I am very honored to be elected to chair the section this year. This is a very vibrant and engaged section, still the ASA’s largest with over 1000 members. I’m having a great time meeting new people and learning about exciting new developments in sex and gender scholarship. I had no idea how much work was involved in running this section before now. That’s a testament to the skill and commitment of my predecessor, Judy Howard, and to the dedication of so many others who have made this section great. Our section depends on the volunteers who serve on committees, and especially those who maintain the infrastructure of the organization: our newsletter editor Margaret Greer, secretary/treasurer Jocelyn Hollander, and web generator Peter Levin. Thank you all for the work that you do!

In this issue you will find reports from the August 2000 meetings of the ASA and affiliated groups in Washington, DC and also the announcement of our section program for 2001. We will have six sessions next year in Anaheim. The session topics look fabulous, even if I do say so myself. These topics were generated from an email I sent out to the membership soliciting ideas for the annual program. I received over 50 responses, so everyone’s requests couldn’t be accommodated, but I think (and hope!) that most members will be happy with the final selections. One session will be devoted to our refereed roundtables, as is our tradition. I encourage you to enter your name into our database of people willing to serve as discussants for these (see p. 5 for a call for discussants).

The issue also reports on the winners of the 2000 section awards, and provides details on how to nominate works for next year’s awards. I’m looking forward to reading the award winning books and articles, and undoubtedly you will too after you read the committees’ enthusiastic reports. I hope you will consider nominating a book or paper for these honors. If you’ve read a book or article recently that significantly altered or enhanced your understanding of sex and gender, send a letter describing it to the chair of the book or article award committee. You might also consider emailing me your current favorites, which we can then list in the "New and Noteworthy" column in future newsletters. Cutting edge dissertation research should be brought to the attention of the Hacker and Levine award committees to honor and encourage the next generation of sex and gender scholars.

This section is a clearinghouse for ideas and events relating to the sociology of sex and gender, and I am committed to keeping it open and accessible to all members. There are lots of ways to get involved. I welcome your suggestions for articles and columns in future newsletters. One of my goals is to put our newsletter on our web site. Peter Levin has been working tirelessly to develop and update our site, and hopefully by the time you read this is will be up and running (www.asanet.org/sections/sexgend.html). Most of you are well aware of our new email list-serve, which has been operational for about a year now. I have been using the listserv lately to inform you of important sections events and opportunities. (If you’re a member and you’re not on the list but would like to be, or if you’re on the list and want to be taken off it, please contact the ASA with your request at infoservice@asanet.org). In addition to the listserv, the ASA is introducing a new "threaded discussion" feature on its web site (www.asanet.org), which has great potential for facilitating the exchange of ideas among section members. Stay tuned for details.

Sally Hacker Graduate Student Paper Award:

The Sex and Gender Section’s annual award for the best paper by a graduate student is called the Sally Hacker Award. The 1999-2000 committee members, who were elected by the section members, included Dana Britton (Chair), Joyce Neilsen, Irene Browne, and Nancy Whittier.

This year’s winner of the Hacker Award is Abigail Saguy, who holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University and is now at UCLA. Her paper, which represents the very best of what lies ahead for sex and gender scholars, is titled: "Sexual Harassment in France and the United States: Activists and Public Figures Defend their Definitions." Saguy’s work draws on the concept of cultural repertoires to make sense of the construction of the "problem" of sexual harassment in France and in the U.S. Her work employs content analysis of media depictions of sexual harassment in both countries, as well as interviews with French and American corporate officials, activists, and public figures. As to the last category, her work certainly covers the spectrum of opinion. Among the American public figures she interviewed were Catherine MacKinnon, Camille Paglia and Phyllis Schlafly. Saguy finds that the French and the Americans draw on distinct sets of cultural knowledges and assumptions ­ cultural repertoires ­ in their framing of the issue of sexual harassment. In the U.S., definitions of sexual harassment have been informed by "rhetoric about the market, minority group-based concepts of inequality, productivity and professionalism," all of which come together to frame the problem chiefly as one of employment discrimination. In France, sexual harassment is more likely to be seen as an act of sexual violence, as activists mobilize "arguments about interpersonal violence and the abuse of power" in their more general framing of the issue. This paper has been published in a volume entitled, Rethinking Comparative Cultural Sociology: Politics and Repertoires of Evaluation in France and the U.S., edited by Michele Lamont and Laurent Thevenot. The larger work is forthcoming from the University of California Press.

Papers are currently being accepted for the 2001 Sally Hacker Graduate Student Paper Award. The paper should deal with a theoretical issue or empirical problem important to the field of sex and gender. It should be based on a dissertation that is still in progress or was completed and approved no earlier than January 1999. The deadline for nomination is February 23, 2001. Please send letters of nomination and four copies of the paper to the chair of the selection committee: Irene Browne, Dept. of Sociology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30322.

Martin Levine Dissertation Award:

The Martin Levine Memorial Dissertation Award was established to honor the memory of Martin Levine, who died of AIDS in 1993. It provides $3,000 to a graduate student (and $500 to an honorable mention) in the final stages of dissertation research and writing, who is working on those topics to which Levine devoted his career: 1) the sociology of sexualities, 2) the sociology of homosexuality, and 3)HIV/AIDS research. The 2000 winner of the Levine Award is Kim Richman, U.C. Irvine for "Judicial Decision Making in Custody Cases Involving Gay and Lesbian Parents, 1952-1999: A Study of Indeterminacy in Legal Rationales and Outcomes." Richman’s dissertation examines the indeterminacy in the processes and outcomes of judicial decision-making in child custody involving lesbian and gay parents. The study investigates judicial decision-making as a mechanism that interprets, cements and makes law that affects the lives of homosexual parents and their children by introducing a significant element of instability in their family lives, relationships and legal existence.

Honorable Mention this years goes to Gina Masequesmay, U.C.L.A., for her dissertation, "Becoming American: Negotiating Multiple Identities in a Queer, Ethnic Support Group." This study of the intersection of race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality examines the everyday construction of identities in a support group for Vietnamese lesbians, bisexual women and female-to-male transgenders. Using participant observation and interviews, the dissertation explores the everyday identity politics of a group of queer Vietnamese immigrants as they try to create a support network based on multiple marginalized identities.

Those wishing to be considered for the 2001 Martin Levine Award should submit five copies of their approved dissertation proposal, a letter of application indicating how their work adheres to the mandate for the award, and a letter from the chair of their dissertation committee about the work to the chair of the award committee: Michael Kimmel, Dept. of Sociology, SUNY, Stony Brook, NY 11794. (This letter must state that the applicant has advanced to candidacy.) Applications are due on April 15 of each year.

Distinguished Book Award:

This award honors those who make a significant contribution to the field of sex and Gender through a book on the cutting edge of sociological inquiry. Members of the 2000 Distinguished Book Award Committee were Julia Curry Rodriquez (chair), Monica Casper, Steven Epstein and Diane Wolf. The Committee announced two winners this year: Linda Blum and Nicola Beisel. Belinda Robnett was awarded honorable mention.

Linda Blum, At the Breast: Ideologies of Breastfeeding and Motherhood in the Contemporary United States. Boston: Beacon Press, 1999.

This lucid and smart book uses a very particular topic ­ contested attitudes toward breastfeeding ­ to argue for the centrality of class and race in understanding gender relations and body politics. The book is well-written, intelligent but accessible and thoroughly engaging. It is theoretically and substantively rich, drawing attention to intersections of gender with race, class and sexuality; to representations of women’s bodies; to maternal body politics which are highly charged with race and class; and to the power of science, medicine and the media to shape women’s lives. Blum locates the shifttoward a notion that "breast is best" within the broader politics of family, sexuality, morality and the workplace. Methodologically employing qualitative research, including multi-site ethnography, Blum’s analysis is compelling, important, and politically relevant. It also reminds sociology of the importance of embodiment and "reproduction" at all levels.

Nicola Beisel. Imperiled Innocents: Anthony Comstock and Family Reproduction in Victorian America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1997.

This is an intellectually daring, well-researched, well-argued book that overturns conventional wisdom about the "moral panics" that seem to target gender and sexual nonconformity. By examining moral reform movements in the late 19th century, Beisel makes a convincing argument that debates about abortion, contraception and obscenity played an important role in the reproduction of class inequalities. At the same time, Beisel links these debates about morality to the politics of immigration and ethnicity. On the one hand, Beisel’s work argues for the significance and relevance of Bourdieu’s theorization of class and culture for understanding gender, sexuality, the family, the body and the politics of morality. On the other hand, Beisel offers an important critique of Bourdieu for paying too little attention to gender in his theorization of social inequality.

Honorable Mention: Belinda Robnett, How long? How long?: African-American Women in the Struggle for Civil Rights. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.

This is an excellent book; moving, well-written, sociologically relevant and very important. Robnett offers a compelling account of the participation of Black women in the Civil Rights movement, suggesting that gender as much as race and class was a crucial factor in generating political consciousness. Focusing on the emotional, political and other work that Black women did, both as leaders and as organizers, Robnett explores the social relations that shaped their actions. Her analysis challenges various movement mobilization theories, drawing attention to gender, race and class constraints as well as spontaneity and emotion in the formation and sustaining of movements. She broadens our understanding of the Civil Rights movement in small cities and rural communities; of the relationships between Black men and Black women in SNCC; and of the differences in Black and White women’s experiences in the movement. Robnett’s book is theoretically and methodologically sophisticated, elegantly written, and refreshingly accessible. It is relevant to sociological studies of gender, race and social movements, as well as culture and organizations; to African-American scholarship; and to twentieth-century history. Robnett’s epilogue explores lessons from the past for current organizing in Black communities.

The 2001 committee for the Sex and Gender Distinguished Book Award is currently accepting nominations of outstanding and innovative books published in 1998, 1999 or 2000. Authors need not be sociologists. Edited collections are not eligible. To nominate a book for this award, please send a two page letter explaining how the book makes a significant contribution to the sociology of sex and gender to the chair of the committee, Christine Williams, Dept. of Sociology, University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712. Self-nominations are accepted. The deadline for nominations is February, 15, 2001.

Distinguished Article Award:

This award honors those who make a significant contribution to the understanding of sex and gender through an article or chapter on the cutting edge of sociological inquiry. The 2000 Distinguished Article Award committee (chaired by Nancy Matthews, and including Susan Farrell, Karen Pyke and Lisa Cubbins) selected Laura L. Miller’s article, "Not Just Weapons of the Weak: Gender Harassment as a Form of Protest for Army Men" published in 1997 in Social Psychological Quarterly. Miller analyzes how and why men in the army, who are in a dominant position both in society as a whole and in that particular institutions, adopt strategies of protest that have been associated with less powerful groups; what James C. Scott called the "weapons of the weak." Miller offers a finely textured, empirically powerful exploration of this paradox, using rich data drawn from multiple methods and phases of data collection. She significantly advances our understanding of the dynamics of gender, addressing its complexity as it is entangled with the multiple hierarchies in which we live: race, class, age, occupation and work organizations. Miller’s work walks the walk of all our recent talk about intersections of coexisting hierarchies, showing how they play out in the army. In addition, this work illuminates how thoroughly people’s perception of their power can differ from their objective, structural position, and how profoundly perception influences behavior. The article also offers important and sobering insights into the unintended consequences of organizational policies to promote gender and racial equality: As the official culture becomes less tolerant of sexism and racism, the protests of groups losing their privileged status goes underground, where it remains a debilitating force, but is harder to counter. Miller finds that "many men hold their tongues in public, but complain among themselves and retaliate with gender harassment" (p. 49).

Nominations are currently being accepted for the 2001 Distinguished Article Award. Articles or chapters published in 1998, 1999 or 2000 will be considered. Authors need not be sociologists and may be published in journals associated with disciplines other than sociology. Self-nominations are accepted. To submit a nomination, please send four copies of the article and a two page letter explaining why the article makes a significant contribution to the sociology of sex and gender to the chair of the committee, Jennifer Pierce, American Studies, 104 Scott Hall, 72 Pleasant Ave., SE, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455.

1. "Crossing Gender, Race, Ethnic, Class and National Borders Against the Right-Wing Backlash" (Co-sponsored with Race-Class-Gender Section). Organizer: M. Bahati Kuumba, Women’s Research and Resource Center, Spelman College, 350 Spelman Lane, SW, Box 115, Atlanta, GA 30314. 404-215-2772. kuumba@spelman.edu

2. "Interrogating Sociology: Gender & Sexuality in Global Contexts." Organizers (send one copy to each): Paola Bacchetta, Dept. of Geography and Women’s Studies Program, 1469 Patterson Office Tower, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40507. 869-257-7356. p.bacchetta@worldnet.att.net. And: Frances Hasso, Women’s Studies and Sociology, Oberlin College, 115 Rice Hall, 10 North Professor Street, Oberlin, OH 44074. 440-775-6783. frances.hasso@oberlin.edu.

3. "Gender, Science and Technology" (Co-sponsored with the Science, Knowledge & Technology Section). Organizer: Mary Frank Fox, School of History, Technology and Society, Georgia Institute of Technology, 214 DM Smith Bldg., Atlanta, GA 30332. 404-894-1818. mary.fox@hts.gatech.edu.

4. "The Gender and Sexual Politics of Children’s Popular Culture; or, Should you take your children to Disneyland?" Organizer: Michael Messner, Dept. of Sociology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, 213-740-3533. messner@almaak.usc.edu.

5. "Gender and Sexuality in the Workplace." Organizer: Patti Giuffre, Dept. of Sociology, Southwest Texas State University, 601 University Dr., San Marcos, TX 78666, 512-245-8983. pg07@swt.edu.

6. Refereed Roundtables. Organizers: Christine Williams, Ada Cheng and Rana Emerson, Dept. of Sociology, University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712, 512-232-6321. clw@la.utexas.edu. Those wishing to serve as discussants for the Roundtables should contact Christine Williams.

OTHER ASA SESSIONS OF INTEREST TO SECTION MEMBERS

Sociology of Reproduction: Practices, Experiences and Discourses Session Co-Organizers: Jackie Litt, Iowa State University and Christine Morton, University of California, Los Angeles. Contact: Jackie Litt, Dept. of Sociology, Iowa State University, U 317A, East Hall, Ames, IA 50011. 515-294-8879 phone, 515-294-2302 fax. Substantive Focus of Panel: This panel will bring together scholars who situate reproduction as a major theoretical and conceptual focus for generating sociological perspectives on social change, social movements, culture, deviance, race, gender, sexuality and family. In addition to these, bio-engineering, the new genetics, welfare reform, and global reproductive policy are only some of the sites where reproduction has emerged as a focus of social concern and regulation, and political contestation.Our intention in this panel is to identify the nature of these new political contests and social structures and examine their implications for women’s lives across the globe. Reproductive strategies, interests and decisions are the sites of struggle not only or even primarily between women and men, but across differently situated groups of women and nation states. Sociologists have much to contribute to understanding how the social relations of gender, race, and class structure reproductive events and meanings. The problem for theorists is to show how reproductive technologies are situated in and affect the social relations and practices that organize the experience of pregnancy and childbirth. The panel will also address an expanded definition of reproduction, which goes beyond the conventional focus on fertility, pregnancy, and childbirth to include the social relations of mothering and care work. Increasingly, scholars are identifying the relations between reproductive policy and practice and the social practices of motherhood, although it is still the case that the work of motherhood is rarely conceptualized as an issue of reproduction. Thus, a second interest in this panel is to examine critically the limitations of a sociology of reproduction that has been directed toward the biological contests surrounding reproduction. The panel will address issues including, but not necessarily limited to:

1) The globalization of reproductive practices and regulations

2) The conflicting meanings and contradictions of reproduction in public and academic discourse

3) The meanings of reproductive practices for women and those with whom they interact

4) The change within social and professional relationships emerging out of increased medicalization of reproductive practices

5) Strategies for activists and policy makers for influencing and formulating reproductive policies that are sensitive to global and local meanings of reproductive and sexual freedom.

Though not part of the ASA program, the Carework Conference is timed to coincide with it. It will be held August 17, 2001 at U.C. Irvine. This follows the initial, very successful and well attended conference held in conjunction with ASA 2000 which focused on research, theory and advocacy. The 2001 conference will carry forward the momentum from last year and add new elements to last year’s diverse program. These conferences evolved from the efforts of the Carework Network, a group originally formed in 1999 to focus on issues of the politicization and activism regarding carework, the welfare state and carework, crosscultural comparisons of carework, theorizing care labor and many other aspects of carework. To learn more about the 2001 conference,contact any of the current steering committee: Francesca Cancian (fmcancia@orion.oac.uci.edu), Demi Kurz (dkurz@sas.upenn.edu), Andrew London (alondon@kent.edu), Cameron Macdonald (Cameron85@mediaone.net) or Joya Misra (misra@soc.umass.edu). To join the Carework email list, send a message to: careadmn@soc.umass.edu.

Section Officers:

Chair: Christine Williams, University of Texas, 512-232-6321; clw@la.utexas.edu

Chair Elect: Jennifer Glass, University of Iowa, 319-335-2502; jennifer-glass@uiowa.edu

Secretary/Treasurer: Jocelyn Hollander; University of Oregon, 541-346-5510; jocelynh@darkwing.uoregon.edu

Newsletter Editor: Margaret Greer; National University; 916-855-4151; mgreer@nu.edu

Council Members :

Robin Leidner, University of Pennsylvania, 215-898-7667; rleidner@sas.upenn.edu

Denise Segura, University of California-Santa Barbara, 805-893-3630; segura@sscf.ucsb.edu

Christine Williams, University of Texas, 512-232-6321; clw@la.utexas.edu

Jennifer Pierce, University of Minnesota, 612-624-9882; pierc012@atlas.socsci.umn.edu

Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo, University of Southern California, 213-740-3606; sotelo@rcf-fs.usc.edu

Donald Tomaskovic-Devey, North Carolina State University, 919-515-9022; don tomaskovic-devey@ncsu.edu

Michelle Budig (student member), University of Pennsylvania, 215-472-5137; budig@ssc.upenn.edu

Distinguished Book Award: Christine Williams, Chair, University of Texas, 512-232-6321; clw@la.utexas.edu. Committee members: Anne Figuert, Loyola University Chicago; Karin Martin, University of Michigan; Wendy Simonds, Georgia State University.

Nominations: Nancy Matthews, Chair, Northeastern Illinois University, 773-794-2670; n-matthews@neiu.edu. Committee Members: Paola Bacchetta, University of Kentucky; Linda Blum, University of New Hampshire; Dana Britton, Kansas State University; Julia Curry-Rodriguez, University of California, Berkeley; Kimberly D. Nettles, University of Memphis.

Distinguished Paper Award: Jennifer Pierce, Chair, University of Minnesota, 612-624-9882, pierc012@atlas.socsci.umn.edu. Committee members: Lisa Catanzarite, University of California, San Diego; Kirsten Dellinger, University of Mississippi; Toska Olson, Evergreen State College.

Martin Levine Dissertation Award: Michael Kimmel, Chair, SUNY-Stony Brook,516-632-7708, michael.kimmel@sunysb.edu. Committee members: Beth Schneider; David Whittier; Christine Williams. Sally Hacker Graduate Student Paper Award: Irene Browne, Chair, Emory University, 404-727-7508. Committee members: Nancy Whittier, Smith College; Scott Coltrane, University of California, Riverside; Shirley Jackson, Southern Connecticut State University.

Membership Committee: Denise Segura, Co-Chair, University of California-Santa Barbara, 805-893-3630; segura@sscf.ucsb.edu, and Jennifer Pierce, Co-Chair, University of Minnesota, 612-624-9882, pierc012@atlas.socsci.umn.edu.

Some time early next year the U.S. Congress will begin debate on legislation designed to encourage and promote greater involvement of fathers in their children’s lives. Thus far, two bills have been introduced, the Responsible Fatherhood Act of 1999, sponsored by Senators Evan Bayh (D-IN) and Pete Dominici (R-NM), and the Fathers Count Act of 1999, sponsored by Representatives Nancy Johnson (R-CT) and Benjamin Cardin (D-MD) which passed the House last year by a vote of 328 to 93. Designed to combat growing concerns over out-of-wedlock births, divorce rates, the collection of child support, and welfare reform, both bills would make millions of dollars in federal grants available for fatherhood promotion campaigns. By placing the issue of fatherhood involvement in the public policy arena, lawmakers hope to send a strong message about the importance of fathers in the lives of their children.

As with other recent family legislation, each bill has the potential to alter the course of gender politics both in and out of the family realm.Both bills would provide funds for community-based organizations to develop and implement support services for fathers. The Responsible Fatherhood Act proposes to channel about $75 million in grants a year for fatherhood programs and media campaigns that highlight the issue of father absence and encourage marriage, and another $2 million for a national clearinghouse to assist states and communities in their efforts to promote responsible fathering. The bill also would loosen federal eligibility restrictions so that states could use welfare-to-work money to help fathers find jobs. The Fathers Count Act would authorize more than $155 million in federal funding to similar efforts. The goal of each bill is to stem the tide of father absence in low-income families and to reduce the supposed ill effects that father absence has on children, families, and society as a whole. Going one step further, Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore recently announced that, if elected to office, he will launch what he calls "a second generation of welfare reform," making $500 million over 10 years available for states to move non-custodial fathers into jobs so that they can meet their child support obligations. Fathers who refuse to enroll in state job-training programs could face jail time, much like mothers who are unable to get a job can now lose their welfare benefits.

The proposed fatherhood legislation represents the latest in a series of recent efforts to shift some of the burden of child support from the state and from mothers onto the shoulders of fathers. In 1996, Congress passed the Personal Responsibility Act, better known as "the welfare reform bill," which among other things calls for stricter child support enforcement and requires the establishment of paternity as a condition for the allocation of welfare benefits. More recently, starting in 1998, the U.S. Government began an effort to promote local fathering initiatives by making available $350 million in funding through welfare-to-work grants. Local fatherhood programs, which currently number approximately 2000 nationwide, can now apply for grants that fund activities designed to facilitate child support compliance, including visitation and access programs and job and education services. Backers of the fatherhood bills now want to expand the role of the federal government in encouraging fathers to face the responsibility of caring for their children.

Thus far, the most vocal opponent of the recently proposed fatherhood legislation has been the National Organization for Women (NOW). Although NOW agrees that fathers need to take an equal share of responsibility in caring for their children and supports other policies that encourage involved fathering, such as flex-time, prolonged parental leave for new parents, and on-site workplace childcare, they oppose spending money on programs for non-custodial fathers because they believe it will undermine support for custodial parents, mainly women. According to an article in the National NOW Times, "the grant money might be better used to improve the condition of the custodial parent rather than dead-beat dads."

NOW President Patricia Ireland suggests that the proposed legislation is also dangerous because it promotes marriage as a solution to poverty for single-mother families, without any exceptions for cases involving domestic violence. She notes that "many women end up in poverty because they are forced to flee abusive husbands or partners." According to NOW, this legislation will pressure mothers into relations with fathers, who in some cases pose a threat to women and their children. NOW representatives also dispute the claim that father absence causes poverty for single-mother families, a claim that was popularized in David Blankenhorn’s controversial bestseller, Fatherless in America: Confronting Our Most Urgent Social Problem.

Continuing in the tradition begun by Carrie Lee in 1998, I am pleased to contribute to this ongoing graduate student column in our newsletter. First, let me introduce myself. I am a graduate student at the University of Arizona, however, I reside in the Population Studies Center at the University of Pennsylvania; I followed my dissertation chair to finish my degree. My research focuses on the interplay of labor market structures, family structures, and gender stratification. I have been a member of the Sex and Gender section for five years. I have gotten into the habit of attending our section’s business meeting at the ASA (a habit I strongly encourage for other graduate students) and was selected to represent graduate students on Council this year. I am happy to serve and welcome any suggestions, questions, and criticisms you have for me to pass on to the Council. I envision this column to be an interactive forum for graduate students’ concerns. I include my email address in the hope you will contact me with your ideas (budig@ssc.upenn.edu).

Graduate students are an important and vital part of the Sex and Gender Section. Our involvement and influence in the section contributed to the networking roundtables that started off the 2000 Sex and Gender reception at the ASA meetings in Washington, DC. These roundtables were well attended and very effective in networking established and young scholars. In addition to meeting established scholars in our field, I was pleased to meet so many other graduate students doing exciting and excellent research!

Our section’s business meeting was productive and included a brainstorming session to answer several questions posed by outgoing Section Chair Judith Howard. These questions were: What can be done to keep the section vital? What can the section do to make membership more valuable? How can we use the section to bolster teaching and research on gender throughout sociology? Many excellent suggestions were offered, but I’d like to discuss the ones more relevant to graduate students. These included: 1) Creating a mentoring program, between old and new members of the section. This would apply to graduate students and intellectual development at all levels. 2) Including informal discussion roundtables with or without papers in the ASA program. This would facilitate research-in-progress and intellectual conversations on focused research areas. 3) Increasing graduate student membership either by lowering dues or encouraging professors to pay for their students. Chair Howard mentioned that the ASA has a program where they will pay a portion of student dues if the student’s department pays a portion. Perhaps our section could coordinate this for section members.These were great suggestions, but graduate student input is needed! Do these address your central concerns? Would implementing these changes make the section more interesting and useful for you? How do you think we should go about putting these suggestions into action? Email me with your thoughts.

Background: At the 1991 Society for the Study of Social Problems annual meetings, two sociologists ­ Kimberly Cook and J.R. Berklie ­ organized a consciousness raising workshop called "SASH: Sociologists Against Sexual Harassment." With the support of SSSP, SASH presented panels and workshops during the SSSP annual meetings in 1992. SASH grew quickly and attracted professionals from several backgrounds and several countries, including attorneys, academics, activists, counselors and complaint officers. SASH sponsored its first two-day conference in 1998. To accentuate the interdisciplinary nature of the participants and attendees, the 1999 Planning Committee voted to change from SASH to the International Coalition Against Sexual Harassment (ICASH). SSSP has continued its generous support and co-sponsorship of the conference since the inception of SASH. The ICASH conference is usually held in conjunction with the annual meeting of SSSP. Those who register for SSSP may attend the ICASH conference for free.

ICASH 2000: The 2000 conference in Washington, DC included panels, workshops and papers examining several issues ranging from writing effective policies to describing debates over consensual relations between students and faculty. The audience consisted of attorneys, sociologists, social workers, psychologists, practitioners, and college administrators (e.g., affirmative action officers). Several well known researchers presented papers or conduct3ed workshops including Billie Dziech, Jim Gruber, Michele Paludi and Bernice Sandler.

The first day of the conference emphasized Title VII issues. The Opening Plenary was presented by an attorney, Erica R. George, the Finsberg Fellow for Human Rights Watch. George discussed studies of gender violence that were conducted by Human Rights Watch in several countries. Michele and Carmen Paludi presented workshops that described how organizations can write effective policies and provide appropriate grievance procedures. The second day of the conference focused on Title IX issues. The plenary speaker, Verna Williams, an attorney with the National Women’s Law Center, argued successfully in front of the Supreme Court last year that sexual harassment in schools is a form of gender discrimination, illegal under Title IX. She noted that dissenters on the court argued that sexual harassment is simply a form of teasing and bullying or "adolescent romantic overtures," not a form of gender discrimination.

The cross-cultural focus of the conference was particularly interesting. Researchers from several countries, including Israel, Japan and Sweden, presented at or attended the conference. Most presenters emphasized the idea that cultural beliefs (e.g., focus on respect vs. a cultural emphasis on equality) will influence the definition of sexual harassment in a particular country. For example, one presenter noted that the Switzerland campaign against sexual harassment has been seen as protecting the health and personal rights of female employees rather than their right not to be discriminated against. Another line of discussion revolved around how broader issues of a society’s approach to sex and sexuality might influence perceptions of sexual harassment. While these ideas may sound obvious, researchers are just beginning to analyze them empirically. The ICASH Planning Committee decided not to sponsor a conference in 2001 and will hold their 10th annual conference in Chicago in 2002. We post the call for proposals in several places, including the SASH-L electronic bulletin board (see below), the SWS electronic list and ASA Footnotes. We hope to see you in Chicago in 2002! Please contact me (pg07@swt.edu) or Susan Fineral (sfineran@byu.edu) if you have any questions about the conference.

SASH-L Electronic List: In addition to the conferences, the ICASH community is linked through an electronic mail distribution list, SASH-L. SASH-L has approximately 400 members from around the world. Electronic interactions include exchange of research information, resources, policy information and discussions of current events. If you would like to subscribe to SASH-L (a low-volume list), please contact Professor Susan Fineral, Boston University (sfineran@byu.edu). Further information about ICASH can be found on our web page which has links to other sources about sexual harassment (http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~pms/icash.html).

"Feminisms at the Millennium." Special Issue of Signs, edited by Judith Howard and Carolyn Allen. Vol. 25, no. 4 (summer 2000). If you don’t subscribe to Signs, you might have missed this spectacular special issue. It compiles the reflections of dozens of women’s studies scholars, both prominent and up-and-coming, on the direction and purpose of feminism today. This is a major achievement. It offers a gold mine of insights into the current state of sex and gender scholarship.

"Feminist Views of the Social Sciences." Special issue of The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, edited by Christine Williams. Vol. 571 (September 2000). This special issue of the Annals examines the impact of feminism across the social sciences. It features review essays by several prominent feminist sociologists on criminology, sexuality, media studies, work and occupations, immigrations studies, federally funded research, and family studies.

The School of History, Technology, and Society in the Ivan Allen College of the Georgia Institute of Technology intends to hire a chairperson effective August 2001. Candidates must be established scholars in history or sociology, with strong teaching and research credentials and some administrative experience. We seek a chairperson with the ability to lead an interdisciplinary school with growing undergraduate, Master’s and Ph.D. programs, a commitment to teaching and scholarly excellence, and the desire to continue the development of historical and sociological studies at a technology focused university. Applicants should send a letter of interest, c.v., and have three reference letters submitted to Ronald Bayor, Chair, HTS search committee, Georgia Tech., Atlanta, GA 30332. Review of applications will begin on January 8, 2001. Women and Minority candidates are strongly urged to apply.

University of Kansas. The Department of Sociology at the University of Kansas invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position to begin August 18, 2001 or January 1, 2002, contingent upon budgetary approval. We seek candidates with expertise in social control, broadly defined and theoretically informed, including such areas as deviance, social conflict, law, violence, dispute settlement, and crime and justice studies. We welcome applicants utilizing qualitative or quantitative approaches, as well as historical, comparative, ethnographic, narrative, and cultural analyses, but especially approaches that examine social control as it relates to issues such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality class, or urban life. Candidates must have a Ph.D. in Sociology or a related field or be an advanced ABD with completion of the Ph.D. anticipated by August 18, 2001; candidates must be able and willing to conduct research in social control and related areas and teach both graduate seminars and courses in our undergraduate major, such as social problems, the sociology of crime, deviance, and/or law. The University of Kansas Sociology Department has a strong undergraduate major, a lively graduate program, and an interesting and conceptually engaged faculty with a commitment to research and teaching that explore both classical and contemporary ideas and debates in sociology and related disciplines. We also have a strong commitment to supporting and mentoring faculty. Applications received by November 1, 2000, will receive fullest consideration, and we will continue to review applications until the position is filled. Applicants should send a letter of application including a teaching and research statement, a curriculum vitae, transcripts, three letters ofreference, teaching evaluation summaries and sample course syllabi if available, and one or two publications or papers to: Professor William G. Staples, Chair of the Search Committee, Department of Sociology, 716 Fraser Hall, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045. Lawrence is a growing, livable community of 85,000, thirty minutes from metropolitan Kansas City. Please see our homepage at: www.ukans.edu/home/socdept - EEO/AA Employer.

A group of sociologists met at ASA 2000 and formed a group whose research focuses on gender and sexuality in international contexts. One of the Sex & Gender sessions at ASA 2001 will be devoted to this topic (see p. 5). They have also created a listerv that interested sociologists are welcome to join. To subscribe to the group, please send an email to: subscribe-socglobe@topica.com. If you decide to join the group, please send a second email to frances.hasso@oberlin.edu providing contact information, affiliation/position, geographic area(s) of specialization, and research interests in 50 words or less. This information will be included in a resource document to be distributed to all members of the group. For further information, please contact Paola Bacchetta at the University of Kentucky (p.bacchetta@worldnet.att.net) or Frances Hasso at Oberlin College (email above).

http://www.asanet.org/Sections/sexgend.htm