On today’s show the future of women in combat. And, in the land of the oil bust, the repo man looms large. Plus, Houston gets its first electronic flash flood gates. And, what’s it like moving 600 hospital patients, across a sky bridge over a busy street in Dallas. All those stories and more on the national daily news show of Texas:
Women
Texas Standard: August 3, 2015
The top lawman in Texas indicted on three felony counts. What this means for a Tea Party favorite and for the state as a whole–today on the Texas Standard. Sweeping new curbs on carbon, and how Texas plans to respond. Also seeking sanctuary: a Guatemalan living in a Texas church, fearful of deportation because she’s gay. We’ll have her story. Driving while female: the dangers of taking the wheel for services like Uber and Lyft. Does Texas need another dollar store? Would it make a difference if we’re talking about a 100 yen store instead? We’ll hear about the Daiso invasion of Texas:
June 8, 2015
Police and Race…Texas in the international spotlight as a pair of videos go viral. The EPA says there’s no connection between fracking and pollution of drinking water…end of discussion? Not so much, we’ll explore. Also, a medical breakthrough at a Houston hospital: the first ever skull cap transplant. And a tax that affects only women? Stay with us
Bonus: Gender and Negotiation
Men and women can approach negotiation a lot differently and that can influence many aspects of their personal and professional lives. In this unedited bonus clip Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke talk a little bit about the role of gender in negotiation, and also a little bit about negotiation and children.
Women, Gender, & Sexuality
This episode recognizes women, gender, and sexuality with a discussion of the complexities of gender and sexuality from contemporary and historical perspectives. Our discussants share what they’ve learned from their respective research projects, while exploring how privilege and power function in constructions of gender and sexuality.
Ultimately, they agree that listening with empathy to each other’s needs and desires demonstrates mutual respect and can allow us to have greater faith in our individuality.
The Discussion
Lisa Moore is a professor of English and Interim Director of the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies at UT-Austin. In Sister Arts: The Erotics of Lesbian Landscapes, she explores how women of the Eighteenth century used the natural world to create artworks that celebrated their bonds with each other. On In Perspective, Moore helps us to deconstruct the notion of “woman” as part of a vast gender spectrum.
Thinking about the intersectional nature of identity, she asks: How do we determine who counts within various gender and sexuality categories?
Suzy Spencer is the author of New York Times bestseller, Secret Sex Lives: A Year on the Fringes of American Sexuality. She brings frankness to the discussion of sex and desire, based on interviews with American men and women of different ages and sexual orientations regarding their experiences. Here, Spencer emphasizes the need for empathy and acceptance of alternative sex practices and unconventional attitudes about sex.
Ward Keeler is a professor of Anthropology and Women’s and Gender Studies at UT-Austin. He conducts field research in Burma, studying masculinities and transgender identities. Keeler’s understanding of Burmese norms of gender and sexuality expands the conversation beyond the U.S. context in useful ways.
He calls attention to the fact that in some Southeast Asian cultures, sexuality is not a central point of identification as it often can be in the United States.
What’s your perspective?
As we continue to struggle to achieve equal rights and protections for women and LGBTQ persons, it is necessary to have more conversations like this one about what gender and sexuality mean in the United States and internationally. The issues brought up here are not exactly new ones, but they remain urgently important if we are to develop a mutually respectful, compassionate, and empathetic society.
Green Room: Amazing Grace
Texas just lost one of its most powerful women in politics. And yet, not only did you never cast a vote for her, chances are good you don’t even know her name. But political strategist Harold Cook says that considering her impact, you probably should.