Happy Friday! Welcome to our Media Round Up: Debate Edition. Each week we’re collecting and sharing our favorite gender + politics stories. Here’s what caught our eye this week:

Four Seasoned Journalists Will Moderate Tonight’s Presidential Debate—They Happen to Be Women

By Mattie Kahn, Glamour

Rachel Maddow, Andrea Mitchell, Ashley Parker, and Kristen Welker were only the third all-female panel of debate moderators in American history, and we think it’s safe to say they nailed it. Luckily for us, Mattie Khan sat down with these accomplished women to learn how they prepared to take on this task. While recalling a mock debate session, Kristen Welker says, “One of the great honors of doing this debate is that these three journalists are at the forefront of this field.”

You can read the full article here.

What Do We Hear When Women Speak?

By Jessica Bennett, New York Times

By the time Carole Simpson had been asked to moderate a presidential debate in 1992, she had already been actively lowering her voice while on air. Her boss had told her women’s voices were too shrill and lacked authority. Now, almost three decades later, women face this same challenge. Speech coach, Christine Jahnke, says, “Women come into training sessions more aware of what they need to work on because they have been dealing with the tone police all their lives.”

You can read the full article here.

All The Key Moments From The November Democratic Debate (Spoiler: Women Won)

By Leora Yashari and Natalie Gontcharova, Refinery29

The fifth Democratic debate was a historic night for women in politics. With four women on the stage and four women moderating, the women finally outnumbered the men in the spotlight. Their presence could be felt in the questions, which ranged from paid family leave to abortion to sexual violence. While there’s always room for improvement, the fact that these questions were asked at all is a huge step up from last time. Check out Refinery29’s list of all the best moments from Wednesday’s debate.

You can read the full article here.

Gender Politics At The Democratic Debate Show How Hard It Is To Fight Like a Girl

By Charlotte Alter, Time

While the number of women involved in the debate—both as candidates and as moderators—was undoubtedly a win, that does not mean that the women candidates escaped the sexism that has long plagued women’s political campaigns. Looking specifically at the ways Senators Klobuchar and Harris cushioned their responses to their male opponents, Charlotte Alter writes, “If you’re a female candidate, you know that your attacks on your male rivals may bounce off him and stick to you.”

You can read the full article here.

What’s Still Missing From The Democratic Primary Debates: Questions About LGBTQ Rights

By Molly Hensley-Clancy, Buzzfeed News

Wednesday was Transgender Day of Remembrance, an especially important day given that more than 300 transgender people were murdered around the world this year. Therefore, the absence of LGBTQ+ related questions at this week’s debate felt particularly distinct. Julian Castro, who did not qualify for the fifth debate, called out the lack of questions on Twitter: “It’s almost the end of the debate, and we still haven’t heard anything about the #TransDayofRemembrance.” Will advocates frustrations be addressed moving forward?

You can read the full article here.

The Winner Of Last Night’s Presidential Debate? Women.

By Natalie Gontcharova, Refinery29

In the past, women have generally been an afterthought in the presidential debates. An analysis by Barbara Lee, of The Barbara Lee Family Foundation, shows that debates tend to focus on “macro topics”—foreign policy, and the economy—without any discussion about how these topics affect women. In other words, they marginalized women’s issues, making them an afterthought. However, this week’s debate has shown that more representation for women helps bring them back into the conversation—every conversation. Funny, how that works.

You can read the full article here.

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