e.j. graff

 Longtime feminist journalist and author E.J. Graff is smart, incisive—and funny—about issues facing women, girls, families, and the LGBT communities. Over the past thirty years, her provocative reporting and commentary have appeared in venues that range from early gay and lesbian newsweeklies to The New York Times Magazine. Her writing and speaking grow out of deep research, groundbreaking reporting, and analysis from new and startling angles. Whether in her daily column at The American Prospect or when talking with college students, her informed and irreverent take on the challenges women face—in the office and in our paychecks, on the streets and between the sheets—provokes college students and other audiences into reexamining their old ideas. Her feminist analysis of LGBT issues, especially same-sex marriage, has made her one of the subject’s experts, appearing nationally and internationally in schools, churches, and conferences, as well as on NPR, CBC, BBC, ABC, MTV, Logo TV, PBS, and beyond.

 Hillary Goodridge, lead plaintiff, Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, Massachusetts:

“E.J. Graff is an engaging, incredibly knowledgeable, passionate, and witty speaker. I always learn something new from her. In fact, hearing E.J. speak and reading her book What Is Marriage For? inspired me to became a plaintiff in the lawsuit that won marriage equality in Massachusetts. She gives wonderful presentations and handles question-and-answer sessions with respect, honesty, and humor.”

 Graff is the author of What Is Marriage For? The Strange Social History of Our Most Intimate Institution (Beacon Press, 1999, 2004), which explored how same-sex marriage is following, not leading, the many twists and turns marriage has taken over 2,500 years of Western history. She collaborated on Lt. Gov. Evelyn Murphy’s book Getting Even: Why Women Still Don’t Get Paid Like Men – and What To Do About It (Simon & Schuster/Touchstone, 2005), which examined workplace sex discrimination—and how women can overcome it. As associate director of the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism, she investigated the sexual harassment of teens in their first jobs; the “opt-out” myth; and fraud and corruption in international adoptions.

 Jennifer Wriggins, Professor of Law, University of Southern Maine:

“Thank you for speaking to our law students this week. Your sense of humor and clear analysis kept them fully engaged. Your presentation offered an impeccable ‘teaching moment,’ prompting an in-depth discussion about the intersection of law and social change.”

 Graff can speak on a variety of feminist and LGBT topics, as requested. Her existing talks include:

  • What is marriage for? A historical romp through marriage’s social history – and where same-sex couples belong today. Over the past 2,500 years of Western history, marriage’s rules and meanings have been constantly changing, shifting to suit each era and economy, each culture and class. And every time marriage’s rules change, opponents warn that next will come incest, polygamy, locusts, and plague. E.J. Graff takes us on an entertaining whirlwind tour through marriage’s history—and a look at where same-sex couples stand today.
  • All but equal: thirty years from invisible to winning. In only thirty years, lesbian and gay men have lived through a dizzying social revolution, from pariah to full citizen. Having come out in 1978 and married in Massachusetts in 2010, E.J. Graff is a time traveler from the queer past – and also from the equal future. Here she outlines the high- and low-lights of this historical shift, both from a reporter’s notebook and as a personal witness. Listening to her makes this turbulent period in the nation’s social history intellectually vivid, often funny, and very personal.
    • Includes suggested syllabus assignments and pre- and post-talk discussion points.

 

  • How to succeed after college: what every young woman should know. From elementary school to college graduation, girls and women rule the roost, getting the top grades, top honors, and top posts. Then comes that first job—and the rules change dramatically, in ways no one ever explains. From salary negotiations to (gulp) self-promotion, E.J. Graff offers insights into how to succeed in the afterworld of work. 

 

  • Lezzies & trannies & fags, oh my! The alphabet soup of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people is a loose and not always easy coalition. Different strands are at very different stages of acceptance and political enfranchisement. Where and how have our lesbian, gay, and transgender movements intersected and changed? When did “transgendered” become part of our vocabulary?
    • This social history talk is ideally paired with a transgendered person’s individual story.

 

Other possible topics include:

  • Sexual harassment of teens on the job
  • Do women count? Women & the news media
  • Working while mother: work, family, and overcoming social bias against parents
  • Where do babies come from? Fraud and corruption in international adoption
  • The rise and fall of the Defense of Marriage Act

 

E.J. Graff is contributing editor and daily columnist at The American Prospect; a Resident Scholar at the Brandeis Women’s Research Center; and a Senior Fellow at Brandeis’s Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism. Her writing has appeared in such publications as the New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, Boston Globe, Columbia Journalism Review, Democracy Journal, Foreign Policy, Good Housekeeping,  Los Angeles Times, Ms., The Nation, The New Republic, Salon.com, Village Voice, Women’s Review of Books, and in more than a dozen anthologies. Her fellowships and awards include the Society for Professional Journalism’s Sigma Delta Chi award for magazine investigative journalism; the James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism; the Astraea Foundation’s Emerging Writer Award; and positions as a Visiting Scholar at Radcliffe’s Schlesinger Library and as a Fellow in Law & Journalism at Harvard Law School. She currently sits on the board of directors of JAWS (Journalism & Women Symposium) and on the advisory board of the Sexuality, Gender, and Human Rights Program at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Harvard Kennedy School.

 

E.J. GRAFF SPEAKING ON VIDEO:

http://www.spike.com/video-clips/uzgkw6/tying-the-knot-the-big-lie-of-family-values

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbMxydD_9BM

http://alumni.brandeis.edu/web/special_programs/facultyforum/past/graff.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbMxydD_9BM between 0:58-1:12, and 1:52-2:01

 

More praise for E.J. Graff’s public speaking:

Jacqueline Dirks, Professor of History, Reed College, Portland, Oregon:

“On behalf of the American Studies Program, I am writing to thank you for your remarkably clear, complex, and informative presentation. It was rewarding to see our students willing to sit through such an extended question and answer session, which you handled with grace and aplomb.”

 Mary Bonauto, lead attorney in New England’s marriage lawsuits, and civil rights director, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders:

“I recommend E.J. Graff as a speaker on marriage and family issues. Her vast knowledge about the issues is an asset. Her knowledge is matched by her ability to bring the issues alive with her unique blend of humor and irony as well as her historical and feminist perspectives. I have heard E.J. speak on a number of occasions and believe she would be great with any audience.”

Alex Liazos, Chair, Sociology Department, Regis College, Weston, MA:

“Your talk was lively, funny, engaging, inspiring, and interesting, and students and faculty told me that it gave them a new perspective on history, marriage, and same-sex marriage. You debated Daniel Avila [Esq., Associate Director of Policy & Research, Massachusetts Catholic Conference] with respect, humor, and without rancor…. The students were fully engaged, and many stayed late after the forum to ask more questions and talk with you. It was obvious, and many told me, that it was one of the best public presentations they have attended (and, I should note, with the best attendance at Regis for many years).”

 

Nancy Tubbs, Director, LGBT Resource Center, University of California/Riverside:

“Thank you for an inspiring talk last week on the University of California, Riverside campus regarding the history of the institution of marriage. Your presentation was timely and sparked lively discussion with the more than 250 people in attendance. You were able to connect with two very different audiences: folks grappling with this issue from an intellectual or emotional standpoint … and the LGBT and Allies community members….

“I will happily recommend your presentation to other college campuses or community organizations searching for a smart and sincere speaker on the topic of marriage and LGBT equal rights.”

Dorothy Fairweather, The First Religious Society, Unitarian Universalist, of Newburyport, MA:

“On behalf of the First Religious Society in Newburyport, I want to thank you for speaking at our Church on Sunday, May 5, 2002. Your talk … was extremely interesting and informative. Comments from our parishioners have been overwhelmingly complimentary. You are an excellent speaker and we are fortunate to have had the opportunity to hear you speak.”

Susan Kahn, Ph.D., Senior Research Director, Hadassah International Research Institute on Jewish Women at Brandeis University:

“I would like to thank you for your inspirational and stimulating talk. As you could tell from the way your book sold out after your presentation, we all wanted more—you have a wonderful way of explaining complex legal and moral issues in a way that is both comprehensible and compelling. We would love to invite you back.”

Evan Wolfson, Executive Director, Freedom to Marry:

“I am pleased to recommend E. J. Graff as a speaker on gay people’s freedom to marry.  She is not only an expert on the history of marriage and our current civil rights battle to end discrimination, but also an engaging, funny, and provocative presenter…. E.J. will give non-gay and gay audiences much to think about, laugh at, and work with as she urges people to get involved in one of the cutting-edge civil rights struggles of our time.”

Laura Zimmerman, co-director, New Words Live/Center for New Words:

“I’m writing to thank you for the terrific talk you gave at New Words Bookstore. I was observing the audience while you spoke—more than fifty people jammed into that little room!—and everyone was riveted by your clear presentation of a complex social history. This was a tough crowd, with a wide range of opinions on the subject of marriage, but you kept all of us engaged, and you kept us alert through a lively Q&A session. I was especially impressed that you could bring so much good humor and wit into the discussion.

 “I know people left the bookstore satisfied with the high level of the talk and the urgent questions it raised. Further proof of your success: the staff who attended the reading talked about it enthusiastically for days. One of them pointed out that you speak as engagingly as you write—high praise indeed!”

 

For more speakers on feminist journalism, see: Gloria Steinem, Paula Kamen, Jennifer Baumgardner, Lisa Jervis, Nona Willis Aronowitz, Ann Fessler, Jehmu Greene, Cathi Hanauer, Amanda Marcotte, Robin Morgan, Peggy Orenstein, Farai Chideya, Irshad Manji, Courtney E. Martin, Suzanne Braun Levine

For more speakers on race and racism, see: Veronica Chambers, Loretta Ross, Wyndi Marie Anderson, Staceyann Chin, Jehmu Greene, Marcia Ann Gillespie, Irshad Manji, Catherine McKinley, Peggy Orenstein,  Lisa Tiger, Nancy Redd, or Jewel Woods.