Although the trend is slowly, slowly reversing since 1953 when Gallup first asked this question, there’s still a 2-to-1 ratio of people who say they would rather have a male boss than a female boss. Much of this is attributed to the stereotypes and double-standards women face in leadership positions.
Why are salaries so often considered confidential information? Why are employees often disciplined for discussing their pay? A lack of transparency is one of the reasons that unequal pay persists. Check out this article about the many consequences of these policies.
This article contains very helpful information about stay-at-home Dads, changing roles of fathers with childcare, and how little of this has caught up with their portrayals in popular culture. Great examples and links to relevant publications throughout!
Kenya, the Philippines, Columbia, Saudia Arabia… not necessarily countries you might associate with “progressive” views of gender. Yet all these country’s governments provide paid paternity leave.
In 2013, Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo was the subject of much controversy after ordering all telecommuting workers to start working out of a Yahoo office.
Many decried how this affected working parents, especially working mothers. Here’s an interesting opinion piece about Mayer’s decision and Mayer’s misguided criticism of feminism.
There has been a great deal of talk about how men are losing their jobs in the recent recession, but little about how mothers who work outside the home are affected by it. This article describes how the cultural assumptions many employers hold about women in the workplace affects mothers looking for jobs especially. Recent research showed that married women with children who had lost their jobs had a 31% lower chance of finding a new job than a father with children.
Looking for proof of the effects of the gendered norms we’ve discussed about masculinity? How about evidence showing that even when it means more money, freedom, and time with family, many men feel guilt and depression when they earn less than female partners?
A common characteristic many men experience with masculine socialization is the idea that their value comes from their professional successes and ability to provide financially. This article is a great example that men’s choices are restricted in significant ways by norms that focus worthiness in such a narrow way. These norms have effects on the men’s physical and emotional health, along with their relationships.
Interesting blog from a stay-at-home Mom in response to Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In. She speaks powerfully of the joys of mothering, its importance in her life, and her conflicted feelings about leaving her career behind for a while. While I can’t say that I agree that, as she states, “socializaton and forced gender roles have nothing” (emphasis mine) to do with the joy she experiencing in her children, this doesn’t take away from the depth or the authenticity of the feelings. Just because we’re socialized in a particular way doesn’t make our joys and sorrows associated with that socialization less authentic.
I think this also points to the need to value choices to parent, work, or a combination of these equally, regardless of the sex of the parent. All three roles are vitally important personally and at a societal level.
Interesting article about a woman who used social media to report sexual harassment at a tech conference and the consequences for herself and for the people she reported.