Council on Contemporary Families

CCF’s Weekly Media Roundup by Steve Mintz, May 5, 2019

CCF Briefing

  1. The Myth of Testosterone
  2. The Thin Line Between Surgery and Mutilation By AFSHAN JAFAR
  3. The American Family Makes This Country Great, and It’s in Danger By JANET MURGUÍA
  4. Caster Semenya, Feminist Icon?
  5. What ‘Good’ Dads Get Away With
  6. Half of People Miss Benefits of Statins
  7. When Anti-Immigrant Hatred Was Mainstream
  8. How Larry Nassar ‘Flourished Unafraid’ for So Long
  9. The ‘Valley Girls’ of the Rio Grande
  10. Over 60: Why Own When You Can Rent?
  11. Are Women Taking the Cosmic Fall for Male Greed?
  12. Becoming Catholic in the Age of Scandal
  13. Pentagon Survey Finds a Surge in Sexual Assaults in the Ranks
  14. Trump Administration Strengthens ‘Conscience Rule’ for Health Care Workers
  15. President Trump’s Immigration Policies Are Hurting American Children
  16. Pay Tuition or Eat Dinner? Nearly Half of All State College Students Go Hungry
  17. How to Fix the Criminal Justice System
  18. Where the Good Jobs Are
  19. Anti-Infective Drugs Tied to Eating Disorders
  20. The Broadway Musical Has a Man Problem
  21. The Data-Driven Guide to Sane Parenting
  22. Men Invented ‘Likability.’ Guess Who Benefits.
  23. We Prosecute Murder Without the Victim’s Help. Why Not Domestic Violence?
  24. When Is a Transplant Worth It?
  25. Imprisoned for Trying to Save His Son
  26. Sweden is going cashless
  27. What Number of Kids Makes Parents Happiest?
  28. In News Industry, a Stark Divide Between Haves and Have-Nots
  29. The science divide: Why do Latino and black students leave STEM majors at higher rates?
  30. How difficult is it to find a job in America?
  31. Do Married Millennials Cheat on Each Other?
  32. ‘Heartbeat bills’ are wholesome provocations in the abortion debate
  33. When to cut off financial help to adult children
  34. Riveting Stories About Restless Wanderers
  35. Since 2008, Only High-Income People Have Seen Their Housing Costs Drop
  36. How Families With Kids Drive Suburban Segregation
  37. All-White Neighborhoods Are Dwindling as America Grows More Diverse
  38. Is Mandatory Retirement the Answer to an Aging Workforce?
  39. It’s Not About Sex
  40. Why streaming kids according to ability is a terrible idea
  41. A Widely Cited Statistic That Supposedly Proved Student Debt Was a Rich Person Problem Was the Result of a Coding Error
  42. Miss America, Miss Teen USA and Miss USA Are All Black Women for the First Time

  1. The Myth of Testosterone

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/03/opinion/testosterone-caster-semenya.html

It is not the “male sex hormone,” nor is it key to athletic performance. Why do we insist otherwise?

  1. The Thin Line Between Surgery and Mutilation By AFSHAN JAFAR

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/02/opinion/fgm-ruling-intersex-surgery.html

There’s a lot of overlap between surgery on intersex infants and female genital mutilation. So why do we view them so differently?

  1. The American Family Makes This Country Great, and It’s in Danger By JANET MURGUÍA

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/02/opinion/trump-immigration-families.html

President Trump’s stance on legal and undocumented immigrants could have devastating results.

  1. Caster Semenya, Feminist Icon?

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/04/opinion/sunday/caster-semenya-running.html

I wish we heard more about women’s spectacular victories than their testosterone.

  1. What ‘Good’ Dads Get Away With

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/04/opinion/sunday/men-parenting.html

Division of labor in the home is one of the most important equity issues of our time. Yet at this rate it will be another 75 years before men do half the work.

  1. Half of People Miss Benefits of Statins

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/03/automobiles/half-of-people-miss-benefits-of-statins.html

Many people who are prescribed statins are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease because they stop taking the drugs.

  1. When Anti-Immigrant Hatred Was Mainstream

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/03/opinion/sunday/anti-immigrant-hatred-1920s.html

In the 1920s, even the president of M.I.T. supported racial restrictions at the border.

  1. How Larry Nassar ‘Flourished Unafraid’ for So Long

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/03/sports/larry-nassar-gymnastics-hbo-doc.html

A new HBO documentary explores the rise and fall of the disgraced Olympic doctor and the institutions that gave him access to girls.

  1. The ‘Valley Girls’ of the Rio Grande

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/03/us/valley-girls-rio-grande.html

Growing Up in the Borderlands of the Rio Grande Valley

  1. Over 60: Why Own When You Can Rent?

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/03/realestate/over-60-renters.html

Older renters in New York City outnumber millennial renters. They also outnumber homeowners in their age range.

  1. Are Women Taking the Cosmic Fall for Male Greed?

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/03/nyregion/anna-sorokin-lori-loughlin.html

The stories of Anna Sorokin, Lori Loughlin and others suggest how eager we are to exploit and punish female humiliation.

  1. Becoming Catholic in the Age of Scandal

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/03/nyregion/converting-catholics-church-scandal.html

At Easter, thousands of people converted to Catholicism even as sex abuse allegations have rocked the church.

  1. Pentagon Survey Finds a Surge in Sexual Assaults in the Ranks

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/02/us/military-sexual-assault.html

Troops in all branches of the military, and especially women, are suffering more unwanted sexual contacts and are less likely to report them, the survey found.

  1. Trump Administration Strengthens ‘Conscience Rule’ for Health Care Workers

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/02/upshot/conscience-rule-trump-religious-exemption-health-care.html

A shift in the balance between the rights of patient and provider, with religion in the middle.

  1. President Trump’s Immigration Policies Are Hurting American Children

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/02/opinion/president-trumps-immigration-policies-are-hurting-american-children.html

An aggressive stance on legal and undocumented immigrants could have devastating results for the country.

  1. Pay Tuition or Eat Dinner? Nearly Half of All State College Students Go Hungry

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/02/nyregion/hunger-college-food-insecurity.html

Many routinely skip meals and take ‘poverty naps’ because they cannot afford groceries. Campus food pantries are helping, but are they enough?

  1. How to Fix the Criminal Justice System

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/02/opinion/the-argument-criminal-justice-reform.html

An interview with “Charged” author Emily Bazelon

  1. Where the Good Jobs Are

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/02/business/economy/good-jobs-no-college-degrees.html

For people without a college degree, finding work that offers decent pay can be a challenge. The solution may require a change in scenery.

  1. Anti-Infective Drugs Tied to Eating Disorders

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/02/well/mind/anti-infective-drugs-tied-to-eating-disorders.html

The more infections or hospitalizations a girl had, the more likely she was to develop anorexia, bulimia or another eating disorder.

  1. The Broadway Musical Has a Man Problem

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/02/theater/broadway-musicals-gender-politics.html

From “Kiss Me, Kate” to “Tootsie,” shows old and new are working to reflect today’s gender politics. Women fare better, but what about the mediocre men?

  1. The Data-Driven Guide to Sane Parenting

http://freakonomics.com/podcast/parenting/

  1. Men Invented ‘Likability.’ Guess Who Benefits.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/04/opinion/sunday/likeable-elizabeth-warren-2020.html

It was pushed by Madison Avenue and preached by self-help gurus. Then it entered politics.

  1. We Prosecute Murder Without the Victim’s Help. Why Not Domestic Violence?

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/04/opinion/sunday/domestic-violence-recanting-crawford.html

For years, cases in which victims didn’t want to cooperate were simply tossed out. Then a dedicated group of prosecutors found a better way.

  1. When Is a Transplant Worth It?

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/04/opinion/sunday/when-is-a-transplant-worth-it.html

A year in a hospital bed is a “success” while dying after 11 months is failure.

  1. Imprisoned for Trying to Save His Son

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/04/opinion/sunday/prison-mass-incarceration-trump.html

Mass incarceration was America’s biggest mistake over the last half-century.

  1. Sweden is going cashless

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sweden-is-going-cashless/

  1. What Number of Kids Makes Parents Happiest?

https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2019/05/optimal-best-number-of-children/588529/

Zero? Three? Six? 2.1?

  1. In News Industry, a Stark Divide Between Haves and Have-Nots

https://www.wsj.com/graphics/local-newspapers-stark-divide/

Local newspapers are failing to make the digital transition larger players did — and are in danger of vanishing

  1. The science divide: Why do Latino and black students leave STEM majors at higher rates?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/the-science-divide-why-do-latino-and-black-students-leave-stem-majors-at-higher-rates/2019/05/03/e386d318-4b32-11e9-93d0-64dbcf38ba41_story.html

  1. How difficult is it to find a job in America?

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2019/05/02/how-difficult-is-it-to-find-a-job

Despite an April jobs report that showed the U.S. unemployment rate had fallen to a 49-year low, experts from the Hamilton Project at Brookings find that unemployed Americans have more trouble finding a job today than at the peak of the last two business cycles

  1. Do Married Millennials Cheat on Each Other?

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/05/millennials-are-less-likely-cheat-boomers/588286

For young couples these days, there seems to be more adulting, less adultery.

  1. ‘Heartbeat bills’ are wholesome provocations in the abortion debate

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/heartbeat-bills-are-wholesome-provocations-in-the-abortion-debate/2019/05/03/6b81f5d8-6cfb-11e9-a66d-a82d3f3d96d5_story.html

Why should “viability” be the dispositive criterion for abortion?

  1. When to cut off financial help to adult children

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/05/02/when-cut-off-financial-help-adult-children

  1. Riveting Stories About Restless Wanderers

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/01/chris-power-mothers/576415/

Chris Power’s debut collection, Mothers, reveals that maternity is an unsettling journey.

  1. Since 2008, Only High-Income People Have Seen Their Housing Costs Drop

https://www.citylab.com/equity/2019/05/affordable-housing-rental-income-inequality-data-homeowners/588109

Apartment List research finds that housing markets are only exacerbating the gap between the rich and poor, and homeowners and renters.

  1. How Families With Kids Drive Suburban Segregation

https://www.citylab.com/equity/2019/04/urban-segregation-family-friendly-suburbs-childless-living/586642/

The old divide between family-friendly suburbs and childless city living is fading. The new divide is within the suburbs themselves.

  1. All-White Neighborhoods Are Dwindling as America Grows More Diverse

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/01/upshot/all-white-neighborhoods-are-dwindling-as-america-grows-more-diverse.html

Segregated nonwhite neighborhoods persist, with consequential exceptions.

  1. Is Mandatory Retirement the Answer to an Aging Workforce?

https://tomprof.stanford.edu/posting/1715

  1. It’s Not About Sex

https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2019/05/23/not-about-sex/

Sex workers, sex trafficking, and debates about sex work itself.

  1. Why streaming kids according to ability is a terrible idea

https://aeon.co/ideas/why-streaming-kids-according-to-ability-is-a-terrible-idea

Of factors influencing student achievement, one of the most significant factors – far more than reducing class size (effect: 0.21) or even providing feedback on student work (0.7) – is the teachers’ estimate of achievement (1.57).

  1. A Widely Cited Statistic That Supposedly Proved Student Debt Was a Rich Person Problem Was the Result of a Coding Error

https://slate.com/business/2019/04/elizabeth-warren-college-debt-plan-bad-stat-urban-institute-code-error.html

  1. Miss America, Miss Teen USA and Miss USA Are All Black Women for the First Time

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/05/style/miss-teen-usa-america-black.html

Each contest has previously had black winners, but the simultaneous wins make for a powerful symbol of how the pageants are evolving.

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