Facing the same unsympathetic work evironment as women in the 70s, men were increasingly stressed out over balancing work and family lives. The New York Times intoned, “men may be stressed out, but try telling that to their wives.” Quoting a marriage historian, the article said, “women don’t necessarily give [men’s] contribution the same value as theirs.” Gloria Steinem assured men that they will have “better sex” if they take help take care of the kids. On the same topic, Katrin Bennhold said, “The last frontier of women’s liberation may well be men’s liberation.” Those damn Swedish socialists allowed men to take “paternity leave,” and look what it got them.
The State of Texas, which accidentally banned marriage in 2005, may now see a ban on blow jobs and anal sex; it is unclear how state GOPers expect their daughters to remain “virgins” until they’re married. Perhaps they don’t.
America has shown itself a stoic nation by steadfastly putting up with discomfort: According to the most recent Benchmarking Women’s Leadership report from the White House, 89% of the US population is comfortable with women in leadership roles, but only 18% of leadership roles are filled by women. Women comprised 1.4% of the world’s billionaires. On the list was Oprah Winfrey, who could perhaps hand out some of her other favorite things this year: investment advice and start-up money. At True/Slant, Caitlin Kelly analyzed the Palin backlash as something that sounds a lot like ressentiment.
The Daily Mail made the unexpected report that Maria Sharapova is attractive, has legs. The Hockey Hall of Fame inducted two women, raising many eyebrows: Who knew there was a Hockey Hall of Fame? An Algerian soccer player slapped a female reporter; she slapped him back.
To avoid sounding like a newspaper, a mellower Ani DiFranco looked for a more poetic way to say “patriarchy.“ Nancy Bauer, chair of the philosophy department at Tufts University, analyzed the objective/subjective split presented by whatever it is Lady Gaga is doing. The Daily Show was thought to be more sexist than you would think showing that an art form predicated on misanthropy, self-loathing, and a pained dissatisfaction with the world does not foster nuanced treatment of gender relations. For what it’s worth, Fox News still employed many pretty ladies.
A pseudonymous feminist in the The Sydney Morning Herald felt betrayed by her daughter’s lavish wedding. The Australian‘s report on women at law firms found they accounted for only 22% of partnership promotions over the last six months, down from 27% over the previous period. However, a woman was put in charge of Australia, so it’s all good.
11 Comments
BMichael, the Katrin Bennhold link is a virtual road to nowhere. Otherwise: thanks for this feature; it’s quite nice.
For what it’s worth, the Texas GOP also wants to crack down on immigration to the point of violating the 14th Amendment. And eliminate tenure. And the Department of Education . . . the list of complete and total ridiculous demands they make actually made me stop reading for fear of losing my lunch.
I’m pretty sure the first time I heard the word ‘patriarchy’ was in an Ani DiFranco song. I thought it was pretty poetic.
“The Hockey Hall of Fame inducted two women, raising many eyebrows: Who knew there was a Hockey Hall of Fame?”
The trouble with this joke is that, like so many on the Internet, it reads to non-Americans as “Other countries exist? That’s ludicrous! Ha ha ha.”
BMichael, not to be a jackass, but I read the Ani piece and it’s um, sort of the opposite. In the interview she says that she is not going to bother trying to figure out a “poetic” way to say it and just instead say “patriarchy” etc.
Thanks for mentioning the big news in Australia – it’s been such a long time coming.
Whilst our new PM has previously slammed for not having fruit in her fruitbowl (yes, in Australia your worth as a woman is determined by the presence food in your kitchen)I’m willing to forgive the trangression and have been feeling very proud of my Aussie-ness these past few days. Go Julia!
Yeah, I was just coming over to say what The Deviant E said. From the article (gee, I hope blockquote works here):
Is it sad that the Daily Show link is what got me thinking the most?
My initial thought was that any of the contributors to this site would fit in seamlessly.
But then I realized that this would only be the case if you never wrote about Ladybusiness, or at least not in a way that was written *for* women.
And then I got sad. Good thing I haven’t watched the show in several years anyway.
The trouble with this joke is that, like so many on the Internet, it reads to non-Americans as “Other countries exist? That’s ludicrous! Ha ha ha.”
Haha, as a non-American I didn’t even realise this was an America-Canada dig. (I think?)
Australia also has a female Governor-General (the Queen’s representative in Aus)
@lexica@deviante