Credit: NPR (See photo for additional credits)
Credit: NPR (See photo for additional credits)

See Where Women Have the Most and Least Political Representation in the U.S.
Megan Verlee and Caroline Ballard, NPR
Local elections almost never receive the sort of attention they ought to — not from the press, and more importantly, not from the voters. That’s troubling, since those entry-level races have huge implications for gender representation in elected offices at all levels. In addition to looking at the history of women in local politics and examining where states fall on the continuum of female inclusion, Verlee and Ballard also discuss the issues facing women running for these seats. As they note, “One challenge that female candidates often encounter is getting the encouragement to run in the first place.”


Mothers of Black Victims Emerge as a Force for Hillary Clinton
Amy Chozick, The New York Times
Some observers say that Hillary Clinton’s strength with black voters is due, in part, to her involvement with a group called “Mothers of the Movement.” These are the mothers of Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice and other black people who have lost their lives to gun violence or police brutality. But her relationship with these women isn’t just a campaign strategy. Even before Clinton formally announced her intention to run for president, she was meeting privately with them to hear their stories and get their counsel. Chozick’s piece digs into the details of her mother-to-mother connection with them, and how the women have, in turn, joined to galvanized their communities into action.


The Women Abandoned to Their Online Abusers
Sandra Laville, Julia Carrie Wong and Elle Hunt, The Guardian
Though the Internet has opened up new worlds of information and diversity of thought, it has unfortunately also become a breeding ground for abusive speech and behavior — much of it aimed at women. This well-reported and sobering project delves into the horrid abuse faced by some women online, in the U.S. and abroad. It also examines the weak legal protections that often leave women to fend for themselves. Other articles in this series have also been published, including one on Internet comment sections and another on violent speech faced by women online.


“I Had So Many Advantages, and I Barely Made It”
Tracy Chou, Quartz
The technology world is remarkably tough for women to navigate — even for those who came to it with every advantage. Chou tells the story of how she sought to break in, aided by a potent combination of familial connections to the STEM world, internships at Google and Facebook, and an engineering degree from Stanford University. But as she pursued her dreams, she also encountered rampant sexism that made her question the viability of a long-term career in the field. Luckily, she found her place at Pinterest. “I had so many advantages — and I still barely made it,” she says. “Too many girls and women cannot say the same.”

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