Maura Kelly

Occupational Gender Segregation, Globalization, and Gender Earnings Inequality in U.S. Metropolitan Areas:

Previous research on gender-based economic inequality has emphasized occupational segregation as the leading explanatory factor for the gender wage gap. Yet the globalization of the U.S. economy has affected gender inequality in fundamental ways and potentially diminished the influence of occupational gender segregation. We examine whether occupational gender segregation continues to be the main determinant of gender earnings inequality and to what extent globalization processes have emerged as important determinants of inequality between women’s and men’s earnings. We study factors contributing to the gender earnings ratio as well as the median earnings of men and women for 271 U.S. metropolitan areas. The results indicate that occupational segregation is still the leading determinant of gender earnings inequality, that its effects are only slightly diminished by the presence of globalization, and that various aspects of the global economy independently influence the gender earnings gap.

Virginity Loss Narratives in “Teen Drama” Television Programs

“Teen drama” television programs use sexual scripts that provide a framework for narrating virginity loss (Gagnon & Simon, 1973). Drawing on the work of Carpenter (2005), this study identifies the following sexual scripts in virginity-loss narratives: (a) the abstinence script, which places a high value on virginity and emphasizes delaying virginity loss; (b) the urgency script, which defines virginity as a stigma and virginity loss as necessary to maintain social status and affirm gendered identity; and (c) the management script, which suggests teenagers’ sexual behavior is inevitable and focuses on managing the physical, social, and emotional risks associated with virginity loss. Reliance on different scripts resulted in varied meanings of virginity, characteristics of the storylines, consequences of virginity loss, and implications for sexually healthy messages. The narratives included positive components, such as contraception use and portrayals of consensual sex, but also contained problematic elements, such as a lack of female desire and underrepresentation of racial, ethnic, and sexual minority characters. This article suggests that an analysis of the sexual scripts used in virginity-loss narratives provides insight into both the messages about virginity provided to teenagers as well as the social construction of the multiple meanings of virginity.

Regulating the Reproduction and Mothering of Poor Women: The Controlling Image of the Welfare Mother in Television News Coverage of Welfare Reform

This analysis demonstrates that the controlling image of the welfare mother was ubiquitous in television news coverage of U.S. welfare reform from 1992–2007. This controlling image consists of racist stereotypes of women on public assistance as childlike, hyperfertile, lazy, and bad mothers. In the discourse on welfare reform, these stereotypes were deployed to support policies intended to control poor womens reproduction and mothering. The welfare mother image was central to framing the debate in terms of the responsibility of public assistance recipients rather than the structural constraints that lead to families to require public assistance.

Doing Housework, Redoing Gender: Queer Couples Negotiate the Household Division of Labor

Drawing on interviews with 30 queer participants who are currently cohabitating with a partner, we examine accounts of the negotiation of the household division of labor. We expand the scope of previous research to assess housework and child care practices among both sexual and gender minorities. We find that queer couples’ accounts of their arrangements are shaped by time availability and personal preferences as well as broader social context, such as labor force participation and citizenship. We suggest the division of domestic labor in these queer couples represents an opportunity for redoing gender through challenging normative gender roles and creating alternatives for how gender shapes social life.

Pride at Work: Organizing at the Intersection of the Labor and LGBT Movements

Collaborations between labor and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) organizations represent opportunities for both movements to increase their membership base, expand their circle of influence, and more fully embrace an intersectional framework for understanding social and economic justice. Drawing from interviews and participation with Pride at Work, an LGBT labor organization, we explore how coalitions that include LGBT and labor organizations can potentially benefit and strengthen both the labor movement and the movement for LGBT rights.

Feminist Identity, Feminist Politics U.S. Feminists’ Attitudes toward Social Policies

Feminist scholars and activists have endorsed a broad and intersectional political agenda that addresses multiple dimensions of inequality, such as gender, sexuality, race/ethnicity, and class. We examine whether or not this perspective is also held by self-identified feminists in the general public. Drawing on public opinion polls from 2007 to 2009, we assess self-identified feminists’ attitudes toward a range of social policies. We find that after controlling for sociodemographic factors and political ideology, feminist identity is associated with progressive attitudes on policies related to gender and sexuality (e.g., abortion) as well as policies related to other social justice issues (e.g., immigration, health care). We also find some interactions between feminist identity and gender, age, education, and political ideology, suggesting some heterogeneity in feminists’ political attitudes. Overall, these findings suggest that feminists in the general public support an intersectional social justice agenda rather than a narrow focus on gender issues.

Transmobilities: mobility, harassment, and violence experienced by transgender and gender nonconforming public transit riders in Portland, Oregon

Abstract This research endeavours to fill a conceptual gap in the social science literature on gender, public space, and urban mobilities by exploring how transgender and gender nonconforming individuals experience public transit. Although previous research has surveyed gender minorities about harassment and discrimination in a range of environments, little is known about the quality or content of these experiences. Drawing from 25 interviews with transgender and gender nonconforming individuals in Portland, Oregon, this article finds that gender minorities experience frequent harassment while engaging with the public transit system. We articulate the concept of transmobilites to describe the ways that transgender and gender nonconforming individuals experience a form of mobility that is altered, shaped, and informed by a broader cultural system that normalizes violence and harassment towards gender minorities. We conclude that gender minorities have unequal access to safe and accessible public transportation when harassment is widespread, normalized, and when policies prohibiting discrimination remain unenforced on urban public transit.