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:

 

How 2 Black women conquered Senate primary politics

Maya King, Politico

Democratic Representative Val Demings of Florida and former North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Cheri Beasley made history by winning their Senate primaries. By winning their respective primaries, Representative Demings and former Chief Justice of North Carolina Cheri Beasley have managed to change the perception of who voters think is a highly electable statewide candidate.

Read the full story here.

 

Advocates says it’s time for R.I. to send another woman to Congress

Edward Fitzpatrick, Boston Globe

Only one woman has represented the state of Rhode Island in Congress, Representative Claudine Schneider. Representative Schneider, a Republican, left Congress in 1991, and advocates are saying it’s overdue for another woman to represent the state. With Democratic Representative James R. Langevin recently announcing his retirement after 22 years in office, many are hoping his seat is filled with one of the women running for the vacant Senate seat.

Read the full story here.

 

Rep. Ayanna Pressley Is Challenging Beauty Norms To Make Women Of Color Feel Seen

Madison Feller, Elle

Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley has interwoven fashion and beauty into her approach to politics since at least her congressional win in 2018. During her victory speech that year, Congresswoman Pressley asked the question: “Can a congresswoman wear her hair in braids, rock a black leather jacket, and a bold red lip?” When Congresswoman Pressley began to lose her hair to alopecia shortly after taking office, she and her image consultants began to focus on her clothing as a way of self-expression and reclamation of her transformation.

Read the full story here.

 

Black women face obstacles to public office despite Biden’s Supreme Court nomination vow

Mabinty Quarshie, USA Today

Last week, Joe Biden announced that he will nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court, filling the seat left vacant by retiring Justice Stephen Breyer. While this announcement has been lauded for its steps towards Black women’s representation in high leadership roles, it also highlights the many barriers Black women face when trying to attain those positions.

Read the full story here.

 

Women face a ‘concrete ceiling’ for top jobs at elite universities, study shows

Nadra Nittle, The 19^th*

Julieta García is the first Latina to serve as president of a college in the United States, a feat she accomplished at Texas Southmost College in 1991. Thirty-one years later, women only make up 22% of presidents at elite research universities, and women of color only make up 5% of leaders at these institutions, according to research by Women’s Power Gap Initiative at the Eos Foundation in partnership with the American Association of University Women.

“It used to be what they call a pipeline issue, where they just didn’t have enough women. That’s not the case anymore. It was a good excuse at first. I think we all believed it, and it was an actual reality. But now what is so disturbing about this is that in spite of the fact that the pipeline is now much more healthy, in terms of diverse applicants, women with experience are still not getting promoted,” said García.

Read the full story here.