We all know the story: In 1888, in London’s East End, Jack the Ripper killed five sex workers. And in the popular imagination, Jack is the center—and his victims, as sex workers, are dismissed as if they somehow deserved what they got or were asking for it.
Author: Susan Shaw
Susan M. Shaw, Ph.D., is a Professor of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Oregon State University.
Our Unalienable Rights Include Freedom of—and from—Religion
The danger of Trump’s Commission on Unalienable Rights is that its understanding of religious liberty extends only to a certain kind of religion, conservative Christianity.
Family Violence is Fueling the Trafficking of Yorùbá Girls in Nigeria
We often think poverty is what makes girls vulnerable to sex trafficking, but new research suggests another set of related factors may play a significant role: family dysfunction, domestic violence and abuse.
Kicking Glass: Making Way for Women’s Leadership in Sports
Three boundary-breaking women in sports came together at a “Kicking Glass” event hosted at Oregon State University to talk about the challenges that remain—and the victories they’ve won for women.
For the Love of the Game
It’s my favorite time of the year: NCAA women’s basketball tournament season, not to be confused with March Madness. That moniker belongs only to the men’s playoff. The women’s tournament doesn’t have a spiffy name, or televised coverage of games in their entirety.
An Open Letter to My LGBTQ Siblings in the United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church voted this week to affirm the denomination’s anti-gay positions and rejected a plan that would have made LGBTQ inclusion an issue for local churches to decide. This is my response—as a feminist theologian, a queer woman and a Baptist in exile.
From Sexism to Sex Abuse in Southern Baptist Churches
I grew up Southern Baptist. I hold degrees from a Southern Baptist seminary. I taught at a Southern Baptist college. And I left the Southern Baptist Convention nearly 25 years ago because of their misogyny, anti-feminism and homophobia—but now, with headlines emerging about widespread abuse in the church, I feel compelled to offer an insider/outsider perspective.
In the Wake of #NunsToo, It’s Time for Repentance and Conversion
The sexual abuse of nuns is not the problem. It’s the symptom. The problem is patriarchy—and the church’s participation in, benefit from and maintenance of sexist structures of power.
Neither Feminist Nor Christian
The so-called “Christian” Right has continued to attack the LGBT community—and some folks who call themselves feminists are abetting them.
Toward a Better Biblical Understand of Gender, Sex and Patriarchy
“The Church of England welcomes and encourages the unconditional affirmation of trans people,” declares new guidance for Anglican clergy, “equally with all people, within the body of Christ, and rejoices in the diversity of that body into which all Christians have been baptised by one Spirit.”