Feminist Research on Gender and Sexuality Group
The Feminist Research on Gender and Sexuality (FROGS) Group focuses on cutting edge, critical research that prioritizes the study of social identities like gender, race, class, and sexuality as examined through a feminist lens. Specifically, the group focuses on research in three areas: critical body studies, radical sexuality studies, and activism/rebellion.
Members of the FROGS group include select undergraduate and graduate students at Arizona State University as well as faculty, community, and postdoctoral collaborators across multiple universities. Our goals are multiple: we want to inject a feminist perspective into traditional or even anti-feminist spaces; unite activist, pedagogical, and scholarly work; subvert the assumed hierarchies of "what counts" as feminist research; engage in creative and inspired forms of resistance; collaborate in new and imaginative ways; work in a permanent statement of opposition to policies and practices that promote xenophobia, sexism, racism, sizeism, and classism; and, finally, to engage, on multiple levels, the question of how to fight against inequalities, oppression, and injustices enacted onto the body and into the political and social sphere.
NEWS
---New book chapter (with Kimberly) in Bisexuality: Theory, Research, and Recommendations for the Invisible Sexuality
---New articles: Understanding sexual desire in Sex Roles (with Ayanna), menstrual product ads in Palgrave Handbook of Critical Menstruation Studies (with Ela)
CURRENT CORE GROUP
Breanne Fahs is the director and founder of the research group and is currently Professor of Women and Gender studies at Arizona State University. Her work focuses on women's sexuality and sexual subjectivities, radical feminist histories, critical embodiment, and political activism. She has published widely on these subjects and has authored or edited nine books: Performing Sex (2011, SUNY Press), Valerie Solanas (2014, Feminist Press), The Moral Panics of Sexuality (2013, Palgrave), Out for Blood (2016, SUNY Press), Firebrand Feminism (2018, University of Washington Press), Transforming Contagion (2018, Rutgers University Press), Women, Sex, and Madness (2019, Routledge), The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Menstruation Studies (2020, Palgrave), Burn It Down (2020, Verso) and Unshaved (2022, University of Washington Press).
Micah Collins is a graduate student in the Women and Gender studies program at Arizona State University. They received their undergraduate degree from Arizona State University in Queer and Sexuality Studies with a minor in Sociocultural Anthropology. Their research interests include the intersection between abject embodiment and queer and trans studies, how bodies intersect with systems of power and privilege, the physicality of trans and nonbinary bodies as individuals go through transition, trans joy, and how narratives of bodily transformation might be shadowed by experiences of abjection.
Kasey Kutcher is an undergraduate at Arizona State University majoring in Gender Studies with a focus on the particularities of positionality with a decolonial, anti-imperial, queer, feminist lens to inform liberation-oriented practice. After they graduate, their plan is to pursue a Masters in Reproductive Social Welfare to materially engender and foster dealienation, gender affirming autonomous alternative meaning-making, and collective sovereignty within communities experiencing gendered oppression. They believe reproductive justice is inextricably linked to current attempts to rediscipline gender and targets addressing the welfare of all bodies
Serenity Garcia is a current undergraduate majoring in Social and Cultural Analysis with a focus on Queer and Sexuality Studies along with a minor in Women and Gender Studies. Their research interests include the construction and evolution of identity along with the ways that identity is weaponized to maintain the status quo. They have an interest in auto-ethnographic performance covering topics about an examination of the self/identity, queer bodies, and gendered expectations. They are also interested in the study of social change and seek to excavate the erased history of non-binary and LGBTQ+ people. After graduation, they want to pursue grad school and eventually a career in teaching and social activism.
Alyssa Gerkin graduated summa cum laude from Arizona State University in May 2023 with a Bachelor of Arts in Justice Studies and minors in Global Health and Criminology & Criminal Justice. She is in the process of preparing her undergraduate honors thesis, which involved research on the intersection of incarceration experience and mental health, for publication. Her broader research and advocacy interests include critical race theory, prison & police abolition, body politics, and reproductive justice. Alyssa currently works as a Legal Support Clerk at Snell & Wilmer, a nationally recognized corporate law firm. She plans to attend law school beginning in the fall of 2024 in hopes of becoming a criminal defense or civil rights attorney.
Lily Moskowitz is an undergraduate senior at Arizona State University majoring in English Literature with minors in Fashion and Spanish. Her study focuses on the intersections between fashion, ecofeminism, identity, and critical body studies. Currently conducting her honors thesis, Lily’s research aims to investigate the impact of mass manufacturing on identity-based dress. It is her hope that her work will stimulate further discourse on ethical fashion as a human rights issue and legitimize fashion critical theory as pertinent to sociocultural, environmental, and literary disciplines. Her personal interests include environmental regulation and labor law in the garment industry; artwork/clothing made of human hair; radical body presentations as a means of performative resistance; and the way that language constructs our reality. After graduation, Lily plans to pursue a Masters for Fashion Journalism and Critical Studies in London.
Kaitlyn Bowe is currently a Sophomore at Arizona State University, majoring in Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies. Kaitlyn has special interests in menstruation, sexual health, and overall gynecological health, along with their associated social implications. After graduation, she intends to continue her education in related fields.
ILLUSTRIOUS FROGS ALUMNI
Adrielle Munger is a writer, editor, and archival researcher in New York City. She has collaborated on projects about feminist consciousness-raising, scientific imperialism, Doctor Faustus, Cold War kitchens, the Legend of Zelda, and more. She is an organizer with National Women's Liberation and a consultant for the Redstockings Archives for Action. She is currently a guest resident at Woodward Residency, working on a project about the Satanic Panic.
Stephanie Voelker graduated with her B.A. in Psychology and minor in Women and Gender Studies from Arizona State University in 2013. She also received her master's degree in Social Work at Arizona State University in 2020. Her research interests include: menstrual activism, alternative menstrual products, and reproductive justice in underserved populations. Together with Jax Gonzalez, she founded the Menstrual Activist Research Collective (M.A.R.C.) and has developed a series of workshops for faculty, students, and activists about how to promote alternative menstrual products and new menstrual narratives. Check out their work (and get involved) at: http://menarchists.wordpress.com/. Stephanie continues to develop menstrual health and sex ed curriculum in conjunction with Planned Parenthood Arizona and Arizona Family Health Partnership. She currently works for the Peoria School district as a school social worker.
Ela Przybylo is Assistant Professor in the Department of English at Illinois State University. She is the author of Asexual Erotics: Intimate Readings of Compulsory Sexuality (Ohio State University Press, 2019) and co-editor of On the Politics of Ugliness (Palgrave, 2018). Ela is also a founding and managing editor of the peer-reviewed, open access, independent journal Feral Feminisms (https://feralfeminisms.com/). Her teaching and research examines intersectional approaches to asexuality and questions of digital publishing as they relate to feminism, anti-racism, and decolonialism. You can find her online at: https://przybyloela.wordpress.com/
Kiley Romano received her undergraduate degree from Northern Arizona University in women's and gender studies with minors in political science and Italian in 2020. She then graduated with her M.A. in social justice and human rights from Arizona State University in 2022. Currently, Kiley is a gender studies instructor for the School of Humanities, Arts, and Cultural Studies at ASU West. She is also on the advisory board for The Natalie Project, a non-profit organization combating sexual assault against people with intellectual or developmental disabilities. Her research interests include connecting art activism with trauma healing, exploring alternative forms of knowledge production, reproductive justice, and queer resistance. Kiley hopes to move to Italy to pursue her Ph.D. in the next few years and eventually start a non-profit organization of her own.
Jax J. Gonzalez received their Masters in Sociology and Women’s, Gender & Sexuality studies at Brandeis University in 2016 and recently completed their Ph.D. degree at the University of Colorado-Boulder in 2022. As a first-generation college student and queer activist interested in personal identity at the intersection of education, embodiment, and health, their research project came about as a concern with examining how adolescents are socialized in the classroom to understand their bodies. Their masters research continued their undergraduate work with Dr. Breanne Fahs explored the impact of educator subjectivities in elementary school health curricula and how educators manage “teaching the taboo.” Their current project is a collaboration with pre-service teachers and high school sociology apprentices that explores how queer pedegogy impacts teacher identities. Together with Stephanie Robinson, they founded the Menstrual Activist Research Collective (M.A.R.C) and had developed a series of workshops and literature on menstrual activism for faculty, students and activists.
Crystal Zaragoza is a first generation queer Latinx that graduated from Arizona State University with a MA in Social Justice and Human Rights (2018) and a BA in Women and Gender Studies (2016). The lack of access to competent medical care Crystal and their family experienced, the racial discrimination their parents faced because they are Mexican immigrants, as well as their community organizing focused their social justice interests onto reproductive health. As the previous Health Justice Coordinator for Trans Queer Pueblo in Phoenix, Arizona, they worked with LGBTQ+ undocumented communities of color to transform oppressive health systems. Currently they work with Access Reproductive Care-Southeast in Atlanta, GA. They help Southerners navigate the pathways to access safe, compassionate, and affordable reproductive care by providing financial and logistical support and building power in our communities through advocacy, education, and leadership development.
Ayanna Shambe is a medical student at Saint Louis University. She completed her undergraduate training in Women Gender Studies and Biology in 2019 at Arizona State University. Ayanna currently works on DEI and quality improvement projects in medical education. She recently completed a project titled “Potential uses of AI for Preoperative nursing handoffs” published in the Journal of American Medical Informatics Association. Her research interests include women’s health, medical education, and race and gender impact healthcare delivery and outcomes.
Alexis Starks recently graduated from the M.A. program in Communications at Arizona State University. She previously earned her B.A. in Communication from ASU in 2017. She is interested in narratives of rape and the way that sexual violence against women gets erased in contemporary culture. Her other interests include social rhetoric, objectification of the female body in advertising and entertainment, women as weapons of war, LGBTQ rights, and dichotomization in social narratives.
Farhat Ali is a graduate student at NYU, pursuing her Master’s Degree in Africana Studies. This past spring, she graduated Summa Cum Laude from Arizona State University, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Women and Gender studies as well as a Minor in Socio-Legal Studies. Previously, she served as a research assistant for FROGS (Feminist Research in Gender and Sexuality), the president of the renowned Women’s Coalition at ASU and in 2019, created The Period Project: a program that supports menstrual equity and accessible health education in East Africa. Her passions include menstrual health education and literature surrounding Black feminist theory and knowledge production. In her free time, you’ll find Farhat reading and listening to RnB music, doing street photography and exploring New York City!
Loralei Cook is a first-year student at Harvard University. With a background in researching the effects of criminalization on LGBTQ+ youth, she is passionate about queer liberation and abolition, transformative and restorative justice, access to comprehensive sex education, and the historical developments of feminism. Loralei intends on continuing to research throughout the interdisciplinary social sciences throughout her undergraduate and graduate careers.
Natali Blazevic graduated from Arizona State University in the spring of 2015 with a Bachelors Degree in Psychology and a minor in Women and Gender Studies. Her current research interests include: the portrayal of women in media and how media affects women viewers, women's affective experiences of disgust and how it impacts their body image as well as their psychological health, and the management of the female body by individuals and the culture at large. She recently graduated from the University of Arizona in school psychology and currently works as a school psychologist in Peoria, AZ.
Claire Halling is a recent (2020) graduate of Arizona State university with a degree in Women and Gender Studies. Her research interests include trans and nonbinary experiences with menstruation and abortion, the impact of popular culture on sexual identity and practices, how culture messaging and shame impact sexual health. Claire is a student of the Institute of Sexual Education and Enlightenment as a Holistic Sex Educator. Claire is working to create age appropriate and comprehensive sex education for teens and young adults in the age of social media. Claire is currently living in Portland Oregon.
Decker Dunlop was a student at Arizona State University majoring in Women and Gender Studies. Their interests include investigating the covert character of whiteness, the relationship between globalization and neocolonialism, the assimilation of disruptive, transgressive acts into the mainstream, and the implementation of radical bathroom politics. They intend to support the activist and humanitarian groups fighting the militarization of the border and the criminalization of migration.
Carrie Rudel is a recent graduate of Arizona State University and ASU Barrett with a major in Social and Cultural Analysis, specifically Queer and Sexuality Studies. Some of Carrie's research interests include sex worker rights, abject bodies and the feminine threat, queer cultural narratives, and sexual pleasure versus emotional fulfillment in the context of BDSM. She plans to get her Masters in Social Work and pursue a career as an LCSW. Carrie is also a singer/songwriter and writes poetry in her spare time.
Michael Karger is a doctoral student in Justice Studies at Arizona State University. He completed his master's degree in Social Justice and Human Rights in 2016 and his undergraduate degree at ASU in political science in 2013. His research interests include: popular political discourses of suburban America and their impact on underprivileged classes; critical middle-class studies; sovereignty and citizenship; the relationship between technology, fantasy, and the state; and bisexuality studies.
Tatiana Crespo is a recent (2017) graduate of Arizona State University with a major in Interdisciplinary Arts and Performance. She is a composer whose songs reflect the Female Hispanic American experience through a variety of Latin rhythms on the accordion. She is also working on an installation project that deals with issues encompassing waste, femininity, and her experience as a Costa Rican immigrant in Arizona.
Sydnee Carey is a current junior ASU majoring in Social and Cultural Analysis with a focus of Race, Ethnicity, and First Nation studies along with a minor in Oral History and Storytelling. After graduation she is looking to become an educator and eventually move into education policy work. As a South Phoenix native she is looking to focus her career on improving the public education system here in Arizona.
Madison Carlyle is a 2017 graduate of Arizona State University's M.A. in Social Justice and Human Rights program. In Spring 2015, she graduated with a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Oklahoma. Her interests include: knowledge production, radical movements, manifestos, and feminist theory. She plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Sociology and currently resides in Seattle, WA.
Kimberly Koerth earned master's degrees in English literature and women and gender studies from Arizona State University in 2019. They wrote their master's thesis on affect theory, sad girl theory, and digital support groups and also completed an applied project on trans inclusion in menstrual zines. Their other research interests include: bisexuality in pop culture, first experiences with menstruation, and non-binary gender identities. They currently work as a newspaper copy editor and freelance academic editor.
Mam Marie Sanyang is a recent graduate (2022) of Arizona State University with a double major in Women and Gender Studies and Social Justice and Human Rights. She is currently a masters student at ASU studying Social Justice and Human Rights. Her research interests includes sex work’s impact on individuals and societies, human trafficking, and international humanitarian work. She is a member of the United Nations Association of the USA, Arizona State University chapter. Upon graduation, Mam Marie plans to pursue a career with the United Nations.
Emma DiFrancesco most recently graduated from Arizona State University in May 2019 with a Master's in Legal Studies. She also has an M.A. in Social Justice and Human Rights (2017) and a B.S. in Sociology with a minor in Psychology (2015) from ASU. Her research interests include: corporate personhood and crime, the oppressive issues which surround capitalism, social inequality, and radical feminist thought."
John Payton is a second-year graduate student at San Francisco State University in the Sexuality Studies MA program. Their research interests include the amplification and empowerment of multiply marginalized voices within and across the intersections of race, gender, and sexuality in archival spaces; queer theory; LGBTQ history; and Filipinx Studies. John is currently conducting oral history interviews for the creation of a Queer Filipinx archival space with a special interest in Filipino Drag Performance. Upon completion of the MA program at San Francisco State, John plans to enter a PhD program and pursue a life of research in academia.
Corie Cisco graduated from Arizona State University in May 2016 with a master's degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with an emphasis in Literature and Gender Studies. She also received an undergraduate degree in English, Creative Writing and Religious Studies. Her interests include: gender representation in literature and popular culture, the performance of identity, equitable access to information and proactively serving diverse populations. She is currently pursuing an additional master's degree in Library and Information Science at the University of Arizona, which she will complete in spring 2023. Corie is working as a Project Coordinator at ASU Library where she oversees the development of featured collections and supports the stacks curation. Outside of her professional work, she is a polymer clay artist and co-owns a small business called Cisco Studio. You can find her work in local shops in Phoenix, Arizona or online on their website.
Laisa Schweigert is a recent (2018) graduate of the M.A. program in Social Justice and Human Rights. She also graduated from ASU in 2016 with a B.A. in Psychology. Her research interests include current social justice movements and feminist theory; her masters thesis examines radical feminist group WITCH and its contemporary manifestations. She plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Sociology.
Jakob Salazar is a recent (2019) graduate of Arizona State University majoring in Sociology and minoring in Women & Gender Studies. His research interests include mainstream domestic politics, radical political movements, the history and nature of patriarchy, the philosophy of gender and sexuality; and the role of government in effecting social change. He is currently a second-year law student at Gonzaga University.
Liz Wallace graduated from Arizona State University in May 2016 with a B.A. in Women and Gender Studies and again in May 2018 with a M.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus on cultural studies and gender studies. Her research interests include: everyday forms of women’s resistance in relation to the body, the environment, and mental health; storytelling and poetry as means of political action as well as expression of voice; and the power/value system that measures women’s labor.
Izzy Boker graduated from ASU in 2023 with a major in anthropology and double minor in women, gender, and sexuality studies and sustainability. She is a current Peace Corps Volunteer serving in Cameroon as a Community Health Educator, and is especially passionate about the health of maternal and child health and the health of young girls most affected by HIV/AIDS.
Chelsea Pixler Charbonneau graduated from Old Dominion University in May 2018 with a Masters in Humanities and a graduate certificate in Women’s Studies. In December 2013, she graduated with a B.A. in Women and Gender Studies along with a minor in Sociology from Arizona State University. She recently completed an internship with NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia, where she served as the Community Organizing Intern in Hampton Roads, VA. Her research interests include: taboos surrounding abortion, menstruation, body hair, and breastfeeding in public; the importance of self-care for activists; and ethical fashion as an eco-feminist issue.
Marli Mayon graduated with a B.A. in Social and Cultural Analysis (Women and Gender Studies) from Arizona State University in the spring of 2020. Her research interests include sexual violence primary prevention strategies, anti-racism community-based solutions to white supremacy in the age of Trump, politics of sex work, and bodily autonomy from a reproductive justice framework. Marli is in the process of becoming a trained birth worker and plans to begin a Master of Social Work program at Arizona State University this year.
Laura Martinez is a 2016 master graduate of the Social Justice and Human Rights at Arizona State University where she also received her B.A. in Women and Gender Studies in 2015. She completed the Information and Library Science masters program in 2018 at Syracuse University and currently teaches English in South Korea.
Felicya Ptak recently graduated from ASU with a degree in Social and Cultural Analysis with a concentration in Queer and Sexuality Studies. They are an alumna of Gamma Rho Lambda, an inclusive LGBTQ+ social sorority founded at ASU Tempe. Their research interests include: radical softness and stigmas attached to vulnerability, queer and resilience theory, social signaling theory, trauma awareness, and environmental sexism. After graduation, they plan to pursue a social work advanced degree and eventually emphasize their work in the LGBTQ+ community, foster care, and community-based work.
Rachel Caldwell is a recent (2021) graduate of Arizona State University and was a Spirit of Service Scholar and Dean’s Circle Scholar who received concurrent degrees in Political Science and Women and Gender Studies, as well as a minor in History and certificate in Disability Studies. She has interned in various parts of government, performed research for the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict and the Center for Social Dynamics of Complexity at ASU, and has held leadership positions on the Barrett Honors College Council, Undergraduate Student Government-Tempe and Sun Devil Mock Trial. She hopes to eventually obtain a dual JD/PhD in Sociology while concentrating on gender and sexuality studies. Her research interests lie at the intersection of gender, disability, law and policy.
Spencier Ciaralli is an associate professor in the Sociology Department at Augustana University in Sioux Falls, SD. Her dissertation title was “The Climax of the Story: Queering Women’s Sexual Histories and Pleasure Narratives” and emphasized the intersection of gender and sexuality, with particular interests in gender embodiment and resistance, exploration of queer pleasure, and interrogation of heteronormativity. Her overarching research interests include exploring sexual pleasure and kink narratives within minoritized identities, queer epistemologies and narrative methodologies, femme bodies and pleasures as political, and interrogation of heteronormative patriarchal institutions. Spencier is currently the project manager and data analyst of the Cancer Survivors Research Program (NIH Grant RO1-CA-78975), and a recent AAUW fellowship recipient. Spencier has published in The Journal of Aging and Health and The Journal of Psycho-Oncology.
Morgan Lucero is an undergraduate at Arizona State University majoring in psychology. Her research interests include intersectionality within clinical psychology, human rights activism, and how society affects the mental health of LGBTQ+ youths. After graduation, she plans on attending graduate school for clinical psychology.
Atlas Pillar is a recent (2019) graduate from Arizona State University, with a BS in Nonprofit Leadership Management and certificates in Women & Gender Studies and Advanced Grant Writing. He was named the "Outstanding Graduate" of the graduating class of the School of Community Resources and Development in the Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions. Atlas’s prerogative is to help populations and communities who are unfairly disadvantaged and marginalized by our society and infrastructures. Pursuing this goal, Atlas served as the Co-Chair to ASU’s Downtown Phoenix Committee on Diversity and Inclusion from 2017-2019. Additionally, Atlas was one of the Watts College's Undergraduate Research Scholars, participating in research with the Center for the Study of Race & Democracy that examined the capacity to which works and units at ASU address issues of diversity, inclusion, discrimination, equity, and social justice. Currently, Atlas works at Good Works Grant Writing as a Grant Specialist and Social Media Manager. He anticipates returning to ASU in 2022 to obtain his Master's degree in Data Analytics and Program Evaluation. As an alumni FROGS member, Atlas's research interests include: biological essentialism, compulsive identities, evolving semantics of community or population specific language, unnatural binaries, rankism conditioning, body expectations, and more
Eva Sisko is a 2014 graduate of Arizona State University who majored in women and gender studies. Her research interests include: the divisive nature of the sex positive vs. radical feminist dichotomy, the importance of radical feminist activism, and how female sex workers define and navigate their personal relationships at the interface of political/legal body policing. She plans to pursue graduate study in women and gender studies in 2017.
Nic Santos is an Air Force Veteran and an undergraduate at Arizona State University majoring in Social Cultural Analysis with a focus on Queer and Sexuality Studies. She has her A.A. in Foreign Culture and Language, and her research interests include sex work law, abject bodies, female objectification, the impact of sex work on culture, and the narratives of LGBTQ in government and military.
Carissa Cunningham is a doctoral student at Rutgers University in Political Science. She completed her undergraduate degree in political science at Arizona State University in 2017. Her research interests include: female combatants in freedom fighter or terrorist organizations, feminism as it relates to political studies, and homeless youth in the Phoenix area.
Camille Edelstein is a recent (2022) graduate of Arizona State University majoring in Forensic Psychology and minoring in Women and Gender Studies and Anthropology. Her research interests include reproductive justice, catcalling and its effects on self image, rehabilitation and recidivism of criminals (focusing on sex offenders), and sexual pleasure. Upon graduation, Camille plans to pursue a Master's degree.
Amanda Garcia graduated from Northern Arizona University in 2015 with a major in Humanities and minor in Sociology. Her research interests include: interpersonal relationship violence (particularly public education and prevention awareness) and gender-neutral parenting. She plans to work in the field of domestic violence victim advocacy before ultimately pursuing graduate study in Social Justice and Human Rights.
Marisa Loiacono graduated with her B.S. degree in Psychology from Arizona State University in May 2013. She worked for two years for the State of Arizona as a case manager for the Department of Child Safety, where she helped parents struggling with substance abuse, mental illness, and poverty get the services they need to provide safe and appropriate environments for their children. She also worked with families within the foster care and family court system until 2015, when she moved to counseling as her main focus. She now works as a professional intuitive luminary coach doing sacred energy readings and music.
