Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Newsweek articles on feminism

Since I'm doubting any of us has finished the last chapter yet, here's some easier and more current reading on feminism.

Are we there yet? - The headline article about sexism working at Newsweek, in 1970 and now. They bring up the disturbing point that women make 80 cents for every dollar men make (although they didn't cite the study, which always makes me a bit skeptical). I was intrigued by the following two quotes:
"We know what you're thinking: we're young and entitled, whiny and humorless—to use a single, dirty word, feminists! But just as the first black president hasn't wiped out racism, a female at the top of a company doesn't eradicate sexism. In fact, those contradictory signs of progress—high-profile successes that mask persistent inequality—are precisely the problem."

""The U.S. always scores abysmally in terms of work-life balance," says the WEF's Kevin Steinberg. "But even here, [women] still rank 'masculine or patriarchal corporate culture' as the highest impediment to success." Exhibit A: the four most common female professions today are secretary, registered nurse, teacher, and cashier—low-paying, "pink collar" jobs that employ 43 percent of all women. Swap "domestic help" for nurse and you'd be looking at the top female jobs from 1960, back when want ads were segregated by gender."

Feminism or bust (Why young women need feminism) - The author claims that people of her (and my) generation are over feminism and feel that we don't need it (true), but that we do still need it. Unfortunately, she doesn't say where or why, just that sexism is "harder to pinpoint" and when women enter the workforce they feel like "outsiders in a male-dominated club." (I suppose this is because she's assuming you read the previous article.) Personally I've never experienced this, but I've never been outside academia.

My parents' failed experiment in gender neutrality - Though Jesse's parents wanted to raise her genderless, girlie-ness prevailed.
"Since then, of course, countless studies have shown that men and women think and behave differently—to the point that it's not the existence of these differences, but the source of them, that is the subject of any debate." 
I'm always floored when you come across people who haven't realized this.
"Looking like a sex object but also claiming the rights of women who are not sex objects—that's tricky." 
Yes it is! This actually gives me hope, when traditional* feminists and new feminists can agree on problem areas.

So in an attempt to spur discussion (without having to read the articles necessarily), why do you think pay discrepancies still exist? Do you think women are in more "pink-collar" jobs because they like them more, because they are more family-friendly, both, or something else? Have you experienced sexism, particularly in the workplace? Is it possible to completely eradicate sexism? What areas do you think contemporary* feminists and new feminists can agree?



*I'm not sure of the right word to reference feminists who aren't radical but still follow the old-school (that is 70s-80s) platform. There are just so many strands of feminism!

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