Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Glenn Sogge on July 31, 2010 at 4:41am

There you go with that facts and historical record thing again!

Permalink Reply by Little Name Atheist on July 31, 2010 at 4:44am

I know. I should get on with the babymaking, even though my eggs are past their "use by" date.

Permalink Reply by Joseph P on July 31, 2010 at 5:16am

Well, at least they gave us Hitler, without a fight.

Permalink Reply by Little Name Atheist on July 31, 2010 at 5:46am

Hahaha!

Permalink Reply by Judy Freedman on July 31, 2010 at 8:34am

Republicans use an extreme version of Madison Avenue techniques. Yell something loud enough and non stop and people will believe it. Use familiar catch phrases and names to have something resonate. I totally agree that these same people were against any rights progress for anyone, including gender and ethnic based rights, every step of the way. A couple of decades ago Bachmann wouldn't have been elected or even run for the very reasons you describe. Phyllis Schlafly made a career going around saying women shouldn't have a career or any job. The same bunch were racist and anti Semitic and hated everyone and now wave Hitler to resonate against the people working towards a fairer world. The good news is probably that hardly any of them have a clue who SB Anthony was. The bad news is they'd reject any real explanation from someone trying to bring a dose of reality into a discussion.

Permalink Reply by Little Name Atheist on August 1, 2010 at 10:32pm

This is a good synopsis of the situation.

Permalink Reply by Jo Jerome on August 23, 2010 at 3:57pm

On the issue of "You're taking a job away from a man"... Saw a film in my cultural anthropology class several weeks ago about a highway construction project in L.A. that integrated an apprenticeship program for women. This was late 80s/early 90s, and even then, the pressure on women going into construction was that they're taking good jobs away from men that need them.

An interview with one woman struck me; that she felt a bit guilty on this basis. But eventually reconciled with herself saying, "Hang on; I'm a single mom. Doesn't that make me the breadwinner of the household? Aren't I just as entitled as a man to provide for my family?"

Illustrates just how deep that stereotype goes; that women aren't as entitled as men to make the same wage. The whole program in fact came about as the highway project was going to displace a lot of people from low-income housing; a housing project mostly occupied by single women, many with children. The community protested that this project would force them out and does not, as advertised, bring jobs to this specific community because the jobs are all male-dominated.

In the end, the women proved - shockingly - just as capable of swinging a hammer or a nail gun or a welding torch as any guy. And most of their stories were the same: Father of the children left, isn't giving child support. I watched that film really thinking back to the ERA days of the 70s!

Permalink Reply by Judy Freedman on August 23, 2010 at 6:47pm

There was a piece on Sixty Minutes a while back where they interviewed women doing traditionally male jobs. One carpenter was making many times over what she made as a nursing assistant and pointed out that nobody questioned whether her old job, which included changing adult diapers and lifting adults, was too dirty or required more strength than she had but she got asked that a lot about carpentry.

Permalink Reply by Jo Jerome on August 30, 2010 at 9:51pm

Heh, ironic!

Permalink Reply by Kelly Baker on January 17, 2011 at 3:02pm

This reminded me of a situation one of my classmates had during the summer theatre at my university.  She was working as stage/construction crew (a job she had held all through the previous school year) and the faculty supervisor constantly checked her work, but didn't feel the need to do the same for the male student who had just started that summer.