E-mail: vrutter@gmail.com

Virginia Rutter is an associate professor of sociology at the Framingham State University in Framingham, MA, where she teaches about gender, feminism, inequality, sexuality, theory, family, and public policy. Prior to moving to Framingham, she was a research scientist at the Battelle Centers for Public Health Research and Evaluation in Seattle and Arlington, VA, where she directed a study of couples, power, and sexuality in the NIH-funded National Couples Survey. She has recently published two articles, "The CAse for Divorce" and "Divorce in Research, Divorce in Media." She is co-author of two books, The Gender of Sexuality and The Love Test, several academic book chapters, and numerous articles for Psychology Today on topics ranging from infertility to adolescence and from psychotherapy to stepfamilies. Prior to becoming a sociologist, Dr. Rutter worked in Washington, D.C., in public affairs related to family and mental health. She has also been a public affairs! fellow with the National Academies Committee on Women in Science and Engineering. She is an editor and columnist at www.girlwpen.org, a website dedicated to bridging feminist research and popular reality. She continues to work with the media, coordinating delivery of serious research results on family, gender, and mental health for key researchers and organizations. Dr. Rutter earned her Ph.D. in sociology at the University of Washington.