Rose Weitz

Emeritus Professor

Other ASU affiliations

The Sanford School

[email protected]

Wilson 316 TEMPE, AZ 85287-6403
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Long Bio

Since receiving her doctoral degree in sociology from Yale University in 1978, Rose Weitz has carved an exceptional record as both a scholar and a teacher. Her work focuses on women, health, sexuality and the body. She is the author of numerous scholarly articles and of the books "Life with AIDS" and "Rapunzel’s Daughters: What Women’s Hair Tells Us About Women’s Lives." She also is co-author of "Labor Pains: Modern Midwives and Home Birth" and editor of "The Politics of Women’s Bodies: Appearance, Sexuality, and Behavior." Professor Weitz has won several teaching awards, including the Pacific Sociological Association Distinguished Contributions to Teaching Award, the ASU Last Lecture Award, and the ASU College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Alumni Association Outstanding Teaching Award.

Education

Ph.D. Sociology, Yale University 1978

Curriculum Vitae

Research Interests

Throughout her career, Rose Weitz has centered her research on issues related to women, health, sexuality, and the body.

Professor Weitz's most recent book is Rapunzel’s Daughters: What Women’s Hair Tells Us About Women’s Lives (published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004). The book explores how from an early age girls learn to consider their appearance central to their identity; how girls and women use their hair to create and manage their identities; how hair and appearance more generally can simultaneously offer girls and women a sense of power and constrain their power; and how women come to terms with changes in their appearance due to illness or age. Her previous books have looked at individuals living with AIDS (Life with AIDS, published by Rutgers in 1991) and at licensed midwives (Labor Pains: Modern Midwives and Home Birth, published by Yale University Press in 1988). She is also the author of numerous scholarly articles and co-editor of The Politics of Women’s Bodies: Appearance, Sexuality, and Behavior, published by Oxford University Press and now going into its 4th edition. Most recently, she has researched the lives and health of U.S. military women and cultural views on aging women dancers in the U.S. and Japan.

Publications

Since 2000:

Rose Weitz. 2016. “Feminism, Post-feminism, and Young Women’s Reactions to Lena Dunham’s Girls.” Gender Issues 33(3), 218-234.
Rose Weitz. 2015. “Vulnerable Warriors: Military Women, Military Culture, and Fear of Rape.” Gender Issues. 32:164-183.
Rose Weitz, “Gun Under My Pillow: Health Consequences of the Fear of Assault among Military Women.” Research in the Sociology of Health Care. 34: 17-32. Rose Weitz and Samantha Kwan. The Politics of Women’s Bodies. (2014).
Jennifer Arney and Rose Weitz. Gendering Affective Disorders in Direct-to-Consumer Advertisements. Research in the Sociology of Health Care (2012).
Rose Weitz. "Teaching Dangerously: When Feminisms Collide.". Feminist Teacher (2011).
Weitz, Rose. "Gender, Degendering, and Physical Scars.". Gender Issues (formerly Feminist Issues) (2011).
Yorghos Apostolopoulos, Sevil Sönmez, Mona M. Shattell, Richard Rothenberg, Rose Weitz, and John Smith. "Infection risk along U.S. highways? The case of a ‘truckchaser’ cruising for truckers.". International Journal of Sexual Health (2011).
Rose Weitz. The sociology of health, illness, and health care, 6th edition. (2011).
Rose Weitz. "Changing the Scripts: Midlife Women’s Sexuality in Contemporary U.S. Films.". Sexuality & Culture (2010).
Rose Weitz. The Politics of Women’s Bodies. (2010).
Claudia Chaufan and Rose Weitz. "The Elephant in the Room: The invisibility of poverty in type 2 diabetes research.". Humanity and Society (2009).
Rose Weitz. "Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Bus? NIMBYism and Popular Images of Public Transit.". Journal of Urbanism (2008).
Weitz, Rose. The sociology of health, illness, and health care. (2007).
Brinkerhoff, David B, White, Lynn K, Ortega, Suzanne T, Weitz, Rose. Essentials of Sociology. (2005).
Weitz, Rose. Rapunzel's Daughters: What Women's Hair Tells Us About Women's Lives. (2004).
Rose Weitz. Women and Their Hair: Seeking Power Through Resistance and Accommodation. Gender & Society (2001).

Professional Associations

Professor Weitz has an outstanding history of service to the profession. She served as founding director of theboth the B.A. and Ph.D. Programs in Women and Gender Studies. At the national level, she has served as Chair of the Medical Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association, as President of Sociologists for Women in Society, and as Chair of the Sociologists' AIDS Network, among many other positions.

Work History

Work Experience

Professor, Arizona State University, Women and Gender Studies and Sociology, 2004-.

Director of Graduate Studies, ASU Women and Gender Studies, 2006-2011.

Visiting Professor, Caucasus Research Resource Center, Armenia, October 2005.

Director of Undergraduate Studies, Arizona State University Sociology Department, 1999-2000.

Professor, Arizona State University, Department of Sociology, 1990-2003.

Invited Visiting Professor, University of Costa Rica, Women's Studies Program, October 1990.

Visiting Professor, Portland State University, Summer 1990.Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Sociology, Arizona State University, 1986-89.Visiting Fellow, Goldsmiths' College, University of London, 1984‑85.

Associate Professor, Arizona State University, Dept. of Sociology, 1983-90.

Director of Women's Studies, Arizona State University, 1982‑85.

Assistant Professor, Arizona State University, Dept. of Sociology, 1978‑83.

Service

In recent years, Professor Weitz's service (outside of ASU) focuses on working with and for American military women veterans. She has worked closely with both the ASU Veterans Engagement Office and the Arizona Department of Veteran Services.

Expertise Areas