University of Denver Autumn 2024

RELEASES

Q&A with Trisha Teig

In Her Own Name: The Politics of Women’s Rights Before Suffrage Sara Chatfield, assistant professor, Department of Political Science

“Rooted and Radiant: Women’s Narratives of Leadership,” co authored by Trisha Teig, former faculty director of the Colorado Women’s College Leadership Scholars Program, shares narratives of 39 women exploring their own stories of leadership and gender. Why share these narratives? There are not enough voices shared from historically marginalized identities in our society. We know that women of color make less money, have less access to educational spaces where networks can be formed, and face more challenges in discrimination and bias once they move up the ladder of leadership. All of these data inform the fact that we do not have a current structure that supports women’s access to leadership, but it also offers a clear indication that we are defining leadership in a narrow and outdated way. This book was written to address the latter issue. What challenges do women in leadership face? The traditional understanding of who a leader is—what they look like, how they act—does not align with stereotypical gender expectations for women. This creates a double standard where women and men in leader roles are treated differently. Adding to the complexity, women of color face compounded gendered and racialized biases. These underlying biases built on our gendered socialization creates an environment where a woman cannot catch a break; she is always too much or not enough.

In the early 19th century, a married woman had hardly any legal existence apart from her husband. By the 20th century, state-level statutes, constitutional provisions and court rulings had granted married women a host of protections relating to ownership and control of property. “In Her Own Name” explores the origins and consequences of laws guaranteeing married women’s property rights,

focusing on the people and institutions that shaped them. Sara Chatfield demonstrates that the motives of male elites included personal interests, benefits to the larger economy and bolstering state power, and that married women’s property rights could serve varied political goals across regions and eras—from temperance to debt relief to settlement of the West.

Good Tension Carrie Jennings (BM ’14)

Vocalist Carrie Jennings teams up with fellow Lamont grads Kevin Matthews and Thomas Jennings on her debut EP, “Good Tension.” Four songs explore a different representation

of “good tension,” whether that is embracing the pain of transformation (“Bothered”); honoring the love we deserve, even after being forgotten (“Adored”); holding both profound love and fear of loss in our hearts (“Maybe”); or recognizing the weight of our own agency (“Funny”). “The process of recording my original music with musicians I love and trust, folks I have been playing with for over a decade, was an absolute joy,” said Jennings.

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UNIVERSITY OF DENVER MAGAZINE | AUTUMN 2024