Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about:
How journalist Lisa Selin Davis became interested in tomboys.
The questions that arise when we say the word “gender.”
The supposed freedoms and limits of being a tomboy.
Why manufacturers insist that clothing and toys and décor are “gendered.”
A discussion of the book Tomboy: The Surprisin ... Show More
Sep 16
David L Hoffmann, "Women, Gender, and Socialist Ideology in Soviet Russia" (Routledge, 2026)
Women, Gender, and Socialist Ideology in Soviet Russia (Routledge, 2026) examines the place of women in Soviet Russia from the 1917 Revolution through the post-World War II period, discussing how the Soviet construction of gender perpetuated inequality even as it dramatically e ... Show More
56m 11s
Sep 13
Leda M Perez, "Searching for Democracy: Women, Domestic Work, and Social Reproduction in Latin America" (Temple UP, 2026)
How can we achieve lasting social and political equality for women? Dr. Leda Pérez tackles this thorny question in Searching for Democracy: Women, Domestic Work, and Social Reproduction in Latin America (Temple University Press, 2026) by interrogating egalitarianism in Latin Amer ... Show More
53m 37s
Sep 12
Isabela Seong Leong Quintana, "Urban Borderlands: Multiracial Histories and Gendered Borders in Los Angeles" (UNC Press, 2026)
Los Angeles in the late nineteenth century was bustling with the rise of industrialization, but the growing labor force that propelled it, mostly consisting of Mexican and Chinese men, was met with exclusion policies and deportation campaigns. Nevertheless, Chinese and Mexican wo ... Show More
48m 23s
Jan 2013
Why are some girls called tomboys?
<p>What is the etymology of "tomboy," and how has it evolved from meaning a whiskey-drinking man to a rough-and-tumble girl? Tune in to learn more about pop culture, tomboys, sissies and gender identity in this episode.</p><p> </p> Learn more about your ad-choices at <a href="htt ... Show More
28m 5s
Dec 2018
The Science Of Being Transgender
Recently we’ve been hearing a lot about transgender identity. That made us wonder… what makes us the gender that we are? And what should you do if your kid doesn’t fit the mold? To find out, we talked with endocrinologist Dr. Joshua Safer, psychologist Dr. Laura Edwards-Leeper, a ... Show More
38m 49s