New & Noteworthy

• Why do people think some voices “sound gay”? There’s research on that! In What Sociolinguistics Tells Us About the “Gay Voice”, guest author Engin Yolcu unpacks how “sounding” straight or gay is rooted in masculine speech norms. {3 min read}
• Check out our Media Report by Jan-Rose Davis for recent news featuring social science experts. Last week, Angela Simms on racialized wealth disparities in the middle class, Leah Binkovitz on train safety, Rena Zito on misconceptions about Tourette syndrome, and Daniel Perez G. on fragile romantic relationships. {2 min read}

From the Archives

• A new bill passed in Kansas invalidates all driver’s licenses and birth certificates that list a gender identification other than people’s assigned sex at birth. The bill gives no grace period and forces residents to pay for updated documents out of pocket. Check out this 2018 TROT by Allison Nobles for research showing how gender and sex binaries are socially constructed and politically contested. {3 min read}
• With bipartisan support, Congress just approved $9.4 billion in spending on global health. However, instead of operating through USAID and linking with global NGOs, the proposed funding is planned to be spent in deals made directly with partnering countries’ governments. Revisit this 2012 article from Kendra Dupuy, James Ron, and Aseem Prakash for context on the complexity of NGOs and foreign aid. {9 min read}

More from our Partners & Community Pages

Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies

• This week, Joe Eggers interviewed Jenny McBurney on the Save Our Signs project, which seeks to preserve historical signs, plaques, and monuments at national parks amid federal censorship and revision. {7 min read}

Council on Contemporary Families

• CCF reprinted a briefing paper by Wen Fan and Richard J. Petts on the ways remote work both enhanced and hindered gender equality during the COVID-19 pandemic. {6 min read}

First Publics

• Bailey A. Brown reflected on her experiences using a variety of classroom activities to teach about education policy. {3 min read}

Backstage with TSP

• Jan-Rose Davis is stepping in to take the lead of the Media Report! With her at the helm, we’ll continue to bring you weekly highlights of sociology and sociologists in the news.