iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Laurel Westbrook @laurel-westbrook.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

I'm honored to be giving the Lucy Somerville Howorth Lecture and serving as the keynote speaker for the Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies Student Research Conference at the University of Mississippi tomorrow. isomstudentgenderconference.org/keynote

isomstudentgenderconference.org

Speaker — Isom Student Research Conference

Keynote Speaker

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Laurel Westbrook @laurel-westbrook.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

I'm so excited that this excellent book is now out in the world! Jennifer Randles does the important work of examining the structural forces that create "diaper dilemmas" and demonstrates how the heavy and hidden burden of navigating them falls on mothers. w/ @jrandles.bsky.social

ucpress.edu

Living Diaper to Diaper by Jennifer Randles - Paper

Scholarship is a powerful tool for changing how people think, plan, and govern. By giving voice to bright minds and bold ideas, we seek to foster understanding and drive progressive change.

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Laurel Westbrook @laurel-westbrook.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

And, I know that saying that the quality was high is what folks are "supposed" to say when not accepting a paper, but it's not lip-service in this case. These proposals were SOOOO GOOD. Selecting just 10 was incredibly hard.

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Laurel Westbrook @laurel-westbrook.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

We received over 45 submissions for this call for papers (!!!). The quality was astoundingly high, making it very difficult to pick just 10 articles to include. It's exciting to see such great new work in this area and we hope to see all of the submissions in print in the near future.

russellsage.org

Request for Articles - Gender Inequality Beyond Categories: Femininity, Masculinity and Gender Expression | Russell Sage Foundation

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Laurel Westbrook @laurel-westbrook.bsky.social · 06/10/2025

Gender and inequality scholars: The submission deadline is approaching for the @russellsagefdn.bsky.social journal issue on "Gender Inequality Beyond Categories: Femininity, Masculinity and Gender Expression." 2-page abstracts due 10/15. The 2nd GSS data release expected 10/10.

rsfjournal.org

Current Calls for Articles | RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences

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Laurel Westbrook @laurel-westbrook.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

Check out this Call for Articles for a RSF issue featuring research that uses gradational measures of gender, such as the scales on the 2024 GSS. Please consider submitting a proposal by 5pm EST on October 15, 2025. www.russellsage.org/request-arti...

russellsage.org

Request for Articles - Gender Inequality Beyond Categories:

CALL FOR ARTICLES - RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences - Issue on Gender Inequality Beyond Categories: Femininity, Masculinity And Gender Expression

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Stanford Sociology @stanfordsoc.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

NEW! Call for papers for @russellsagefdn.bsky.social journal issue on "Gender Inequality Beyond Categories: Femininity, Masculinity and Gender Expression" edited by @stanfordsoc.bsky.social's Aliya Saperstein, @laurel-westbrook.bsky.social, & Bianca Wilson. www.russellsage.org/request-arti...

russellsage.org

Request for Articles - Gender Inequality Beyond Categories:

CALL FOR ARTICLES - RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences - Issue on Gender Inequality Beyond Categories: Femininity, Masculinity And Gender Expression

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Laurel Westbrook @laurel-westbrook.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

Thank you! I'm so excited! I look forward to meeting your colleague!

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Laurel Westbrook @laurel-westbrook.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

Thank you!!! It's an honor to be part of that group :)

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Laurel Westbrook @laurel-westbrook.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

Thank you!!! I'm excited to be rejoining the UC System :). I hope everything is going well for you at Berkeley!

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Laurel Westbrook @laurel-westbrook.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

Same to you!!!!! I just saw!!!! Huge congrats!!!!

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Laurel Westbrook @laurel-westbrook.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

I am absolutely overjoyed to be joining the Sociology Department at @ucsantabarbara.bsky.social along with @aminghaziani.bsky.social. There are so many amazing scholars at UCSB, and I am honored to become their colleague.

Tristan Bridges posted on Facebook: Big year for our department at UCSB! So many exceptional applicants for our Sexualities position. We could have interviewed 20 and still been forced to leave out exceptionally incredible scholars. It's a statement about the field that there is too much talent for the number of positions available.
We ended up asking for and hiring two scholars I deeply admire - Amin Ghaziani and Laurel Westbrook. They both bring really exciting expertise to the department and I'm very excited to work with both of them and welcome them to UC Santa Barbara.
Very excited for this renewed investment in UCSB Sociology sexualities and gender scholarship!

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Democracy Forward @democracyforward.org · 24/04/2025

In a big win for public schools, colleges, teachers and students, a court ruled today in our case to block the Trump administration from defunding schools nationwide that teach lessons with references to race or racism.

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Amy L Stone @amylstone1.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

So happy that the website is up!!! Check out the free access introduction by Krystale Littlejohn and myself!

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Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com · 28/02/2025

1. Major news: Remember those "Biological men"/"Biological Women" signs at University of Cincinnati? They have come down thanks to MASSIVE student protests at the college, which have continued. The latest from S. Baum. Subscribe to support our journalism. www.erininthemorning.com/p/university...

erininthemorning.com

University of Cincinnati Protests Lead to "Biological" Bathroom Signs Reversal

“Deny, delay, fight back.”

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Laurel Westbrook @laurel-westbrook.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

I'm so proud of ASA for taking this stand and so grateful to folks in ASA leadership for their work on this.

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American Sociological Association @asanews.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

The ASA, American Federation of Teachers @AFT, and AFT-Maryland, facilitated by @DemocracyForward, have filed a complaint today in federal court in Maryland challenging the “Dear Colleague Letter” published by the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights.

bit.ly

Educators Sue to Challenge Trump Administration's Efforts to Weaponize Civil Rights Laws, Attack Educational Programs and Student Opportunities - Democracy Forward

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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 07/02/2025

He's running our country like one of his casinos, where the lights and the noise keep people from noticing the grime (and the crime) all around them, and where the free buffet and the chance at a big payoff are designed to make people forget that the house always wins.

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Prudence Carter @prulcarter.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

Michael Burawoy, consummate sociologist, influential thinker, theorist, exemplary scholar, professor & fierce advocate of students, principled activist, former ASA president, a shockingly cruel tragedy has taken you too soon.😔 Your legacy is long and deep. May you rest in peace and power. 🙏🏾🕊️

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Dan Hirschman @asociologist.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

Burawoy wrote this just last year on how sociologists must engage around Palestine: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

journals.sagepub.com

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

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Dylan Paré, PhD (they/them) @mxdylanp.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

Thread with resources for fighting back against anti-transgender beliefs and policies.

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Laurel Westbrook @laurel-westbrook.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

For folks looking to educate friends and family about this, Kristen and I wrote a piece for Contexts that is open access and sharing it might be helpful. journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.... (🧵4/6)

journals.sagepub.com

Bathroom Battlegrounds and Penis Panics - Kristen Schilt, Laurel Westbrook, 2015

How transgender rights legislation got framed as “bathroom bills,” with seemingly everyone trying to mark their territory.

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Laurel Westbrook @laurel-westbrook.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

The best way to push back against this rhetoric that I have found is to highlight 1) how both of those beliefs are false and 2) that there is no data to support the claim that respecting transgender people’s gender identity increases the risk of assault for cisgender people. (🧵3/6)

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Laurel Westbrook @laurel-westbrook.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

At the core of this is a belief that people assigned female at birth (AFAB) are inherently weak and vulnerable and that people assigned male at birth (AMAB) are inherently predatory and dangerous. (🧵2/6)

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Laurel Westbrook @laurel-westbrook.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

Trump's Executive Order about sex and gender rehashes a lot of the anti-transgender rhetoric that Kristen Schilt and I wrote about 10 years ago. (🧵1/6)

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Contexts Magazine @contexts.org · 31/12/2024

We're ending the year as we hope to begin the next: by centering joy, flourishing, and human connection. First up in our end-of-year readings is "Transgender Joy: Flipping the Script of Marginality" by @laurel-westbrook.bsky.social and stef m. shuster: tinyurl.com/featransjoy

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

Writing is thinking. It’s not a part of the process that can be skipped; it’s the entire point.

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Dr. Sandra Duffy Golden @sandraduffy.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

Here is the starter post of my #trans studies resources thread, featuring books. Up next, papers. TransReads is a good site for finding free resources for difficult-to-find books, but as always I would recommend supporting the authors if you can. #AcademicSky

Trans studies starter list (books)
The Transgender Studies Reader 1 and 2 (and Remix)
These are collections of some of the classic texts in trans studies. Remix is a recent one (2022) with a lot of the highlights in it so if you can get that one, it’s good .
The Emergence of Trans - Ruth Pearce et al
TERF Wars - Pearce et al
Non-Binary Genders - Ben Vincent
Transgender Rights - Currah, Minter, and Juang
Gender Trouble; Undoing Gender; Who’s Afraid of Gender? - Judith Butler
Feminism Against Cisness - Heaney et al
Normal Life - Dean Spade

Black on Both Sides - C. Riley Snorton
Black Trans Feminism - Marquis Bey
Transgender Marxism - Gleeson and O’Rourke
Transgender History - Susan Stryker
Histories of the Transgender Child; A Short History of Transmisogyny - Jules Gill-Peterson
Whipping Girl; Sexed Up - Julia Serano
Before We Were Trans - Kit Heyam
The Transgender Issue - Shon Faye
Captive Genders - Eric Stanley and Nat Smith

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Laurel Westbrook @laurel-westbrook.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

I'm so excited to be joining the editorial board of the new @asanews.bsky.social journal, Sex & Sexualities! This new journal makes it so that the excellent work being done by sexualities scholars in sociology has a space to thrive. Please submit to the journal once submissions are open.

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Contexts Magazine @contexts.org · 21/11/2024

From the Contexts archives: ➡️ "Bathroom Battlegrounds and Penis Panics," by Kristen Schilt and @laurel-westbrook.bsky.social (2015) (journals.sagepub.com/doi/epdf/10....) ➡️ "The Hidden Privilege in 'Potty Politics'," by Alexander K. Davis (2017) (journals.sagepub.com/doi/epdf/10....)

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Laurel Westbrook @laurel-westbrook.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

4) Finally, we need to challenge mainstream narratives of trans women as "deceptive gay men" who "trick" straight men into "gay sex." To do this, we must speak out against such representations and encourage and celebrate media showing trans women as desirable romantic partners.

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Laurel Westbrook @laurel-westbrook.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

3) Highlight Transgender Joy and Celebrate the Living We need to balance mourning the dead with celebrating the living. Centering the joy of being trans provides fuel for activism and reduces transphobia. Joy is a vital form of resistance against oppression. journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

journals.sagepub.com

Transgender Joy: Flipping the Script of Marginality - Laurel Westbrook, Stef M. Shuster, 2023

Though it is vital to attend to oppression and inequality, telling stories about trans joy helps scholars, trans people, and the public understand the full comp...

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Laurel Westbrook @laurel-westbrook.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

We also know that trans women of color, particularly Black trans women, are at disproportionate risk for violence. This means that we must address intersecting inequalities relating to race and two dimensions of gender (i.e., against femininity AND against trans people).

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Laurel Westbrook @laurel-westbrook.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

This includes addressing discrimination against trans people in schools, the workplace, housing, and social services, and rejection of trans people by their families. It also means decriminalizing or legalizing sex work.

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Laurel Westbrook @laurel-westbrook.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

2) Craft Solutions to Address Patterns of Violence We know that trans victims of violence are more likely to be poor and engaged in survival sex work. As such, to prevent violence, we should address factors that push trans people into poverty and we should work to make sex work safer.

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