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Rachel E. Davis

@redavisphd.bsky.social

460 followers 600 following 290 posts

Assistant Professor of Sociology at Middle Tennessee State University | CITAP Affiliate | Studying transactional sex, social media, & gendered violence | she/her

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Rachel E. Davis @redavisphd.bsky.social · Jun 5

MTSU's research magazine features an article about me and my undergraduate mentee's research on law enforcement perceptions of sex trafficking! issuu.com/mtsumag/docs...

MTSU Research 2025

Middle Tennessee State University's annual magazine for the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs

issuu.com

Reposted by Rachel E. Davis

Nick Pettigrew @nick-pettigrew.bsky.social · 2d

When there's a beetle flying around in the room when you're trying to sleep so you use the light on your phone to find it and your cat appears out of the gloom like a feline phantasm on one of those 1970s haunted photos:

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Reposted by Rachel E. Davis

Brendel @brendelbored.bsky.social · 2d

In some ways this is the government now

r/Lollapalooza 3 yr. ago
DaL
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Join
[deleted]
I'm excited for Limp Bizkit, but I'm a little worried about Antifa...
Question
I'm sick and tired of seeing these thugs terrorize big events and am worried that they will try to interrupt Limp Bizkit's set. My gf (F19) and I (M31) are going to our first Lollapalooza and are concerned about the growing threat around the city

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Rachel E. Davis @redavisphd.bsky.social · 3d

My department is hiring!

MTSU Sociology @mtsusociology.bsky.social · 3d

The Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Middle Tennessee State University invites applicants for a full-time, tenure-track faculty position (#129030) in sociology at the rank of assistant or associate professor whose research and teaching focus is health, illness, and healthcare systems.

MTSU Jobs | Middle Tennessee State University

careers.mtsu.edu

Rachel E. Davis @redavisphd.bsky.social · 4d

Structural Functionalist, Conflict Theorist, Symbolic Interactionist #sociology #socsky

Ryan Teague Beckwith @ryanbeckwith.bsky.social · 4d

Editor in chief, city editor, features editor

Rachel E. Davis @redavisphd.bsky.social · 4d

This must have required overtime for every fact checker at the New Yorker. Sheesh! www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

The Hague on Trial

The chief prosecutor has obtained warrants against Israeli leaders for war crimes—but faces allegations of sexual misconduct.

www.newyorker.com

Reposted by Rachel E. Davis

Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 4d

I cannot believe what we are subjected to, day after day.

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Rachel E. Davis @redavisphd.bsky.social · 4d

Try Universal Standard!

Rachel E. Davis @redavisphd.bsky.social · 7d

Meme of Pam from the office holding two pictures (The Life of Pablo album cover and The Life of a Showgirl cover) saying “corporate needs you to find the differences between this picture and this picture.”

Second panel shows her telling the camera “They’re the same picture.”

Reposted by Rachel E. Davis

fishttp:// @fishttp.website · 9d

all mammals share an instinct to destroy their ancient enemy, the loathsome gourd

Oregon Zoo @oregonzoo.bsky.social · 9d

let the gourd times roll

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Rachel E. Davis @redavisphd.bsky.social · 8d

My hot take upon first listen is that The Life of a Showgirl is Taylor Swift’s The Life of Pablo. I will not elaborate.

Reposted by Rachel E. Davis

scott⚡️mccloud @scottmccloud.bsky.social · 8d

Written 55 years ago, Schulz's heartfelt clarity cuts through the noise, even today.

h/t @tisserand.bsky.social

Scan of a typed letter from 1970, from Peanuts creator Charles Schulz, addressed to "Joel Lipton, 622 N. Foothill Road, Beverly Hills, Calif. 90210"

It reads:

"Dear Joel:

I think it is more difficult these days to define what makes a good citizen than it has ever been before. Certainly all any of us can do is follow our own conscience and retain faith in our democracy. Sometimes it is the very people who cry out the loudest in favor of getting back to what they call "American Virtues" who lack this faith in our country.

I believe that our greatest strength lies always in the protection of our smallest minorities.

Sincerely yours,

Charles M. Schulz"

At bottom is an illustration of Charlie Brown and Snoopy, a kite wrapped around the dog house.

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Rachel E. Davis @redavisphd.bsky.social · 8d

“As much as we may wish to separate the art from the artist, many of our most perverse and prolific art monsters won’t let us, because they keep making art about the most monstrous parts of themselves.” An Intimate Chronicle of Kanye West’s Fall from Grace www.newyorker.com/culture/crit...

An Intimate Chronicle of Kanye West’s Fall from Grace

The rapper and producer has become a pariah, running for President and praising Hitler. A new documentary gives insight into what went wrong.

www.newyorker.com

Rachel E. Davis @redavisphd.bsky.social · 10d

Lmaoo I meant the bear livestream! There were some rough happenings last year. 😢

Rachel E. Davis @redavisphd.bsky.social · 10d

A chill season was needed after they killed off so many characters last season 😳

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Reposted by Rachel E. Davis

MTSU Sociology @mtsusociology.bsky.social · 10d

We're shining the spotlight on research by Sociology Assistant Professor Dr. Rachel Davis, who is reshaping how scholars understand intimacy, social class, and digital life! 🔍

She is developing a book on hypergamy, a form of romantic partnership marked by economic inequality. 💰⚖️

Photo of Dr. Rachel Davis

Text reads:

Research Spotlight

Inside the Mind of a Digital Feminist
Dr. Rachel Davis is reshaping how scholars understand intimacy, class, and digital life. From the hills of Tennessee to a secluded island, she is developing a book on hypergamy, a form of romantic partnership marked by economic inequality. Dr. Davis sat down with us to discuss matrix logics, media myths, and the feminist contradictions that shape online sexual labor.

Q: What questions or problems are you currently exploring?
I am currently writing a book for Bloomsbury Publishing about hypergamy, a strategic intimate partnership between a man of high socioeconomic status and a woman of lower socioeconomic status, on Tumblr and TikTok. Some feminists denounce hypergamy as exploitative, while others celebrate it as empowering. This tension raises the question: How do we define and identify women’s exploitation and empowerment, and how can a phenomenon be labeled as both at once?

Q: What methods or theoretical approaches are central to your work?
For my book project, I utilized digital ethnographic research methods informed by a combination of intersectionality theory, particularly Vivian May’s concept of matrix logics, and Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of class distinction. As part of my digital ethnography, I combined social media content analyses, in-depth qualitative interviews, and statistical analyses. Overall, I prefer mixed-methods approaches like this.

Q: What insights or challenges have shaped your recent projects?
Studying social media involves constant challenges, as social media sites change features, algorithms, and data policies daily, often without disclosing them. This requires researchers to constantly change our data-gathering tactics and ethical considerations in response. It can be exhausting sometimes! But it keeps me on my toes.

Q: What insights or challenges have shaped your recent projects?
Studying social media involves constant challenges, as social media sites change features, algorithms, and data policies daily, often without disclosing them. This requires researchers to constantly change our data-gathering tactics and ethical considerations in response. It can be exhausting sometimes! But it keeps me on my toes.

Q: What led you to this area of research?
I became interested in the phenomenon of hypergamy in my undergraduate career, when I noticed that several feminists I followed on social media expressed an interest in having a sugar daddy, despite many other feminists denouncing sugar arrangements as exploitative and sexist.

Q: How would you describe your research to someone outside of academia?
I look at how social media shapes romantic relationships and the economic transactions that take place within them. More specifically, I study the similarities and differences between women who identify as sugar babies, high-value women, and spoiled girlfriends.

Q: What themes or arguments does your research address?
My research suggests that some women are actively seeking economically unequal (hypergamous) relationships in lieu of egalitarian ones, potentially perpetuating gender inequality while simultaneously claiming feminist politics. On the other hand, hypergamy may be understood as a strategy for class mobility in an otherwise largely closed class system. In this context, hypergamous women have been harmed by legislative and corporate actions like FOSTA that restrict their freedom of speech, sexual autonomy, and sense of community, all in the name of feminism and social justice. By utilizing matrix logics, I hope to push our responses to these issues beyond binary concepts of victimization and exploitation so that we can better understand (and change) contemporary life.

Q: How does your research engage with contemporary issues?
My research engages with debates about sexual labor and criminal law. After the passage of Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) in 2018, social media platforms purged adult content, disproportionately affecting racial, gender, and sexual minorities. Ironically, this pushed the sex trade further underground, making it harder to identify and assist trafficking victims. My work aims to expose these contradictions and suggest more just policy approaches.

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Rachel E. Davis @redavisphd.bsky.social · 11d

September reading wrap-up. 📚 Follow me on fable at
fable.co/rachel-davis...

List of books I read in September along with my rating out of 5.
The Compound (4)
Sky Daddy (5)
Out There (4)
If You Don’t Like This I’ll Die (3)
Bring the House Down (4)
Consider Yourself Kissed (4)
Mendell Station (4)
Loved One (4)

Reposted by Rachel E. Davis

Quinta Jurecic @qjurecic.bsky.social · 12d

I have been haunted by this statement all day www.kgw.com/article/news...

Local News
Trump seems to back off Portland military plan: 'Am I watching things on television that are different from what's happening?'

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Reposted by Rachel E. Davis

Melissa Gira Grant @melissagiragrant.com · 12d

Listening to this, it also feels like more evidence of how far some white people will go to defend white innocence, will invent space for themselves outside history. And when someone they say they respect patiently walks them through this, for all their valorization of “listening,” they won’t.

Perry Bacon @perrybaconjr.bsky.social · 12d

This was revealing. Worth reading. The basic demand is that Coates spend less time thinking/writing his true feelings and more time playing political strategist. Klein asks him over and over him to do Dem strategy; he says no, over and over. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/28/o...

Opinion | Ta-Nehisi Coates on Bridging Gaps vs. Drawing Lines

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Rachel E. Davis

Adam Bonica @adambonica.bsky.social · 12d

There is a difference between righteous anger, directed at injustice, and hateful anger, directed at those who are different. Authoritarian regimes deliberately conflate the two to silence criticism and create false equivalence. It's important we don't let those in power succeed in this endeavor.

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Rachel E. Davis @redavisphd.bsky.social · 16d

This is … weird. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/24/n...

The Billionaire, the Psychedelics and the Best-Selling Memoir

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Rachel E. Davis

Ryan H. @ryan.blacksky.app · 17d

Chotiner right before he puts away the voice recorder, every time

a man in a suit and tie is smoking a cigarette while sitting at a table .

Alt: peter falk as columbo walking back into frame saying 'there's just one more thing'

media.tenor.com

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Rachel E. Davis @redavisphd.bsky.social · 17d

🫡

Rachel E. Davis @redavisphd.bsky.social · 18d

Lorde blessed 🙌🩻

Photo of Lorde flipping her hair back on stage

Rachel E. Davis @redavisphd.bsky.social · 19d

I know my federal grant applications will be searched for certain "DEI-related" keywords, like "gender" and "feminist." So what should I do about the fact that my proposed survey involves the use of well-established psychometric scales with terms like "gender" and "feminist" in their names?

Reposted by Rachel E. Davis

Briar in Blue @auroraworeblue.bsky.social · 19d

You guys, so many Romance girlies are reading "On Tyranny" that they've broken the Goodreads recommendations algorithm. 10/10; no notes.
#romancelandia

A grainy screenshot of the sidebar of the desktop version of Goodreads. It says:

RECOMMENDATIONS:
Because you enjoyed A Wedding to Protect Her Fortune:
On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder
A historian of fascism offers a guide for surviving and resisting America's turn towards authoritarianism. On November 9th, millions of Americans woke up to the impossible...

View all books similar to A Wedding to Protect Her Fortune

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