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

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Kamala Harris Speaks Out

Former Vice President Kamala Harris recounts her time in the White House and her experience on the campaign trail in “107 Days,” her newly released memoir which debuted this Tuesday. Though Harris has earned a reputation as “guarded” and “circumspect,” the book makes it clear that she has “stopped biting her tongue” – she reveals that former President Biden became a source of frustration after she replaced him at the top of the ticket, and concedes that it was a mistake not to dissuade Biden from running for president again. The media blitz surrounding the release of the book is reportedly doing “little” to minimize the frustration building among Democrats over her retelling of the 2024 election, as some strategists are calling the book “divisive” and “unhelpful.” Harris also weighs in on President Donald Trump, her search for a vice president, and taking over Biden’s campaign in the memoir.

Erika Kirk Steps Up

Following the death of her husband, Erika Kirk has stepped into the spotlight. Unanimously elected, Erika will now serve as the new CEO of Turning Point USA. On Sunday, Erika spoke at her husband’s memorial, delivering a eulogy followed by top White House officials and MAGA personalities. At the memorial, Erika pledged to make Turning Point “ten times greater,” in an effort to solidify her husband’s legacy. With her new found public profile, news outlets have begun to cover Erika’s own political stances. With respect to gender roles, Erika notes that she is a believer in traditional gender roles. Erika has previously stated: “When you meet the right man, everything shifts, everything changes. When I met Charlie, that was it. I could care less about the career.” Additionally, Erika is a big proponent of having and raising Christian children. In the words of her husband Charlie, Erika is unapologetically conservative, stating: “I am a moderate compared to Erika.”

Women Tipping the Scales in Politics

A recent poll conducted by YouGov/Economist, found that President Trump’s approval rate among women has fallen to its lowest point ever. Conducted between September 12-15, the poll shows that the net approval rating is  -27, with 34% approving and 61% disapproving. This is a small decrease, as a poll conducted from August 22-25, showed an approval rating of -26. Notably, the net approval rating of Trump among men stands at -9, showing that the significant gender gap in politics persists. A new demographic of women voters has been identified heading into the 2026 midterm elections. Weighted vest wearing women have been identified by Republican pollsters as an emerging group of swing voters. Weighted vests, a new fitness fad in 2025, have become popular among women who are under the age of 45, living in urban/suburban neighborhoods, with kids, are well-educated, have higher income, and are  highly engaged with politics. When surveyed with a generic congressional ballot, weighted vest wearing women supported both Democrats and Republicans equally, with 47 percent. However, among all women (not just weight vest-wearers) surveyed, 48% supported Democrats, while 35% supported Republicans. According to pollster Christine Matthews, “The people who swing elections, it always sort of comes down — in particular in midterms — to suburban women.”

Black women are being hit hard by the Trump layoffs and firings: ‘It chips away at morale and self-worth’Black women have been hit hard by layoffs directly related to federal policy decisions. Dr. Ravon Alford is one of 300,000 black women who have exited the labor force in three months. She tells her story as being traumatic and demoralizing. Had I been laid off because of my own merit, then it would’ve been easier for me to deal with. “But it was just the fact that this administration chose to not prioritize something that we actually were aligned with in the last administration cost me my job” she states, losing hope in a once thought to be ‘stable’ industry. Black women have a harder time finding another job than those of any group, spending an average of six months to find a new position.

Professions and Pay

Women’s equality and inclusion in the workplace has been an ongoing issue for decades. Recently, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shut down the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services, as part of a larger plan to rid the Pentagon of efforts that don’t fit into his “warrior ethos” vision for the department and service academies. Women in tech also find themselves at a disadvantage, where the gender pay gap has widened. Census data showed that among full-time, year-round workers, the female-to-male earnings ratio slipped to 80.9%, down from 82.7% in 2024 — the second consecutive annual decline. Women’s sports also struggle to achieve compensation equality. According to the Global Observatory for Gender Equality, consensus is that in sports such as soccer, top female athletes make 15-25% of their male equivalents. Nevertheless, there’s good news – more than 70 years after the end of the first professional women’s baseball league, a new league is emerging with a reimagined, inclusive mission where “every girl deserves the dream.” Tryouts for the Women’s Professional Baseball League started last month, and the first season could begin in May 2026.

Don’t miss the replay of Women on Wednesdays, “On Her Game: Inside Caitlin Clark’s meteoric rise and what it means for women’s sports today,” with award-winning, best-selling author Christine Brennan, Katie Benoit, AU Deputy Athletics Director, and Molly Driscoll, AU women’s basketball player. WPI Executive Director Betsy Fischer Martin moderates. Watch the full replay here.

Project 2025 Architects Want Transgender People and Allies Designated as Terrorists
The 19th, Jacob Ogles

A notable architect behind Project 2025, The Heritage Foundation, has recently urged the FBI to designate transgender people and allies as domestic violent extremists, under the label Transgender Ideology-Inspired Violent Extremism, or TIVE. While transgender individuals account for less than one percent of mass shooters, The Heritage Foundation has falsely claimed that violence from trans people and allies has been increasing. In their policy release, The Heritage Foundation incorrectly states that: “TIVE has played a role in a majority of mass shootings at schools,” despite an “exceedingly small” number of transgender shooting suspects. This proposal follows the killing of Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist, by suspect Tyler Robinson, who Utah prosecutors claim was in a relationship with his trans roommate, despite the roommate’s immediate cooperation with the police.

The Danger Of Being A Woman

In the U.S. and abroad, many believe it is an increasingly perilous time to be a woman. President Donald Trump made headlines this week when he warned that pregnant women should limit the use of Tylenol over unfounded claims of a link to autism; health officials and organizations across the globe immediately rejected his assertion, noting that there is not conclusive evidence to support the possible association between autism and acetaminophen. Pregnant women have long been the subject of the Trump administration, as Vice President JD Vance, Elon Musk, and others in the MAGA movement have been trying to revive the pronatalist moment, citing concerns about falling birth rates in the country. While there have been several proposals to increase fertility in America, some figures use declining fertility as a “proxy for preexisting gender-role concerns” and “anxious masculinity,” attempting to reassert traditional gender roles and criticize women’s career ambitions. Relatedly, the increasing popularity of trad wives – wherein women are relegated to the domestic sphere, taking on child-rearing duties while supporting their husbands – highlights the current political undercurrent in the country; conservative and far-right moments typically leverage gender norms as part of their power strategy. Perhaps it is not unsurprising that in a recent interview, Hillary Clinton warned that there is a “coordinated, deliberate effort to dismantle the progress toward women’s equality.”