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

An all-female panel will moderate the November Democratic debate

By Li Zhou, Vox

On Wednesday, MSNBC announced the moderators for the fifth Democratic debate—and none of them are men. That’s right, for the third time in history the debate will be led by an all-female panel! This decision comes on the back of efforts by the DNC to diversify the debates. While we’re certainly pleased with the results, what we’d like to know is if this will also change the types of questions that get asked—a.k.a. we’d like to hear more about women. Check out who will be moderating the debate this November.

You can read the full article here.

Where We Are Now: Breaking Down RepresentWomen’s 2019 Gender Parity Index

By Corinne Ahrens, Ms. Magazine

RepresentWomen, an organization dedicated to getting more women elected to office, has released their 2019 Gender Parity Index. Just as we expected, we still have a long way to go. While women made gains across the country in 2018, they still make up less than 30% of elected officials at every level of government. Cynthia Richie Terrell, the founder of RepresentWomen, says, “Changing rules and systems to create equality is part of the American tradition…we must pivot to system reforms…so more women can serve and lead once elected.”

You can read the full article here.

Stop Calling Black Women “Long-Shot Candidates”

By A’Shanti Gholar, Refinery29

Black women have proven time and time again that they are just as capable of winning elections as white men. Yet, they continually have to battle the narrative that they aren’t as “electable.” Instead of focusing on tired ideas of what a successful candidate looks like, we prefer to look at the evidence. Black women around the country have been winning their elections, and they show no signs of slowing down. Take a look to check out some of these candidates.

You can read the full article here.

The President Makers

By Laura Bassett, Marie Claire

We can’t help but get excited when we see another woman candidate getting up on the national stage. The 2020 presidential race has been a goldmine. However, there’s another area of politics we don’t talk too much about, and that’s what’s going on behind the scenes. A Politico report released in August shows that women are now more than half of the senior staff on the 2020 presidential campaigns, and Laura Bassett had the chance to sit down with some of these women to interview them about life on the campaign trail. It’s definitely worth a read.

You can read the full article here.

Central Park to get first statue honoring women

By Verena Dobnik, Associated Press

Following a vote by the city commission, Central Park will soon be the home of a new monument dedicated to three prominent women suffragists, making it the first monument of women to ever be erected in the park. The artist, Meredith Bergmann, says, “My hope is that all people…will be inspired by this image of women of different races, different religious backgrounds, and different economic status working together to change the world.

You can read the full article here.

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