en(gender)ed

Greetings en(gender)ed listeners:

This is the second "Reflections" episode where I examine a series of interviews with my friend, Michael. He joins me as we reflect back on episodes, 7 (Nancy S. Erickson), 9 (Joan Meier), 10 (Barry Goldstein), 11 (Kathleen Russell), the first set of episodes on the first family court crisis.

Michael and I used to work together and served many students who were not in school or not working and were looking to develop skills to go back to school or to find a job. The young people we were helping often had their systemic barriers exacerbated by personal conflict in their lives that were difficult to manage, such as parents who didn't prioritize their education or work over their care-taking responsibilities, or romantic partners who were not helping to parent, didn't support their efforts to better themselves, and/or engaged in deliberate patterns of behavior to sabotage their school and/or work.

I was interested in Michael's perspective on the topics covered in our shows so far, especially since the majority of listeners are, not surprisingly, female. I hope you will find this episode engaging and, for the male listeners, an entree into your own exploration of what en(gender)ed has to offer you.

During our reflection, we talked about these additional resources:

• Leadership Council data estimating the number of cases annually where children are placed with abusers
• NY Model for Batterer Programs
• Chris Fabricant's work at the Innocence Project on Eyewitness Testimony
• Adam Ruins Everything's episode on bad forensic science and its dangers when applied n the family court system setting
• NPR's episode on Innocence Deniers and Kym Worthy's work on the Davontae Sanford case in Michigan
• Jon Freeman's psychology and neuroscience lab at NYU and his Mouse Tracker software
• Dartmouth study on how more "feminine" looking female politicians are more likely to win elections
• Radiolab Presents: More Perfect - One Nation, Under Money and how that episodes' description of how the Commerce Clause was used, unsuccessfully, protect women from gendered crimes.
• Estimating the economic costs of gender-based violence ($500 billion annually correction, not million, as shared in the recording)
• The Adverse Childhood Experiences Study and its origin as an obesity study and its subsequent findings and connection with childhood incest

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On this episode, our guest is Dr. Tonya Leslie, an educational consultant who has worked for over 20 years in educational publishing. Dr. Leslie talks about creating educational content that engages students and youth in developing a cultural consciousness as a force for understanding ourselves and our society. She has also worked with school districts nationally providing workshops and seminars to help educators integrate this belief into their practice.

We speak with Dr. Leslie about her work on around literacy, academic resilience and culturally responsive content and pedagogy, and how literacy might facilitate resilience in vulnerable school groups and, in particular, in children of color.

In our conversation, Dr. Leslie and I spoke about the following:

• The Little House on the Prairie books and TV series
• The concept of books as "mirrors" and "windows" as coined by Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop
• Dr. Tann, in the Little House Series and the controversy about how race is represented in the series
• A description of Dr. Alfred Tatum's concept of the "textual lineage" of a teacher to teach tolerance
• The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston
• W.E.B DuBois' The Brownies' Books
• Diversity gap in children's books as measured by the CCBC Multicultural Statistics in 2017
• We Need Diverse Books Website
• The work of Geneva Gay and Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings in influencing Dr. Leslie work in culturally responsible pedagogy
• The children's book George and Becoming Nicole, two texts, Dr. Leslie has used in her trainings
• The Doll Test (original) and the CNN retest
• Jessica Love's children book, Julian is a Mermaid
• Abby Wambach's commencement speech at Barnard College this May 2018 (transcript available here)
• The College Board's proposed changes to the AP World History course and its subsequent reversal adding 250 more years

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Thanks for tuning in to the en(gender)ed podcast!

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Please also connect with us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

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On today's episode, our guest is Ben Atherton-Zeman, a public speaker and comedic performer on issues of violence prevention. His one man show, "Voices of Men" has been performed in over 46 states and around the world, including four continents. Ben has spoken and performed at military installations, colleges, high schools, public theatres, conferences, houses of worship and juvenile detention facilities. For almost thirty years, Ben has worked as a prevention education for rape crisis centers, domestic violence programs and state coalitions. He is an advisory board member for the White Ribbon Campaign in the United Kingdom and a blogger for Ms. Magazine.

Ben will speak with us today about what it means to be a "recovering sexist" and how he uses his comedy and performance art to help every man recognize and challenge violence and sexism in the world and in themselves. He will also speak with us about his hashtag, #menlistentowomen and how he envisions we can use it as a starting point to create meaningful dialogue about issues of male privilege, sexism, misogyny, and healthy relationships amongst the sexes and across the gender spectrum.

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Thanks for tuning in to the en(gender)ed podcast!

Be sure to check out our en(gender)ed site and follow our blog on Medium.

Consider donating because your support is what makes this work sustainable.

Please also connect with us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Don't forget to subscribe to the show!

On this episode, our guest is Allen Corben, co-chair of NOMAS, the National Organization for Men Against Sexism. Allen also works as the Assistant Registrar of Fuller Theological Seminary, where he received his Master of Arts in Theology. We will be talking with Allen today about his work at NOMAS--what it means to be a pro-feminist, anti-racist, LGBTQ affirmative male ally and how it relates to reproductive rights, pornography/sex trafficking, intersectionality, and how we can integrate religion and our spiritual practices and beliefs in a post-2016 election world.

During the show Allen shared a lot of resources on a variety of feminist and social justice topics. Here is a partial list that Allen shared that he suggested listeners explore to obtain a better understanding of feminism and some of the issues discussed:

• Michael Kimmel
• An article reflecting on Andrea Dworkin's contribution to feminism
• Carolyn Osiek's Beyond Anger: On Being a Feminist in the Church
• Barbara Ehrenreich's books
• The Bechtel Test for women in movies
• Michelle Goldberg's NYT Opinion: "Want More Babies? You Need Less Patriarchy"
• An article addressing the "Nordic Model" of sex work
• Gail Dines' website on pornography
• Catherine McKinnon's work and research on feminism and on pornography
• The Sojourners' website and Jim Wallis
• Robert Jensen's Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity
• Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza's In Memory of Her: A Feminist Theological Reconstruction of Christian Origins
• Letty Russell's Human Liberation in a Feminist Perspective: A Theology
• Judith Butler's Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity
• Jill Radford's Femicide: The Politics of Woman Killing

You can contact Allen at [email protected] and you can join the NOMAS conversation on Facebook here.

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Thanks for tuning in to the en(gender)ed podcast!

Be sure to check out our en(gender)ed website and follow our blog on Medium.

Consider donating because your support is what makes this work sustainable.

Please also connect with us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Don't forget to subscribe to the show!

On this episode of en(gender)ed, our guest is Tom Digby, author of Love & War: How Militarism Shapes Sexuality and Romance. The book, Love and War, provides a new way to view heterosexual love, as well as the impact of misogyny in the everyday lives of men and women. Tom's work has been widely shared in numerous public presentations about the intersections of masculinity, militarism, love, sexuality, and feminism. Tom Digby is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Springfield College and has served as U.S. Advisory Editor of the journal Men and Masculinities since it was founded by Michael Kimmel in 1998. His previous book was Men Doing Feminism (Routledge). Digby's early publications were on Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Kant, and ethical theory, but for the past 30 years he has written, lectured, and taught primarily about gender topics.

Tom will speak with us today about the concepts in his book, including heterosexual love, the construction of gender in our society, the interplay of gender and militarism and its role in shaping our understanding of masculinity, sexuality, romantic love, misogyny, and even war itself. We will also discuss the role of the 2016 election in influencing identity and cultural institutions and cultural norms and our discourse on gender and masculinity.

During our conversation, Tom and I referenced many resources that we share with you below:

• Sandra Bartky and her book, Femininity and Domination: Studies in the Phenomenology of Oppression
• Cordelia Fine who writes about the "gender binary"
• Friedrich Nietzsche and his characterization of heterosexual relationship dynamics, also featured prominently in Kate Millet's Theory of Sexual Politics
• The Undefeated documentary available on Netflix
• Hillary Clinton's Beijing Speech on Women's Rights in 1995
• Scholar Gail Dines and her work on "gonzo porn"
• The Twitter Clown Face-Painting incident and how the impact gender stereotypes have on future male violence and parenting as a form of advocacy
• The J Crew "I am a feminist too" t-shirt for boys

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Thanks for tuning in to the en(gender)ed podcast!

Be sure to check out our site and follow our blog on Medium.

Consider donating because your support is what makes this work sustainable.

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On this episode, our guest is Kathleen Russell, Executive Director of the Center for Judicial Excellence (CJE), a non-profit based out of California whose mission is to protect vulnerable children in the family court system and to strengthen the integrity of all courts by creating judicial accountability. The organization's strength is rooted in its unique mix of public education, media and judicial advocacy. We are here today to talk to Kathleen about CJE's current work in judicial reform, how CJE is using the U.S. divorce and child murder statistics to inform media oversight and education efforts, and some of its past victories.

During our conversation, Kathleen refers to the term "protective parent"--a parent, usually a mother, who makes allegations of abuse, child abuse, and/or child sexual abuse against the other parent and is not believed. Often the parent is retaliated against for making such allegations by having custody given to the abuser and limiting the time or access the protective parent has with the abused child. Joan Meier of DVLEAP shares her research about this issue in en(gender)ed Episode 9. You can also reference earlier episodes of the family court crisis in Episode 7 when we speak with Nancy S. Erickson on Custody Evaluators and Mental Health Evaluations and with Barry Goldstein in Episode 10 about his proposed legislative actions.

Kathleen also referenced:

• The California Protective Parents Association
• The California Bill, AB-2044, which requires the court to consider domestic violence in making custody determinations
• Article by journalist, Laurie Udetsky, on "Custody in crisis: How family courts nationwide put children in danger"
• The Judge Aaron Persky Recall

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Thanks for tuning in to the en(gender)ed podcast!

Be sure to check out our en(gender)ed site and follow our blog on Medium.

Consider donating because your support is what makes this work sustainable.

Please also connect with us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Don't forget to subscribe to the show!

This episode of en(gender)ed features guest, Barry Goldstein, an internationally recognized domestic violence author, speaker and advocate. He has worked in the DV movement since 1983 and served as an instructor in a NY Model Batterer Program since 1999. He is co-editor of two volumes of Domestic Violence, Abuse and Child Custody with Dr. Mo Therese Hannah, Representing the Domestic Violence Survivor co-authored with Elizabeth Liu, Scared to Leave Afraid to Stay and The Quincy Solution: Stop Domestic Violence and Save $500 Billion. Barry is the Research Director for the Stop Abuse Campaign and Co-Chair of the Child Custody Task Force for NOMAS, the National Organization for Men Against Sexism.

Barry is here to speak with us today about his work in the courts, gender bias, the Stop Abuse Campaign and the Safe Child Act, a comprehensive legislative solution to the child custody crisis. If you would like to get in touch with Barry, please email him at [email protected].

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Thanks for tuning in to the en(gender)ed podcast!

Be sure to check out our en(gender)ed site and follow our blog on Medium.

Consider donating because your support is what makes this work sustainable.

Please also connect with us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Don't forget to subscribe to the show!

On this episode, our guest is Joan Meier, Professor of Clinical Law at George Washington University Law School, and the Founder and Legal Director of the Domestic Violence Legal Empowerment and Appeals Project (DV LEAP). DV LEAP provides a stronger voice for justice by fighting to overturn unjust trial court outcomes, advancing legal protections for victims and their children through expert appellate advocacy, training lawyers, psychologists and judges on best practices, and spearheading domestic violence litigation in the Supreme Court.

Professor Meier is here to speak us today about DV LEAP and her research findings from a 4-year empirical study of family court outcomes in cases involving "parental alienation" and child abuse. This study is an update to a 2017 publication called "Mapping Gender: Shedding Empirical Light on Family Courts' Treatment of Cases Involving Abuse and Alienation." We will also be speaking with Professor Meier about the intersection of domestic violence and child abuse and new policy reforms such as H. Con. Res. 72, a child safety resolution which she co-authored.

During our show, we referenced the following articles and resources which are listed below:

• Joan's article in the Huffington Post called "Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics" which addressed the...
• ...The Wilcox and Wilson OpEd, citing marriage as a solution to end violence against women
• The Fourth National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect that Joan cited to debunk the Wilcox and Wilson OpEd
• And a powerpoint of the initial results of Joan's Family Outcomes Project: Empirical Analysis of Custody Cases Involving Abuse and Alienation
• Joan recently gave a talk about her research findings which can be found in YouTube
• The NYC Administration for Children's Services new protocol for Investigative Consultants to help "identify and intervene" in domestic violence cases

---

Thanks for tuning in to the en(gender)ed podcast!

Be sure to check out our en(gender)ed site and follow our blog onMedium.

Consider donating because your support is what makes this work sustainable.

Please also connect with us onTwitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Don't forget to subscribe to the show!

Greetings en(gender)ed listeners:

We are sharing a new format episode where my friend Michael joins me as we reflect back on the first six episodes of the podcast. Michael and I used to work together and served many students who were not in school or not working and were looking to develop skills to go back to school or to find a job.

The young people we were helping often had their systemic barriers exacerbated by personal conflict in their lives that were difficult to manage, such as parents who didn't prioritize their education or work over their care-taking responsibilities, or romantic partners who were not helping to parent, didn't support their efforts to better themselves, and/or engaged in deliberate patterns of behavior to sabotage their school and/or work.

I was interested in Michael's perspective on the topics covered in our shows so far, especially since the majority of listeners are, not suprisingly, female. I hope you will find this episode engaging and, for the male listeners, an entree into your own exploration of what en(gender)ed has to offer you.

---

Thanks for tuning in to the en(gender)ed podcast!

Be sure to check out our en(gender)ed site and follow our blog on Medium.

Consider donating because yoursupport is what makes this work sustainable.

Please also connect with us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Don't forget to subscribe to the show!

On this episode, our guest is Nancy S. Erickson, (J.D. Brooklyn Law School, LL.M. Yale Law School, M.A. Forensic Psychology John Jay College of Criminal Justice), a consultant on issues relating to law and psychology, particularly child custody evaluations and domestic violence. Nancy's career spans over a decade of teaching law at top law schools in the country, eight years at Legal Services, and decades in private practice representing survivors of domestic violence. Nancy has written books and articles on family law, including domestic violence, child support, custody, marital property, attorneys for children, custody evaluations, and adoption.

She is currently researching and writing on custody issues, especially custody evaluations, laws regarding custody in cases where there has been domestic violence, and the use of parental alienation theories against parents who are attempting to protect their children or themselves from abuse. We will be speaking with Nancy about her work and research on child custody evaluations, due process challenges the evaluations pose, and its impact on shaping safety outcomes for women and children in court. We will also be speaking with Nancy about a recent case she contributed to that, on its surface, has positive implications for both same-sex parents and for domestic violence victims.

Here are some of the links to the articles we discussed on our show, including the same-sex custody case Nancy contributed to:

• Gender Bias in the Family Courts and the epidemic of courts giving custody of at least 58,000 children a year to abusers
• ProPublica article on the Lack of Oversight of Child Custody Evaluators
• ProPublica article on how NY parents fight lack of right to see 'expert' custody reports
• The Brooke SB v Elizabeth CC case

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Thanks for tuning in to the en(gender)ed podcast!

Be sure to check out our en(gender)ed site and follow our blog on Medium.

Consider donating because your support is what makes this work sustainable.

Please also connect with us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Don't forget to subscribe to the show!