Welcome to the Media Round Up! This week we’re collecting and sharing our favorite gender + politics stories.

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Are These The Two Women Who Can Turn It Around For Democrats?
The New York Times, Thomas B. Edsall

In a guest essay for The New York Times, columnist Thomas B. Esdall contends that if either Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) or former Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) lose their gubernatorial bids this November, the Democratic Party is “in trouble” heading into the 2026 congressional elections. Since both Democratic nominees are moderates and would be “ideally suited” to capture majorities in centrist New Jersey and Virginia, their races are “tests of the brand that Democrats believe is best suited for their comeback.” Recent polls show Sherrill leading against her Republican opponent, Jack Ciattarelli, and in Virginia, Spanberger is ahead of Republican nominee Winsome Earle-Sears. The GOP, however, has been making gains in both states, and each candidate faces an electorate whose dedication to the Democratic Party has waned since 2024.

Greene: GOP Will Lose House If It Doesn’t Tackle Cost Of Living
The Hill, Max Rego

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who has been in the spotlight in recent weeks for defying her party and the Trump administration, ramped up her criticism of House Republican leadership this week. In an interview published Monday, Greene indicated that the GOP could lose its control over the House if the cost of living does not decrease, stating that the American public will be “going into the midterms looking through the lens of their bank account.” Greene has repeatedly blasted House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) and House GOP leadership during the current government shutdown, which began on October 1st. The congresswoman, typically an ally of the current administration, said that the House should be “in session working,” and that she has “no respect for the decision to refuse to work.”

History and Equality

On Tuesday, Japan made history by electing its first female prime minister, Sanae Takaichi. Though her election is a “milestone” in a country that has often struggled with gender equality, critics say that Takaichi will not necessarily help Japanese women advance. Takaichi, a hardline conservative who has often cited former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as a personal and political inspiration, was elected by Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, ending “several months” of political turbulence in the country. She opposes changing the rules to make it easier for married women to keep their maiden names in Japan, and she also favors keeping succession to men only in Japan’s imperial family. However, at a news conference on Tuesday, Takaichi said, “I place great importance on equal opportunity, equal chances. And also participation from people from all walks of life.”

What’s at Stake in Louisiana v. Callais – and Why it Matters for Women
Ms. Magazine, Cynthia Richia Terrell

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments for Louisiana v. Callais. This case challenges Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, a key provision which guards vote dilution by prohibiting racially discriminatory district maps and election practices that weaken communities of color. The Voting Rights Act has been in place for almost 60 years, protecting America’s representative democracy and ensuring that all individuals have a fair say. Women of color are a key backbone of the democratic process, serving as a powerful force in the American political system. By weakening Section 2, these underrepresented voices would be silenced. The states that will be most affected by the Supreme Court case already lag behind the nation in terms of women’s political representation. By rolling back Section 2, fragile gains in women’s representation in politics may be stalled or moved closer to parity.

First ladies made history in the East Wing. It was razed for Trump’s ballroom.
The 19th*

As bulldozers came to tear down the East Wing of the White House this week in preparations for Trump’s new ballroom, historians raise alarms that important American history will be lost in the rubble. The demolition had taken many by surprise when it was announced in July as an executive order. Among the offices housed in the East Wing is the Office of the First Lady, first professionalized by Eleanor Roosevelt. Much of the history of First Ladies’ accomplishments took place in the East Wing. Betty Ford argued to increase pay for her staff in the East Wing. Rosalynn Carter became the first first lady to keep her own office there, in 1977. It was also in the East Wing that Laura Bush launched her literacy efforts, and where Michelle Obama oversaw her “Let’s Move” campaign. Katherine A.S. Sibley, a professor of history at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, said “To me, this demolition suggests that the current White House does not think that the first lady does anything of value.”

Can Hollywood Do For Paid Leave What Congress Hasn’t
The 19th*, Chabeli Carrazana

TV and films have long depicted social and cultural issues that politicians treat as expendable. The concept of a “designated driver” was popularized through American television in the 1980s to help reduce alcohol-induced accidents. LGBTQ+ representation has also seen noticeable movement in terms of social and cultural attitudes, due to television programing, such as “Modern Family” and “Glee.” Last year the pilot episode of “High Potential,” featured a single mom with three children who was able to negotiate paid child care as part of her compensation package. “Do you have any idea how expensive child care is these days?” her character asks. If we didn’t before, the script writers made sure we do now. This helps shift the perspective of viewers, thus lending itself to policy work. By addressing the stories, writers can provide groundwork for paid parental leave policies.

The Tech Right Gets Its Own Phyllis Schlafly
The New York Times

Katherine Boyle, an influential venture capitalist who is a friend of the vice president, thinks the country’s path forward involves cultural conservatism and more weapons production. For most of her career, Ms. Boyle — religious, Republican and not unlike a 21st-century Phyllis Schlafly — was an outlier in the tech world. In early 2022, Boyle looked out and saw a nation in malaise. She felt Covid was an unlikely silver lining that could crack open the status quo to reverse the course of stagnation in the United States. She published her thoughts in an essay called “Building American Dynamism” which marked the launch of the venture capital firm’s “American Dynamism” fund. Targeting early-stage companies in industries like defense, energy, education and manufacturing, the fund has  helped produce billion-dollar start-ups. Like so many powerful conservative women before her, Boyle has a life that’s a tangle of contradictions; she criticizes no fault divorce, but has a family of half siblings, and rails against the over-educated while having two advanced degrees. Her approach has been appealing to the MAGA crowd and has built a bridge between them and the tech world. During the pandemic she became a fixture in group chats and with conservatives in tech. She began attending events for J. D. Vance’s secretive donor group, the Rockbridge Network. Yet, when asked if she would ever get involved in politics, she responded that she would rather work from home with her family. “Politics is a blood sport. I don’t want to bring them into that,” she said.

Why Do So Many Gen Z Women Across The US Identify As ‘Leftist’?
The Guardian, Marina Dunbar

Gen Z women represent the most leftwing demographic in “modern US history,” a phenomenon that only continues to highlight the stark gender divide among young men and women. While gen Z men’s views tend to skew more in line with the national average (47 percent of gen Z men approve of the job President Trump is doing, compared with only 26 percent of gen Z women), many gen Z women feel that moderating their political views to be more palatable “feels like surrender in a time when so much is at stake.” The leftward drift for young women is often rooted in “proximity to risk” – this generation of women came of age amid concerns about job insecurity, debt, and the climate crisis. Thus, they “do not see compromise as civility, but rather as danger.”

America Is an Increasingly Dangerous Place for Women and Girls
Ms. Magazine, Carrie N. Baker

Under the Trump administration, America is becoming a more dangerous place for women and girls for a number of reasons. According to the CDCs, in the United States, approximately 41% of women have experienced sexual violence, physicial violence, or stalking by an intimate partner. Notably, around 16 million women experience intimate partner violence before the age of 18, and the CDC reports the cost of political violence over a woman’s lifetime averages $103,767. Under the current administration, American women are losing access to reproductive healthcare and family planning services, which could lead to an additional increase in maternal mortality. As restrictions on abortions rise, a number of Republican states are seeking to pass legislation that will isolate and punish women seeking abortion healthcare. Recent cuts to federal grants and programs have also led to a decreasing amount of money funneling into programs such as WIC, Head Start, and SNAP. Since January, over 330,000 women have left the workforce, and with the administration’s goal of dismantling longstanding protection for women in the workplace, we could see this number increase.

Detaining & Incarcerating Pregnant Women & Mothers Breeds Problems

Arrests of women have surged by 48 percent since 1980, and their incarceration rate has climbed by one-third just since 2020 — nearly twice the increase for men. At the same time, immigration enforcement has been increasing. More than 90 percent of women in the system report trauma, abuse or coercion connected to their offenses, far higher than men. In immigration detention centers mothers have suffered miscarriages, insufficient pregnancy and postpartum medical care. In 2021, the Biden administration directed ICE not to detain pregnant, postpartum, or nursing women unless under exceptional circumstances. Those who are detained are supposed to be held in facilities suited to appropriate healthcare and consistent records of pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women are to be kept. While not formally rescinded, it appears that ICE is not following the policy, nor is reporting kept up to date. Miscarriages and other other medical consequences have been reported. Antonia Aguilar Maldonano, a mother of two from El Salvador shared she had to manually pump because the ICE facility did not have the necessary equipment for nursing women. Locking up a mom punishes more than one person — it punishes her children too.