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Acknowledgments We didn’t really want to write a book with the words “rape culture” in the title, but here we are. We could find no better way to encapsulate what we conceptualized as a catchall category of structural impediments to women’s advancement in the public sphere with a common theme of violence against women. Along a spectrum from gendered jokes ques- tioning women’s competence, and cultural beliefs characterizing women as untrustworthy, to targeted harassment and sexual assault, we observed a policy landscape that had responded inadequately, with abjectly unjust policy outcomes and persisting underrepresentation of women in posi- tions of power across society. The book project traces its inception to outreach—for which we are most thankful—from Jessica Gribble, Senior Acquisitions Editor at Prae- ger, who saw our Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA) paper, “She Lied: Rape Myth Relevance in Social Media and Social Construction in Sexual Assault Policy,” in 2018 and suggested that it might be a good basis for a title in the book series “Gender Matters in U.S. Politics.” We are grateful to the scholars who informed our thinking, especially philosophers Kate Manne and Martha Nussbaum, who explain the bases and manifestations of misogyny, shame, and entitlement, and political scientists Anne Schneider and Helen Igram, whose social construction frame explains how policy benefits and burdens are apportioned. We have been inspired by the work of activists and advocates, like those we have interviewed and profiled in these pages, including Ally Coll, cofounder of the Purple Campaign, tackling sexual harassment in gov- ernment and private enterprise, and Nora Gallo and Lilly James of Every