Hooray! We live in a woman’s world, according to the recent Shriver Report. Mothers are the major breadwinners in 40% of families. We have a female speaker of the House and Secretary of State, and women serve as Governors and Senators (although primarily as Democratic Senators!).
- I live in a generation where professional women take equality for granted. Issues of gender and race are not a factor anymore. The woman’s liberation movement is ancient history. We are post-femToday, women earn only 77 cents for every dollar earned by men. This is up only slightly from 64 cents 25 years ago.
- Board seats and corporate officer positions have not increased for women and even have declined in recent years.
- Only 15 women are CEOs of Fortune 500 companies.
- In 2008, women made up almost half of all associates in law firms, but only 18.3% are full partners.
Even the positive news about women’s jobs in the recession are misleading, i.e. that women have suffered fewer job losses than men. The reason? Women are concentrated on lower-paying fields rather than high-paying industries like finance. Success for women has been defined in terms of hard facts and figures, too narrow a definition. We need to define women’s achievements in terms of ATTITUDE as well.
In today’s noisy world of the internet, women are portrayed as extremes: either witches or bimbos. Online conversation about prominent women can degenerate from silly to just plain ugly and offensive. In the recent presidential campaign, the news media was on their best behavior to avoid racial stereotypes, but it was still OK to comment on appearance, clothes, and mannerisms for Hillary Clinton or Sarah Palin. On Fox News, Glenn Beck recently suggested that “ugly women” are most likely “progressive as well.”
True progress in woman’s equality will not be achieved until popular perceptions of women are changed. How can women work to change this opinion?
1. Have confidence in yourself. Don’t feel the need to be the passive “good girl.” Many men ask for a raise or promotion when they think they have done a good job and you should too.
2. Take risks. And realize that there always will be some failures. Don’t try to achieve perfection—this is an unrealistic expectation.
3. Have a sense of humor. It helps defuse tension and helps you to face your day.
4. Don’t be afraid to be feminine. Women have a different culture and a different leadership approach, which can have advantages. You don’t have to emulate men to succeed.
5. Define success in the way that it is important to your life and to your own values, not to meet the expectations of society. And that definition can be different at different stages in your life, particularly in how you combine career and family obligations.
Women have focused on better jobs and higher pay as a measure of success and have made tremendous strides in the past 25 years. But we need to make sure that respect is part of the equation as well.
Reference:
Joanne Lipman (former deputy managing editor at the Wall Street Journal, founding editor in chief of Conde Nast Portfolio Magazine), The Mismeasure of Woman, New York Times, Oct 24, 2009.
Comments (52)
I'm bothered by the title. Post-feminist era? Last time I checked, feminism is still very much so needed.
Yes, women do need to work harder to dismantle the glass ceiling once and for all, but that can't happen if people don't think there's a problem to begin with (i.e. workplace discrimination, pay disparities, etc.) Instead of ignoring the problem, it should be widely acknowledged and worked upon by everyone, not just working women.
@salvatruca_stalking_havok13@xanga - Agreed. You would do well to edit the title, as it in no way fits the post which nicely outlines what work still needs to be done.
@schallerbrandon@xanga - @salvatruca_stalking_havok13@xanga -
Please see the Feminism entry in Wikipedia for a description of feminist history.
1. First-wave feminism began in the mid-1800s with an agenda focused on winning women’s right to vote and gaining access to birth control.
2. Second-wave feminism describes the period between 1960-1980 to address women’s cultural and political inequalities and to fight sexist power structures. This feminist advocacy often was referred to as the “Women’s Liberation Movement.”
3. Third-wave feminism began in the 1990s, primary to address the criticism that there was an over-emphasis on the experiences of upper middle-class white women which failed to recognize or include the needs of minority women.
4.Post-feminism describes a variety of viewpoints in reaction to feminism. Although the term may give the impression that equality has been achieved and that feminists can now focus on something else entirely, this generally is not the intent. Post-feminists criticize many of the gynocentric and misandrist ideas of second-wave feminism, labeling them as “Gender Feminism.” Instead, post-feminists advocate “Equity Feminism.” While Gender Feminists advocate preferential treatment and portray women as victims, Equity Feminism aims for full civil and legal equality for women.
All humans should be paid based on their performance. Generally speaking, women are better at multi-tasking, which makes them better suited than a man for an administrative position. Generally speaking, men are physically stronger, which makes them better suited for most blue-collar occupations. That being said, there are exceptions of course and in the end the only thing that matters to me is that I'm paid what I feel that I'm worth. I have a realistic expectation of my worth in the workplace, and I think where most people take a misstep is thinking that they should be making the same amount or more than the next guy/girl. Who cares what someone else makes? Unless they're putting food on my table, I have no need to know their salary. As long as I'm getting paid what I'm worth in my mind, then I should focus on things outside of work to make me happy. Relationships, hobbies, doing nice things for others, etc.
@salvatruca_stalking_havok13@xanga - Yeah. Women can't still be in all parts of the military. What a crock.
Well written article, with good feedback.
Let's hope leaders give women and others a fair chance to prove their worth and progress according to merit. It may take time to destroy the (reinforced) "glass ceiling" but this should not prevent us from trying.
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It saddens me that some think of feminism as a thing of the past. I am a women's studies ex-major (now minor) and have learned so much in my past two years of college about how feminism is still very much alive and a major part of the world today. There are still many, many things that need to happen before true equality is reached..."feminist" fight or not such as equal pay for equal work and gay marriage, for example.
I'm a bit scatter-brained right now, so I apologize if this doesn't make sense. But yay feminism!
"We are post-femToday, women earn only 77 cents for every dollar earned
by men. This is up only slightly from 64 cents 25 years ago"
Women's liberation is very much still relevant today, but this is misleading information, turns out,is very misleading...according to a study quoted on 51%, a woman run/hosted program on NPR or APR, the figure is much higher if you compare women who work full time to men who work fulltime...the fiture the 51% show quoted was...89%.
I haven't been able to find this online but did find labor dept saying women 25-35 are making 89% of what men do, I can't recall if that's "women 25-35 who work full time" or "all women aged 25-35" For "women who have never married" one source says 94.2%. Obviously you have to ask whether never-married moves you to younger women who come closer to 100%..but it also includes more career-focused women, there are many variables...but the variable of whether one is comparing full time workers or part-time workers can't be ignored..you can't compare a woman working 20 hours a week to man working 40 but we do that when we average all women and all men, hence figures like 76%...I want to emphasize that facing the facts about these figures does NOT weaken the case for women's empowerment. If we ignore them, we'll reach a rather unpleasant version of an equality-based world...there are more than one kinds of equality-of-genders world...the one we'll reach is one where women get just as over-worked, exhausted, too little time, as men, and same pay, but what level of overwork?too high for both. Men who choose to take time off to be with newly born babies, or other time for family etc need to be culturally supported, otherwise they will keep grinding themselves to death even more than women (who today already face the grind,just not in same statistical numbers as high as men, since more women still go part-time) and that's not a happy world for women or men...get national subsidized day care, higher wages for everyone, more vacation time and cultrually support men (speak out against denigrating men who) spend part of their life cycle more like a woman with some years of part time etc..that plus insisting on equality together, would lead to the kind of equality world we want..All of this thanks to 51% and realizing that while it's still not 100% of men's wages, it's much closer when you look at fulltime working women, it's at 89%..fight the good fights for equality AND for workers rights for all
Looks like one blogger gets it: "Marketers see a 25-year-old woman as upbeat, on the way in her career,
going out at night. The reality is she's highly stressed, might not
have a job, or be home with three kids. Such marketing stereotypes hold
true for women ages 25 to 40,"
Joanna L. Krotz also adds that by 2010, women are expected to control $1 trillion, or 60% of the
country's wealth, according to research conducted by BusinessWeek and
Gallup.
http://www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/resources/ArticleReader/website/default.aspx?Print=1&ArticleId=WomenpowerhowtomarkettoofAmericans
Again, the message is not anti-equality but that focus must be on equality *and* help for the non-rich (of both/all genders) and quality of life vs overwork. Ok done making these points
Yeah, I completely tuned out after the first set of bullets. Equality in the work place is supposed to mean that a woman has the exact same chances as a man to obtain a job - meaning the decision to give the job to one or the other should be based on experience, not gender. People are quick to throw out statistics for things like this, while completely overlooking the fact that maybe more qualified men applied for those jobs than qualified women. You can't expect everything to be 50% of each gender. Anyone who quotes statistics like that without looking further into the specifics to see if it's a lack of qualified applicants of one gender or another completely loses credibility. The same thing really goes for pay - most jobs pay more if you have previous experience or if you have certain degrees or education. Saying women earn less to the dollar than men without backing it up with verification that all the women and men compared to get those numbers had the exact same amount of experience and the exact same degrees or education means absolutely nothing.
@redhairedgrrl@xanga - people that are feminists for the most part are still considering today either part of the third wave or the fourth wave.
most feminists are very against the term "post-feminism" b/c it implies that feminism isn't needed anymore.
as a college student, you should know that wikipedia is not a valid source haha
@salvatruca_stalking_havok13@xanga - agreed
@afburd@xanga - oh man, so true. Therein lies the fallacy of one common mindset - comparison in order to derive values. What a load of bunk. What happens when you take away the second variable? Can you be happy with what you get out of the situation?
@ShimmerBodyCream@xanga - I suppose I'm a glutton for punishment by asking this, but what parts of the military aren't women allowed to be in? Certain special forces roles are the only ones I'm familiar with, and the primary reason they aren't allowed in those roles is because they're physically unable to meet the training requirements. Should I be upset that a woman gets a desk job over me because she can type faster? I think not...all roles have performance requirements and when you don't meet them, someone else gets the job.
@babykittytara@xanga - Wow, that's the TRUTH. Thanks so much for posting this...I wish more people could see this as their reality. Bravo!
@azyndeviette@xanga - Spot on, comparison is something we all naturally do, but only a handful of us realize where to stop it for the sake of our sanity. Too many people victimize themselves and their race or gender into thinking that the world is unfair to them. I'm told repeatedly that "I wouldn't understand" because of my race and/or gender, but what these people fail to realize is that I've unshackled myself from the stereotypes long enough to realize that I'm the one in charge of my future (barring the Lord striking me from this earth whenever He sees fit). It's as though these people expect to walk into the street without having to look both ways, and then want to sue the person driving the car that strikes them. Until they realize that their decisions (or lack thereof) are primarily responsible for their future, they'll remain "victims" in their own minds.
@afburd@xanga - It is not because women can't* meet the requirements, it is because they are not given the opportunity. Direct combat - spec ops etc
@ShimmerBodyCream@xanga - I've never met a woman in the military that can carry 2, 200lb men over a mile to safety. That's not to say they don't exist, but trying to convince me that even 1% of women in the military could meet that requirement would be a waste of your time. I could give a grasshopper an opportunity to jump across the Grand Canyon, but what good would it do when it's generally not feasible?
Secondarily, women on the battlefield are a distraction, even as nurses. Men want to rescue and protect women at all costs, so while the men are thinking of saving the women, the enemy has the upper hand and is more likely to take out the men AND women with less effort. I'm speaking from experience...
@afburd@xanga - LOL on the money. Word of advice: I would have understood your comment and been better able to retaliate if it were not so loquacious, perhaps better spaced.
But don't listen to me because everything I say I pull out of my behind ;)
oh you're just pissed off cause obama made it into the white house instead of hilary.
@schallerbrandon@xanga - @salvatruca_stalking_havok13@xanga - hopethatitglows@xanga- @afburd@xanga - bodyheartmindsoul@xanga-
I see the source of confusion. Dollarish edited my post in a confusing way. The language about "post-feminism" in my original weblog was intended to be sarcastic, but instead was changed to represent my opinion!
In my original writing, the second and third paragraphs read:
"I live in a generation where professional women take equality for granted. Issues of gender and race are not a factor anymore. The woman’s liberation movement is ancient history. We are post-feminists.
Great news? Not so fast. Consider these facts:"
. . .followed by 5 bullet points.
I hope this clears up any misconception about my viewpoint.
@salvatruca_stalking_havok13@xanga - Funny, I don't see many women rushing to break the glass-dirt trench, the glass-mine shaft, the glass-sewer system, the glass-factory ceiling, the glass-cattle ranch, the glass-greasy mechanics workshop, the glass-fishing trawler, the glass-railway maintenance crew, the glass-power station doors, down or open. No, it's always cushy, undeserved, office and boardroom jobs.
Feminism isn't, and was never, "needed".
@afburd@xanga - That bullshit about women being better at multi-tasking is exactly that.
Women multi-tasking at things that men were already well multi-tasking at, often for millenia.
The overwhelming FACT of humanity is that women are meant to do certain things, and men are meant to do certain things !
@afburd@xanga - Then keep the option open for women and if they don't pass, don't let them in. To do anything less is sexist and denying women rights.
Being a distraction to men is irrelevant. It was also considered socially detrimental to integrate black and white bathrooms but somehow we survived, didn't we?
Denying someone rights is inexcusable. The men will just have to grab their nuts and deal with it.