series.

 

Register now for the Integrating Teaching, Research, and Activism Series.

October 18 – Teaching What We Practice

Scholar-activists, social scientists, and movement leaders discuss how they use education as a tool for liberation.

November 1 – Research as Activism

Academic researchers and movement researchers discuss how they conduct and apply research to advance social justice issues.

November 15 – Integrative Approaches in Action

Scholar-activists, applied social scientists, and movement leaders discuss how they integrate teaching/education, research, & activism.

In this virtual panel discussion series, co-sponsored by Reproaction and Sociologists for Women in Society’s (SWS), scholar activists and movement leaders will discuss how integrating teaching, research, and activism produces a more comprehensive understanding of social justice issues and how they are addressed. Attend one, two, or all three!

Register for any or all the sessions now.

We would love for you to join us,

Evonnia Woods & Heather Hvlaka

Social Action Committee Co-Chairs

New Feminist Intersections Episode: Gina Longo: Citizenship, Family, Gender, and Digital Spaces!

Feminist Intersections: A podcast created by Sociologists for Women in Society to highlight the work of feminist scholars and activists.

Listen here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1931436/13760194

From Gina: I am very pleased to announce two pieces just published for your reading pleasure.  The first is “The Internet as a Social Institution: Rethinking Concepts for Family Scholarship,” in Family Relations’ SPECIAL ISSUE: Doing Family Online. You can find the article online first (currently as open access) HERE.

The second piece was written for the London School of Economics’ US Phelan Centre is called “Immigrant spouses who want to come to the US are forced to learn to play along with the state’s idealized version of the American family” and provides an overview about the systemic inequalities embedded in the U.S. spousal reunification process. 


 

Dr. Gina Marie Longo is a feminist scholar of Digital Sociology and family reunification and is an assistant professor in the Sociology department at Virginia Commonwealth University. She received her Ph.D. from the Department of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Her research agenda contributes to knowledge about digital spaces, intersectional identities, citizenship, nationalism, and inequality with implications for the sociologies of migration, gender, race, and politics. She completed her post-doctoral research position on the Access to Justice Project at the University of Wisconsin, Madison’s Law School, which explores the challenges to self-representation that low-income, non-custodial parents experience throughout child support court. Her current project employs mixed methods to investigate how U.S. citizens negotiate immigration officials’ demands that they prove their marriages are authentic. Recently, she received an in-residence fellowship to the University of Amsterdam from the journal, Migration Politics to finish her forthcoming article, “Moral Lines of Credit: Forging Race Projects, Citizenship, and Nation on Online U.S. Spousal Reunification Forums.”S Her Gender & Society article, “Keeping it in the Family: How Gender Norms Shape U.S. Marriage Migration Politics,” has received awards for outstanding scholarship from ASA’s International Migration Section, the Eastern Sociological Association, and the University of Wisconsin’s interdisciplinary Research Center on Gender and Women and has been featured in Sage Publication’s Gender & Society Podcast, Mel Magazine, ABCNews Online, and the London School of Economics’ US Centre blog.

 

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Feminist Intersections Post Interview Blog Q&A

1. Tell us a little about you! Let us know about your pronouns, title and school, areas of interest, and anything else that defines you as a sociologist.

My name is Gina Marie Longo (she/her/hers). I am an assistant professor in the Sociology Department at Virginia Commonwealth University, which is in the heart of Richmond, VA. I am a digital sociologist who investigates how digital spaces shape gender, family, and policy with particular attention to the (re)production of power inequalities in both the virtual and physical world. I am also a proud co-founder of the Digital Sociology Lab (www.digitalsociologylab.com). Being a first gen woman with learning disabilities, my goal is to smooth the road for students and communities who have been on the margins using a social change trifecta: service, applied research for addressing social inequality, and thought-provoking dialogue through instruction. I strive to continually produce work and participate in activities that challenge and resist oppression on the basis of gender, race/ethnicity, socio-economic status, neuro-diversity, physical composition, and sexual orientation.

2. Define, in brief, your research (this is for the benefit of those who may not have listened to the podcast so that they have context for the following questions – this answer could bring them to listen to the podcast or to search for your work).

My current work investigates how U.S. citizens interpret U.S. immigration marriage fraud policies and negotiate officials’ demands for proof of “authentic” marriages to obtain their foreign spouses’ green cards. The research focuses on one of the largest English language U.S. immigration self-help forums on the Internet, consisting of over 100,000 members who have posted more than 2.2 million conversation threads. Specifically I ask how petitioners discursively define marriage fraud to make claims of relationship genuineness using gendered, racialized, and classed standards of legitimacy applied to family and sexuality. I find that as citizens try to conform to these normative expectations of ‘family,’ they engage in nation- and state-building, create subjectivities of who is a ‘real’ citizen, and participate in doing the state’s dirty work of race- and gender- policing. I argue the digital spaces serve as ethno-sexual frontiers where citizens engage in borderwork and that the Internet needs to conceptualized as a social institution to better understand its implications on family, immigration, and nation.

3. What methodology and/or methods did you use and why? What excites you about this method?

I am a qualitative scholar who uses digital research methods. I learned Python programming language for web scraping and to conduct content analysis. I use digital ethnographic observation. More recently, I have been learning sentiment and hashtag analysis. I find digital methods to be an exciting adventure. Each time I encounter a new project that requires new digital skills, I can learn just what I need to conduct it. This allows me to slowly build my programming skills and challenge myself. It is highly rewarding, and anyone can learn it!

4. What was the hardest part of conducting this research? What were your biggest obstacles?

I would say that the biggest challenge to conducting my research has been the structural inequalities that face caregivers, especially womxn caregivers, during the time of COVID. Universities have been offering extensions on the tenure-track, but it does not adequately address the severe stress and burden of trying to balance a robust career and managing a household and young children during lockdown and post-lockdown. I am very grateful for a wonderful partner who helped, but it did not mitigate the challenges completely. Of course, I recognize that I occupy a position of privilege, and that many did not have help, resources, employment, or the option to stay at home. When I think about the spectrum of hardships that we continue to face, I am more committed than ever to service work that addresses issues around childcare, elder care, housing and food insecurity, unemployment/underemployment, and reproductive justice.

5. What is the most common misperception you hear regarding your work (either your research, the field of sociology, your methods, etc.)?

  • “How do you know what happens on the Internet directly impacts ‘real life’?”
  • “You need a representative sample, which you cannot get using digital data.”
  • “Qualitative methods do not seem appropriate for such large amounts of digital data.”

As anyone on the forefront of new avenues of research, it is up to the trailblazers to justify the importance of their work and their sub-disciplinary existence, and this is a serious challenge for digital sociologists, myself included. Social science has come to digital scholarship as a serious pursuit later than other disciplinary traditions such as the Humanities, business, marketing, and journalism. However, within the last twenty years, a new generation of up-and-coming social science scholars has been pursuing their research agenda using digital spaces and data to investigate our social world. Like other previously burgeoning sub-disciplines within social sciences, digital research is still subject to more mainstream disciplinary criticism, especially

when it comes to publishing and disseminating peer-reviewed work. While the quotes above are actual reviews I have received about my own work, conversations with other digital social science scholars reveal that such commentary is hardly unique. While there is institutional support in interdisciplinary fields and in some of the subspecialties of sociology, it seems harder to break into the mainstream publication circuit as a qualitative digital scholar.

6. Research is never an individual enterprise. Who are the people you most want to thank (committee members, family, friends, colleagues, community members/organizations, etc.) who were your greatest supporters as you worked on this project?

Like raising a child, a research agenda takes a village. I could not do it without the support and (often) invisible labor of many many people. My husband, Faisal, is a wonderful love and support for me, and my beautiful children, Evanora and Ameer, keep me laughing. My mother who has recently moved in with us has been like a miracle as she cooks, cleans, and helps with childcare. My best friend in the world, Carrie Hough, keeps me sane and is not afraid to check me when necessary. My dearest writing community, the Feminist Pentagon, who include Drs. Katie Zaman, Maria Azocar, Di Wang, and Madi Pape have been my greatest source of feminist inspiration. My old grad school crew, Jason Turowetz, Rahul Mahajan, and David Schelley have been a source of laughter and consistency for years. Also, I have had the honor of working with amazing mentors who have become friends over time like Mehmet Gurses, Saskia Bonjour, Christiane Froehlich, Anne-Marie D’Aoust, Jessie Daniels, Tressie McMilliam Cottom, and the late Mark Frezzo to name a few.

Here in Richmond, I have built a new community of colleagues and friends who inspire and encourage me, including Tara Stamm, Gaby Leon-Perez, Ying Chao Kao, Josh Smith, Frankie Mastrangelo, Volkan Aytar, Jesse Goldstein, Sarasusan Corso, and Susan Bodnar-Deren, and of course all of my people at the Digital Sociology Lab.

Last, but not least, I have so much organization support out there. Sociologists for Women in Society, the National Women’s Studies Association, the ASA Gender Section, and the ASA International Migration Section have propped me up from my earliest days of graduate school.

I am grateful to each and every one of them.

7. Do you have any pets, plants, places, or hobbies that also sustained you while you completed this work? Feel free to share a photo as well!

My beautiful kitties, Buster, Sassy, and Mrs Norris have been sure to lay on my computer and papers when they thought I was at it for too long. My favorite hobbies include reading and traveling (when traveling was a thing–but I think it is making a comeback as Covid becomes endemic) and my functional fitness H.I.I.T. classes

sustain me. Increasingly I have become interested more in my spirituality and have been exploring that in my recovery community. I also have a fine array of silk plants that are sure to survive me, as I am a horrible gardner. When I am looking for some binge watching, I can’t stop watching Killing Eve, the Spanish Princess, and the Handmaid’s Tale.

8. What does it meant to be a “feminist sociologist” to you?

Being a feminist sociologist is speaking truth to power even when it is uncomfortable or frightening and it is providing a leg up to others so they can stand beside me. Being a feminist sociologist is about staying in my lane and taking a seat when it is necessary. It also means listening, especially when I make a mistake, then working to address my blindspots. It sometimes means being the single voice of dissent or assent and being a role model or support system to those who need it most. Most importantly, being a feminist sociologist is about fighting against intersectional inequalities in my personal and professional life.

9. Do you have any advice for young feminist sociologists looking to start their careers in sociology in general or in your sub-field more specifically?

Get involved in supportive organizations early and find a variety of mentors to make up your community. Do not listen to the naysayers. Grad school is often about perseverance just as much as it is learning the tools of the trade. Lastly, if you see your research interests changing, go with it. Do not hold onto an interest that no longer excites you. Move forward and grow with it.