Ezra Langlois

Ezra is a Ph.D. student in sociology at the University of Arizona whose research interests lie at the nexus of gender, embodiment, identity construction, and cultural meaning making. Their work explores the cultural construction and politicization of gender and sexual identities online and through mass media using a combination of qualitative and computational methods. Ezra has completed work examining the construction of gender within contemporary stand-up comedy, sex workers’ occupational identity negotiation on social media, and the contradictory gender, racial, and sexual meanings within involuntary celibate (incel) communities online. Currently, they are working on research that examines gender identity negotiation within political and cultural discourse via digital and popular culture.

Ezra received their M.A. in sociology from the University of Arizona in 2024, and their B.S. in sociology from Grand Valley State University in 2021, where they were also involved in the McNair Scholars Program. Their M.A. thesis, “Comedic Tactics and the Negotiation of Gender within Stand-Up Comedy Specials,” was a second-place recipient of the 2025 Raymond V. Bowers Award for Outstanding Graduate Paper.