Welcome to the Media Round Up! We’ve collected and shared our favorite gender + politics stories from this week. Is there a story we should know about? Tell us at: ongender@gmail.com.Hitting a paywall? Some sources allow a few free articles without a subscription, and your university or local library may offer free access. For example, AU students, faculty, and staff have access to popular newspapers through the library. Click here to learn more.

The Woman Who Stands Between Donald Trump and Greenland
The New York Times, Jeffrey Gettleman and Maya Tekeli

President Donald Trump has seemed to finally back down from escalating threats about seizing Greenland, Denmark’s large overseas territory. There is “no doubt” that Denmark’s prime minister Mette Frederiksen’s “carefully crafted defense” helped block Trump from acquiring the territory. For months, Frederiksen has played a “nervous game of brinkmanship” with Trump, trying to balance her position that Greenland is not for sale without antagonizing Trump into threatening to seize it away again. Frederiksen insists that Greenland’s sovereignty remains a “red line,” and her quiet resolve in leadership against Trump is working – she is extraordinarily popular at home, and is currently primed to win a third term in Denmark later this year. Her rising support illustrates how important Greenland is to her country, and for Greenlanders themselves.

‘Every Vote Counts’: What Women Leaders Know About Fixing Broken Political Systems, From Iceland to Washington
Ms. Magazine, Katie Usalis

During the 2025 Reykjavík Global Forum on Women Leaders in Iceland, women leaders from around the world discussed how to fix broken political systems by addressing structural barriers that prohibit women from participating in political life. From allowing childcare costs to be included in campaign expenses to embracing ranked-choice voting systems in order to reduce “winner-take-all” metrics that disadvantage female candidates, the forum gave women the tools to embrace their collective power and navigate their careers. Women also considered how to be resilient in an increasingly hostile political climate, with some choosing to prioritize self-care and others stepping away from social media to unwind.

Bipartisan Leaders Saying No to Noem

In the aftermath of the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by ICE agents in Minneapolis last week, many House Democrats are calling to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. As of Monday afternoon, nearly two-thirds of the 213 voting members of the House Democratic caucus co-sponsored an effort to impeach Noem, including high-profile figures such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). Though support to impeach Noem has been swirling since the shooting of Renée Good in early January, it “exploded over the weekend” in reaction to Pretti’s death. Many Republican legislators are also breaking rank with President Trump on Noem, especially among senators who voted to confirm her. “I would not support her again, and I think it probably is time for her to step down,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), who also voted to confirm her.

ICE Surge Creates New Headache for Maine’s Susan Collins
Washington Post, Patrick Marley, Theodoric Meyer, and Marianna Sotomayor

Following a surge of federal immigration agents into Maine, Sen. Susan Collins (R) has been on defense. Facing reelection in the fall, Collins has faced increasing attacks from two Democratic challengers who believe she needs to stand up to President Trump. With a long record of appealing to Democrats and Independents, in addition to Republicans, the surge in federal immigration agents may hurt her efforts to appeal to crossover voters. Collins has not praised or criticized ICE’s operations in Maine, but has called for the equipping of ICE agents with body cameras, in addition to giving them de-escalation training. Currently, Sen. Collins is the Senate’s most vulnerable Republican, as the only GOP senator to represent a state that former Vice President Kamala Harris (D) won in 2024.

Eleanor Holmes Norton Files to End Re-Election Campaign
The New York Times, Annie Karni

On Sunday, Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) of Washington, D.C. officially filed a termination notice for her re-election. After 18 terms in Congress, this is the strongest sign yet that Norton will retire. Following her election as DC’s non-voting delegate in 1991, Norton became known as D.C.’s “warrior on the Hill,” as she fought for D.C. statehood. Recent concerns regarding Norton’s abilities to fulfill her congressional duties have emerged in light of signs of physical and mental decline. Earlier this month, Norton told a reporter she planned to run again in 2026, causing confusion regarding the new termination notice. Notably, a spokeswoman for Ms. Norton did not respond to a request for comment regarding the termination paperwork.

Amy Klobuchar Files Papers for Run to Succeed Tim Walz as Minnesota Governor
The New York Times, Lisa Lerer, Reid J. Epstein, and Ernesto Londoño

Senator Amy Klobuchar (D) of Minnesota has officially filed paperwork to run for governor after Governor Tim Walz (D) announced he would not seek re-election. Her entry is widely expected to clear the field in the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party primary.  Klobuchar, who won her fourth term in 2024 by 15 percent, has cultivated a brand of bipartisanship and pragmatism. If she wins this election, Klobuchar will forfeit her seat as the Senate’s third-ranking Democrat. Currently, the Republican field for governor includes Lisa Demuth, Scott Jensen, and Mike Lindell. The outcome of this race could have influence on the make-up of Minnesota’s legislature, where Democrats currently hold a one-seat majority in the State Senate, alongside a tied State House.

On the Hill

A surge in nonconsensual sexualized images targeting women and children is fueling calls for stronger legal protections. Paris Hilton is joining Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and backing a bipartisan bill called the DEFIANCE Act. This bill would make it easier for victims of deepfakes to sue. Other news on the Hill includes controversy over the SAVE Act. Beginning in mid-2024, rumors circulated on social media claiming the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act – federal legislation requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote – will prevent married women who take their husband’s last name from voting. The rumors resurfaced in early 2026 after House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said Republicans wanted to pass an “even better” version of the bill and appeared to suggest it would require photo identification at the time of voting rather than just during registration. For many Americans, that’s a birth certificate — but should an applicant use a birth certificate to prove citizenship, they must present it alongside a government-issued photo ID. If the documents don’t match, applicants may have to produce additional documentation, which could make it more difficult to vote for married women and other people who undergo legal name changes.

The Gen Z Gender Divide in Politics
Yahoo!News, Rosemary Bonadies

In recent years, Gen Z men and women have moved in opposite political directions, producing a “stark” gender gap unlike any other generation before. While the gender divide is complex and rooted in differences in social and political issues, women are the “main driver” of this gap. Gen Z women are becoming increasingly more civically and politically active compared to previous generations; their activism is amplified by the fact that they constitute around 60 percent of college students, contributing to the trend that higher educated people tend to lean left in their political ideology. Many women feel a personal sense of investment and urgency after movements such as #MeToo and the fall of Roe v. Wade, while Gen Z men do not share the same sentiment – in fact, many young men feel that their rights are being infringed upon, leading them to turn to a sect of conservatism rooted in male dominance and hypermasculinity.

Gender Politics: Why Young Women are Going Green

The Week UK, Harriet Marsden

Women under 25 are flocking to the populist left faster than young men moving to the populist right in the United Kingdom. British women are increasingly leaning left, according to a new report by the National Centre for Social Research. Recent YouGov polling also suggests that 44% of women aged 18 to 24 intend to vote Green, compared with 30% of men in the same age group. In the 2024 election, nearly a quarter of women aged 18 to 24 voted for the Green Party – roughly double the number of young men who voted for Reform. Yet, “predictably”, it was the young men voting Reform that “got all the attention”, said Gaby Hinsliff in The Guardian. Now, though, there’s a “growing consensus” that, as the worldviews of young men and young women become “ever more starkly polarised, the driving force behind that split is women becoming sharply more liberal, not men becoming radically more right-wing.” Scarlett Maguire, founder and director of Merlin Strategy, points to “countless opinion pieces, documentaries and dramas” about young men “moving to the populist right.” But at the last election, “young women moved to the populist left considerably more.”

Right-Wing Influencers Want Women to Love ICE
Mother Jones, Kiera Butler

When federal agents shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti, a nurse in Minneapolis, this tragic event struck a backlash from both sides of the political aisle. But, in other corners of the internet, female conservative Christian influencers appeared to be attempting to convince their largely female audience that officers were simply doing their job. One of the loudest voices calling for women to stand with ICE is Allie Beth Stuckey, a podcaster, commentator, and author of a 2024 book titled Toxic Empathy: How Progressives Exploit Christian Compassion. The phrase, “toxic empathy,” stands in for a larger argument of how Christian morality has been used to pull people—especially evangelical Christians—to the left. On Tuesday, Stuckey tweeted that Pretti and Renée Nicole Good, who was shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on January 7, “were people made in God’s image whose lives had value, and their deaths are tragic.” Still, she wrote, their deaths were the result of “local law enforcement refusing to keep the public from impeding ICE and local politicians stoking the flames by calling ICE ‘Gestapo.’ Her messaging is just one example of many more conservative influencers trying to defend ICE.

‘Abortion hurts women’: Thousands march in SF., encourage women to ‘choose life’
San Francisco Chronicle

Thousands of people took to San Francisco’s streets Saturday for the 22nd annual Walk for Life West Coast to voice their opposition to abortion, with many encouraging women facing difficult decisions to “choose life” by utilizing resources available to them. The marchers held signs with slogans such as “Life is precious,” “Abortion stops a heart and breaks a heart” and “Defund Planned Parenthood now” as they headed down Market Street. The annual gathering has been held around the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision of Jan. 22, 1973, which ruled that abortion is a constitutional right. Along the way, they encountered opposition protesters with signs that said “Free abortion on demand,” “Defeat racist abortion bans” and “Abortion is health care.”

Black Women Struggle Across Various Sectors

Black women in the United States continue to endure challenges to their wellbeing across multiple fronts. In the workforce, Black women have been disproportionately impacted by deep cuts that the Trump administration has made since returning to office; while Black women started 2025 with an unemployment rate of 5.4 percent, they ended it at 7.3 percent, the highest rate in four years. Government policies that dismantled workplace DEI initiatives are having a “measurable impact” on Black women more than any other group, and they have also suffered great job loss across sectors. Additionally, in the healthcare system, many Black women in the U.S. call seeking medical attention a “nightmare,” moving through medical settings strictly as a means of survival. Across primary care, gynecology, and reproductive health, many Black women report feeling “dismissed, misunderstood, gaslit, downplayed, and straight up lied to.” Through self-advocacy, the intentional choice to seek out Black physicians, and the intimate knowledge of their own bodies, Black women have to fight harder just to be heard when navigating their own health.