Margaret L. Andersen (1991-1995)

I became editor of Gender & Society in 1990 (first issue, June 1991). At the time, there were very few places for feminist scholars to publish their work. The major journals were Signs: A Journal of Women in Culture and Society, Sex Roles, and Feminist Studies. Within sociology, the major jour nals published hardly any scholarship on gender and were generally per ceived as unfriendly to qualitative much less, feminist, scholarship. Signs, as its subtitle indicates, published work in all disciplines, meaning that, with the renaissance in feminist scholarship, sociologists competed for space with feminist scholars from every discipline. This was also true for Feminist Studies. And because decisions at Signs were made collectively by the editorial board, the journal had a reputation for being extraordinarily slow in its editorial decisions—a crucial obstacle for faculty whose tenure clocks were ticking. Sex Roles was well established as a strong journal, but its orientation was primarily psychological or social-psychological. Yet at the time, gen der was being reconceptualized—not as a role, but as a social structure in its own right. Gender & Society played a large part, I believe, in that intel lectual transition. Gender & Society has become the premier journal in the social sciences where strong feminist scholarship is published. Although Gender & Society is not exclusively sociological, sociologists are its pri mary audience. Thus, in the 1980s and 1990s, Gender & Society became the journal where those working from a sociological and feminist perspective on gender could find a home for their work. Editing a journal, even a feminist journal, inevitably makes the editor one of the gatekeepers in academic life. Even if an editor does not intend to be in such a position, she makes decisions that enable (or disable) people's academic careers. Publication in highly ranked journals is the basis for pro motion and tenure—and, increasingly, for simply getting an academic job. As editor, I kept this in mind, frequently telling the students who worked with the journal that they had to remember that there was an anxious person waiting for a decision. Gender & Society editors, myself included, have a tradition of providing feedback that helps authors develop their best work. When I was editor, I was proud that Gender & Society had an acceptance

Epistemology · Feminism · Media studies · Political science · Reputation · Scholarship · Social science · Sociology · Gender Politics and Representation · Gender Studies · Law

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