We Can Do Better

LINDA STEINER is a professor and associate dean for faculty affairs in the College of Journalism at the University of Maryland; she previously directed the UMD’s ADVANCE program, which promotes the interests of women and faculty of color. She is an ICA Fellow. She served eight years as editor of Journalism & Communication Monographs and has published nine coauthored or coedited books. Her coauthored books include Women and Journalism, and her coedited books include Newswork and Precarity; Front Pages, Front Lines: Media and the Fight for Women's Suffrage; and Journalism, Gender, and Power.STINE ECKERT is an associate professor in the Department of Communication at Wayne State University, where she is also co-PI of the NSF ADVANCE grant project to promote better gender equity policy in STEM fields. She serves on the board of WSU’s Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies program. She chairs the Feminist Scholarship Division of the International Communication Association division’s award for emerging feminist scholarship. She is editor of the bilingual journal Journalism Research / Journalistik. She is coeditor of Reflections on Feminist Communication and Media Scholarship: Theory, Method, Impact.

"Direct, accessible, engaging, powerful, and evidence-based. This treasure trove of feminist manifestos-on extraordinarily important issues-is a welcome gift to instructors of media and communication studies seeking to provoke students' attention and their activism as media consumers and future professionals." - H. Leslie Steeves (coauthor of Communication for Development: Theory and Practice for Empowerment and Social Justice) “In We Can Do Better, two outstanding scholars bring together virtually every major feminist researcher across a broad swath of communication. These essays provide actionable solutions for fair and equitable media practices for women. I can't wait to share this book with both my undergrad and graduate students, not to mention every woman I know in communication. Let's all buy this book and get going." - Esther Thorson (coeditor of Digital Advertising: Theory and Research)

• Introduction: The herstory of the (feminist) manifesto, Stine Eckert and Linda Steiner            Part I: What the F-k: Demands for Better Media PracticesChapter 1: A Feminist Media Manifesta, Frieda Werden                                                                                               Chapter 2: How to Fight for Representational Change, Lori Kido Lopez                                                                                                        Chapter 3: Power, passion, and politics: Vulnerability and feminist ethics in journalism, Meenakshi Gigi Durham                                                                   Chapter 4: Women Are Not War or Weather: A Short History of Journalism’s Relationship with Feminism and Why It Needs to Change, Carolyn KitchChapter 5: We Know This Story Too Well: Black Women Struggles in Newsrooms and Journalism Classrooms, Denetra Walker and Erin L. Perry     Chapter 6: More Than Pink Pussyhats: For Better Protest Coverage, Summer HarlowChapter 7: For Gender-Sensitive Journalism: Stop Stereotyping, Diminishing, and Marginalizing Women, Dustin Harp                                                               Chapter 8: Still on the Sidelines: Women’s Sports, Women Athletes, and Women Sports Journalists Deserve Better, Carolina VellosoChapter 9: We Need Gender Equality in Children’s Media, Dafna Lemish  Part II: This Was Supposed to be a Better Place -- Demands for Online Spaces Chapter 10: Imagining a Better Internet Through a Feminist Lens, Gina M. Masullo                                                                               Chapter 11: Online and Unguarded: Newsrooms Must Be Radical About Protecting Black Women Journalists, Erin L. Perry and Denetra Walker                                                                            Chapter 12: When White Feminists Become Mean Girls: Calling White Feminists In to Stop Gaslighting, Gatekeeping, and Girlbossing, Kim Hong Nguyen and Katy FulferChapter 13: The Complexities of “Cancel Culture,” Its Practices and Politics, Eve NgChapter 14: The Internet Is (and Remains) for P0rn, Jade Metzger-Riftkin and Amara B. SugalskiChapter 15: Can You See Me Beyond, NOT Behind, My Hijab? Resisting Muslim Women’s (Mis)Representation and (Under)Representation in Western Media, Sahar Khamis                                                                                                Part II: Precision, Precision – Demands for LanguageChapter 16: Repeat After Us: Gender Is About Culture; Sex About Biology, Linda Steiner and Stine EckertChapter 17: Let Me Blow Your Mind: “Biological Sex” Is a Made-Up Category That Belies the Complexity of Nature, Miglena SternadoriIntroduction: The Herstory of the (Feminist) Manifesto 1ST INE ECKERT AND LINDA S TEINERPart I What the Fuck: Demands for BetterMedia Practices1 A Feminist Media Manifesta 15FRIEDA WERDEN2 How to Fight for RepresentationalChange 27LORI K IDO LOPE Z3 Power, Passion, and Politics: Vulnerabilityand Feminist Ethics in Journalism 36MEENAKSHI G IGI DURHAM4 WomenAre Not War or Weather: A Short Historyof Journalism’s Relationship with Feminism andWhy It Needs to Change 47CAROLYN K ITCH5 We Know This Story Too Well: Black WomenStrugglesin Newsrooms and Journalism Classrooms 57DENE TRA WALKER AND ERIN L. PERRY6 More than Pink Pussyhats: Demanding Better Protest Coverage 68SUMMER HARLOW7 For Gender-SensitiveJournalism: Stop Stereotyping,Diminishing, and Marginalizing Women79DUST IN HARP8 Still on the Sidelines: Women’sSports, WomenAthletes, and WomenSports Journalists Deserve Better 91CAROLINA VELLOSO9 We Need Gender Equality in Children’sMedia 104DAFNA LEMISHPart II This Place Was Supposed to Be Fairer:Demands for Better Online Spaces10 Imagining a Better Internet through a Feminist Lens 119GINA M. MASULLO11 Online and Unguarded: Newsrooms Must Be Radical aboutProtecting Black WomenJournalists 131ERIN L. PERRY AND DENE TRA WALKER12 When White Feminists Become Mean Girls: CallingWhite Feminists in to Stop Gaslighting, Gatekeeping,and Girlbossing 141KIM HONG NGUYEN AND K AT Y FULFER13 The Complexities of “Cancel Culture,” Its Practicesand Politics 149E VE NG14 The Internet Is (and Remains) for P0rn 159JADE ME T ZGER- RIFTKIN AND AMARA B. SUGALSKI15 Can You See Me Beyond, NOT Behind,My Hijab?Resisting Muslim Women’s(Mis)Representationand (Under)Representationin Western Media 171SAHAR KHAMISPart III Precision, Precision: Demands for Language16 Repeat afterUs: Gender Is about Culture,Sex about Biology 187LINDA S TEINER AND ST INE ECKERT17 Let Me Blow Your Mind: “Biological Sex” Is aMade-UpCategory That Belies the Complexity of Nature 197MIGLENA STERNADORINotes on Contributors 211Index 000