Dr. Rhea Ashley Hoskin has received the 2025 Early Investigator Award from The Canadian Sociological Association in recognition of her groundbreaking contributions to the sociology of gender, femininities and gender-based violence. She is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at Waterloo, based in Sexualities, Relationships, and Families (St. Jerome's University) and in the Faculty of Arts' Sociology and Legal Studies department.
“This award is deeply meaningful—not only for me, but for the growing field of femininities and femme theory," says Dr. Hoskin. "For too long, scholarship on femininity has been wrongfully seen as frivolous, anti-intellectual, unimportant, and less rigorous. Researchers in this area have faced documented barriers in hiring, publishing, and grant allocation. A femininities researcher receiving an award for innovation, methodological rigour, and theoretical contribution is a powerful sign that the tide may be turning. It means that femininity, which has long been treated as unserious, is worthy of serious academic attention. My work has always been about bringing femininity into academic conversations, and with this honour, I feel like that goal is being realized."