Media Messages to Young Girls: Does “Sexy Girl” Trump “Girl Power”? A briefing paper prepared by Christia Spears Brown, University of Kentucky for the Council on Contemporary Families. September 3, 2020 Children face continued social isolation this fall, with 21 of the 25 largest school districts in the country choosing remote learning instead of in-person […]
Topics of Expertise: Children / Feminism & Families / Gender & Sexuality / History & Trends on Gender, Marriage & Family Life / Sexual Abuse & MisconductGender & Sexuality
Gender & Sexuality
Publications under this topic cover new research on male-female relationships, gender equity in employment, and gay and lesbian issues. Look here for debates and essays on whether the gender revolution has stalled (at home or at work), how men’s and women’s behaviors and values are changing, and new research on reproductive issues.
Before and during COVID-19: Telecommuting, Work-Family Conflict, and Gender Equality

Before and During COVID-19: Telecommuting, Work-Family Conflict, and Gender Equality A briefing paper prepared by Thomas Lyttelton (Yale Sociology), Emma Zang (Yale Sociology), and Kelly Musick (Cornell Policy Analysis and Management) for the Council on Contemporary Families. August 4, 2020 The puzzle. The COVID-19 crisis has resulted in an unprecedented shift to remote work, with […]
Topics of Expertise: Children / Division of Labor in Families / Family Caregiving (for Adults, Children, and Disabilities) / Gender & Sexuality / Parenthood: Motherhood/Fatherhood / Work & FamilyCCF’S Stephanie Coontz Interviewed by Legacy Washington

“Legacy Washington recently recorded an interview with author/historian Stephanie Coontz. Watch Legacy Washington historian Bob Young interview Coontz, an expert on family and marriage whose writing influenced the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 decision legalizing same-sex marriage. Coontz has recently appeared in The New York Times and Rolling Stone magazine, and gave this year’s commencement speech […]
Topics of Expertise: Children / Cohabitation, Committed Relationships & Marriage / Division of Labor in Families / Family Caregiving (for Adults, Children, and Disabilities) / Feminism & Families / Gender & Sexuality / History & Trends on Gender, Marriage & Family Life / Parenthood: Motherhood/Fatherhood / Work & FamilyCCF Experts Featured in The Washington Post, Boston Globe, Deseret News

CCF experts Dan Carlson, Richard Petts, and Joanna Pepin discuss the findings of their latest brief report on gendered division of labor during the covid-19 pandemic with Deseret News’ Lois M. Collins. Read the article, “More men are doing housework during the pandemic, research finds,” here. UPDATE: read more coverage of CCF’s latest brief report in […]
Topics of Expertise: Division of Labor in Families / Family Caregiving (for Adults, Children, and Disabilities) / Gender & Sexuality / History & Trends on Gender, Marriage & Family Life / Parenthood: Motherhood/Fatherhood / Trauma and Disaster / Work & FamilyCCF’s Stephanie Coontz featured in Rolling Stone

Read her thoughts on the challenges mothers are facing in “Coronavirus Is Killing the Working Mother”
Topics of Expertise: Children / Division of Labor in Families / Family Caregiving (for Adults, Children, and Disabilities) / Gender & Sexuality / History & Trends on Gender, Marriage & Family Life / Parenthood: Motherhood/FatherhoodMen and Women Agree: During the COVID-19 Pandemic Men Are Doing More at Home

Men and Women Agree: During the COVID-19 Pandemic Men Are Doing More at Home. They Differ Over How Much, but in Most Households the Division of Housework and Childcare Has Become More Equal A briefing paper prepared by Daniel L. Carlson (University of Utah), Richard J. Petts (Ball State University), and Joanna R. Pepin (University […]
Topics of Expertise: Cohabitation, Committed Relationships & Marriage / Division of Labor in Families / Family Caregiving (for Adults, Children, and Disabilities) / Gender & Sexuality / History & Trends on Gender, Marriage & Family Life / Parenthood: Motherhood/Fatherhood / Work & FamilyCCF’s Stephanie Coontz for The New York Times: What Can Different-Sex Couples Learn From Same-Sex Couples?

Five years after marriage equality, CCF Director of Research and Public Education Stephanie Coontz asks: What can different-sex couples learn from same-sex couples? Featuring research by CCF experts Joanna Pepin, Dan Carlson, Virginia Rutter, Amanda Miller, Deb Umberson, Kristi Williams, Sharon Sassler and many more, Coontz highlights the role of gender expectations in shaping marital dynamics […]
Topics of Expertise: Cohabitation, Committed Relationships & Marriage / Couples Conflict, Separation & Divorce / Division of Labor in Families / Family Caregiving (for Adults, Children, and Disabilities) / Gender & Sexuality / History & Trends on Gender, Marriage & Family Life / LGBTQ Partnering & Families / Parenthood: Motherhood/FatherhoodKEYNOTE ESSAY: No Easy Answers: Can Colleges Define Consent and Reduce Unwanted Sex? || Stephanie Coontz & Paula England

Defining Consent Symposium Keynote No Easy Answers: Can Colleges Define Consent and Reduce Unwanted Sex? The Defining Consent Online Symposium (.pdf) was convened for the Council on Contemporary Families by Stephanie Coontz and Paula England, who prepared this overview of the seven-part series. Their takeaway: Let’s reject simplistic answers and deal with the complicated realities […]
Topics of Expertise: Gender & Sexuality / Sexual Abuse & MisconductCCF’s Stephanie Coontz on Paying Stay-at-Home Parents in The New York Times

In a recent article for the New York Times, CCF Director of Research and Public Education Stephanie Coontz discusses the potential implications of paying stay-at-home parents, a role most often undertaken by women. Coontz notes, “without strong incentives for dads to take on some of those duties, this would simultaneously cement women’s second-class place in the […]
Topics of Expertise: Childcare (Providers & Systems) / Gender & Sexuality / Labor & Workforce / Work & FamilyNew from CCF: Even Gender Inequality is Unequal

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Virginia Rutter / Sociology @ Framingham State University vrutter@gmail.com Sociologist Jill Yavorsky conducted a field audit on gender discrimination in hiring and shares this early exclusive summary and commentary with CCF. Her brief report, Hiring-related Discrimination: Sexist Beliefs and Expectations Hurt both Women’s and Men’s Career Options, shows that men as […]
Topics of Expertise: Economic Inequality / Gender & Sexuality / Labor & WorkforceEXPERTS
Assistant Professor of Family, Health, and Policy in the Department of Family and Consumer Studies at the University of Utah
Associate Professor of Labor and Employment Relations and Sociology, The Pennsylvania State University
Associate Professor, Department of Family Science & Human Development, Montclair State University
Clinical Director, Perelman School of Medicine, Dept of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania
Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and Criminology & Law, University of Florida
Professor of Sociology, Florida State University
Assistant Professor of Communication and Department Coordinator, Minot State University
Professor and Chair, Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Texas at Austin
Professor of Sociology and Director of the Population Studies and Training Center, Brown University
Professor, Department of Sociology & Population Studies Center, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Director of Sedona Counselling Centre of Montreal, Psychotherapist, Author, Divorce Recovery Expert