Alex DiBranco

Alex DiBranco is the co-founder and executive director of the Institute for Research on Male Supremacism (IRMS). A sociology PhD candidate at Yale University, writing her dissertation on the U.S. New Right movement infrastructure from 1971-1997, she was a member of The Public Eye editorial board, formerly PRA’s Communications Director, and currently is affiliated with the Berkeley Center for Right-Wing Studies.

Conservative, Christian, Corporate

COVID-19 Opportunism and Betsy DeVos’s Education Agenda

Since her deeply contested confirmation hearings, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has been criticized for incompetence and ignorance regarding the public education system. But this lens obscures the extent to which DeVos’s decisions as secretary…

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The First Anti-Feminist Massacre

A Reckoning with Misogynist Terrorism on the 30th Anniversary of the Montreal Mass Shooting

On December 6, 1989, a 25-year-old man, Marc Lépine, killed 14 women and injured 10 more at the École Polytechnique engineering school in Montreal,…

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Shooting in Tallahassee Illustrates Increasing Misogynist Violence

When the news broke on November 2, that a male shooter had killed two women at a yoga studio in Tallahassee, Florida, George Sodini immediately came to my mind.

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The Right Revisits their Misogynist Playbook

From Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill to Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, the machine of right-wing politics has gone into high gear to defend prominent men from women’s accusations of sexual violence and harassment.

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Before the Alt Right

Anita Hill and the Growth of Misogynist Ideology

Today, #MeToo, a Twitter hashtag now synonymous with the campaign to call attention to the widespread problem of sexual harassment and often name perpetrators, picks up on Hill’s legacy in bringing this issue into the national spotlight.

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“The Incel Rebellion”

Movement Misogyny Delivers Another Massacre

On April 24, minutes before Alek Minassian plowed his van into a busy pedestrian street in Toronto, killing 10 and wounding at least 13—predominantly women—the 25-year-old posted an explanation of sorts on Facebook: “Private (Recruit) Minassian…

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Mobilizing Misogyny

Effectively fighting mobilizations like those emboldened by Trump’s election requires accurately understanding their composition—one in which misogyny thrives alongside, and intertwined with, racism.

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Whole Woman’s Health’s Unexpected Win for Science

In June 2016, the Supreme Court struck down a Texas anti-abortion TRAP (Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers) law that threatened to shutter all but a handful of the state’s clinics by requiring them to meet costly ambulatory surgical center…

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Who Speaks for Conservative Women?

“Feminisms” for Life, Liberty, and Politics

n 1979, the rise of feminism and the Equal Rights Amendment motivated conservative evangelical Beverly LaHaye to found Concerned Women for America, established as an overtly anti-feminist female voice. Yet CWA has clung to relevance over the years,…

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Left Behind: The Christian Right’s Continued Culture War Promotion Through Hollywood

Lalonde’s maxim to not be “too preachy” in the pursuit of mainstream appeal sums up the strategy of not only the new Hollywood movie but the entire franchise of Christian Right adult and children’s books, films, graphic novels, and video games.

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Michigan Seeks to Become Third State to Protect Youth From Ex-Gay Therapy

Conversion or “ex-gay” therapy continues to come under fire, this time in Michigan where Representative Adam Zemke (D-Ann Arbor) has introduced House Bill (HB) 5703to ban “sexual orientation change efforts” for minors.

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Men’s Rights Conference Host Says Women Who Drink & Dance Are "Begging" for Rape

While claiming to be a pacifist, Paul Elam has gloried in the idea of a judge who ruled against fathers being “doused with gasoline and set afire.” He opposes abortion (and, it seems, adoption and motherhood too) and wrote a Mother’s Day article…

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Video Denounces Planned Parenthood and BDSM; New Personhood Alliance Forms

When I decided to search for #SexEd on Twitter, looking for coverage of sex education, I wasn’t expecting to see activity from Live Action, Lila Rose’s anti-choice organization. But I quickly realized the tweets related to the slew of emails from…

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If Money Talks, the Anti-Abortion Side is Shouting

While “Gosnell” didn’t break the Veronica Mars record, the campaign did surpass its stated goal before ending yesterday at $2,241,043.

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Profile on the Right: Americans United For Life

For almost 50 years, Americans United for Life (AUL) has chipped away at women’s reproductive rights—both within the U.S. and abroad. AUL’s president, Charmaine Yoest, has described the organization as the “legal architect of the pro-life movement…

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Profile on the Right: Personhood USA

Founded in 2008, Personhood USA has taken the lead in arguing for legally recognizing “fetal personhood,” which would prohibit abortion at any time by stating that an embryo is a “person” from the moment of conception.

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Anti-Shaming Rhetoric Used to Attack Rape Survivors' Rights

“Rape survivors should not be shamed”: this sounds like a feminist statement. From SlutWalk and StopSlut to less controversially named anti-violence initiatives, denunciations of slut-shaming and victim-blaming are a staple of today’s mainstream…

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Ugandan Pastors Launch Antigay Campaign at David Kato's Grave

On Easter Sunday, Ugandan Pastors Solomon Male and Thomas Musoke launched their “Say No to Homosexuality” campaign outside the gravesite of slain gay rights activist David Kato–purposely selecting the spot to prevent it from becoming “a pilgrimage…

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Defending Reproductive Justice

Activist Resource Kit

In the 40 years since the passage of Roe v. Wade, the struggle for reproductive justice has evolved and intensified. We must be prepared to deftly confront right-wing attacks and advance reproductive justice for all. The Roe 40^th…

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Right to Discriminate: HuffPost Live Discusses Religious Liberty

“Religious liberty was meant to be a shield, not a sword,” says Jay Michaelson, author of PRA’s Redefining Religious Liberty report (pdf). “Religious liberty has become a code word, kind of like family values.”

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Watch: The Secret History of Sex, Choice and Catholics

Did you know that the Roman Catholic Church used to lean prochoice? This was (shocking) news to most of the attendees of Friday’s screening of The Secret History of Sex, Choice and Catholics–even those who were themselves Roman Catholic.

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Mass. Policy to Protect Transgender Students Under Attack by Christian Right

Comprehensive guidelines from the Massachusetts Department of Education to protect transgender public school students’ safety and prevent discrimination, including in regards to bathrooms and athletics, are under attack by a local Christian Right…

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Sundance Film Features PRA Researcher

Tomorrow in Park City, Utah, will be the world debut of God Loves Uganda, a documentary on the U.S. Christian Right spreading homophobia abroad that builds on Political Research Associates’ research.

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Christian Right Pushes Abstinence-Only Education Internationally

In 2003, the Christian Right shifted the foreign aid policy of the United States so that it promotes abstinence-only education abroad through HIV/AIDS relief grants channeled to the Christian Right base of the George W. Bush Administration. An…

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Alex DiBranco

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