In The News: Department of Sociology

The Seattle Times

On Jan. 27, the state of Washington gave adults a third sex option on birth certificates — an “X” to indicate neither male nor female — without medical documentation. As gender scholars, we applaud this. It’s a big deal for the state to say that we don’t simply have males and females. Just adding one more category is a good start but doesn’t solve the problem of how we use these categories.

Autostraddle

We hadn’t done an intersex fiction list… until today! Here are eight great fiction books featuring intersex characters, three of which are written by intersex authors!?

Reveal

If you’ve been anywhere near the internet this week, you’ve probably heard about The New York Times profile of neo-Nazi Tony Hovater. “A Voice of Hate in America’s Heartland” contrasted Hovater’s presence at the Charlottesville, Virginia, white supremacist march and extreme views on whether or not Hitler did anything wrong with his upcoming nuptials and love of “Seinfeld.”

KNPR News

Brothels are legal in Nevada, but only in counties with populations of fewer than 450,000. But could a move by Dennis Hof, who owns the Moonlite Bunny Ranch and six more brothels, lead to more acceptance of brothels?

World Economic Forum

Nearly a third of business leaders and technology analysts express “no confidence” that education and job training in the United States will evolve rapidly enough to match the next decade’s labor market demands, a new report from the Pew Research Center finds.

Reuters

The killings of six worshippers at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin has thrust attention on white power music, a thrashing, punk-metal genre that sees the white race under siege.