Sex.Talk.Toolkit.
Who We Are
Shira Tarrant, PhD
University of California National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement Fellow (2019-20)
Since receiving her PhD in Political Science from UCLA, Shira has investigated provocative issues in gender and sexual politics. Among her books are The Pornography Industry, Men and Feminism, and Gender, Sex, and Politics.
Her work has been featured in The New Yorker, Bitch magazine, and The Atlantic and her political commentary has appeared in global and local media, including All Things Considered, Canadian Broadcast Corporation, the New York Times, and ET Live.
She is currently Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at California State University, Long Beach. As often as possible, Shira hikes the backroads of Los Angeles.
Laura DeFrate
Research Assistant
Laura earned her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from California State University, Long Beach. In addition to her major in Political Science, she earned a minor in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and a Legal Studies Certificate.
In Fall 2020, she begins a Ph.D. program at the University of Illinois at Chicago where she intends to study the implications of the privatization of public infrastructure on women, with a focus on for-profit prisons.
When she isn’t studying, Laura enjoys playing tourist in her city – seeking out the weird and wonderful – with her partner and two teenaged children.
