ALL THE HAPPY LADIES:According to TIME Magazine‘s State of the American Women, our struggles are practically over, because “it’s expected that by the end of the year, for the first time in history the majority of workers in the U.S. will be women — largely because the downturn has hit men so hard.” Despite that disclaimer, the article continues heralding women’s increased workplace visibility as evidence of our triumphs over gender discrimination. [The not-so-awesome truth of this factoid is: 1) Wall Street, notoriously void of women, suffered the biggest losses during the recession, 2) Women are cheaper to employ and less likely to demand better wages than their male counterparts, 3) Women are more likely to work in recession-proof underpaid industries like teaching and nursing.] The entire issue is a mess of contradictions, from the depressing cover referencing this ridiculously dubious study to the encouraging article subheader within the magazine: “A quiet revolution has changed the status of American women; so what’s new now?”
Despite an onslaught of not incredibly encouraging statistics, TIME concludes its cover story with: “It’s no longer a man’s world. Nor is it a woman’s nation. It’s a cooperative, with bylaws under constant negotiation and expectations that profits be equally shared.”
In order to complete this fascinating compilation of facts, figures and Getty Stock Imagery referencing how far we’ve come, TIME and the Rockefeller Center conducted a Seriously Heteronormative Poll about women to answer big questions like; can women juggle husbands and careers? Let’s take a gander.
Highlights:
– Being married is very important to 58% of men vs. 53% of women.
– 29% of men say that female bosses are harder to work for than male bosses, compared with 45% of women.
– Fifty-seven percent of men and 51% of women agree that it is better for a family if the father works outside the home and the mother takes care of the children.
– Two-thirds of both men and women describe their marriage or partnership as very happy. (Here’s another one for ‘ya — 95% of gay men and women describe their marriage as “illegal.” I just made that one up, but who cares, according to the statistical sample of me & my friends, it’s more like 100%.)
OH WAIT JUST KIDDING. Lesbians are mentioned!! Once! In Maria Shriver’s essay, “The Unfinished Revolution,” which broaches the revolutionary topic that perhaps not EVERYTHING is perfect for ladies quite yet, we’re treated to this little snippet:
And lesbian couples and older women are among the poorest segments of our society.
Thanks, Maria! I can add you to the list of “those responsible for businesspeople not understanding what an untapped market lesbians are who consequently enable people like Ilene Chaiken to monopolize it!” Actually, the median household income for lesbian couples living together is $90,000. And the reason lesbians rank low on some surveys is simply ’cause they’re two WOMEN, which brings us right back around to where we started from.
Regardless, when poverty is the only context in which we factor in to an entire issue dedicated to how women have revolutionized the world since the 70s? Suck it, TIME.
"You need special clothes to MEDIDATE?" says low-earner Tina
TWEETERS: If Lindsay Lohan gets one of these contracts I will just die: Hey showbiz folks: check your contract before you tweet.
PHOTOSHOP OF HORRORS: Sarah Haskins on The Rachel Maddow Show – Discusses Fat vs. Photoshop, and the recent case of the Ralph Lauren model fired for being 5’10 and 120 pounds. (@bitch)
The Daily Show went to the March and uncovered the Radical Gay Agenda!
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Queer and Loathing in D.C. – Radical Gay Agenda | ||||
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Articles like these make me nervous for some reason. While I love being a women, I like to ignore statistics w/r/t gender and or sexuality. It depresses me. I just want equality! argh can’t we all just get along.
Articles like this make me nervous b/c a lot of girls are gonna see this on their parents coffee table, sending the message that not only are we already done with the fight for equality but that this fight has made us all depressed!
I LOVE this post. Your writing is very engaged and smart and I absolutely agree with you. Thanks for this.
Thanks for reading and liking! I write so much content these days that it’s good to hear that I still make sense and sound intelligent!
Hey, Kelsey! Glad you followed the Facebook link. You should stick around forever.
along with being really straight, that TIME article’s also really WHITE. and i’m tired of this pseudo-post-feminist “we’ve arrived” thing. WHO’S ARRIVED. EVERYONE HAS NOT ARRIVED.
I believe you must have missed the stock photograph of the Asian “Working Mother” at a computer with her precocious baby looking through the paperwork in the “Working Mothers Are Broadly Accepted” section and the stock photograph of an African-American family illustrating how “daily life is a story of diplomacy under stress.” The mother is ironing.
I think the female staff of TIME magazine has arrived. Which doesn’t surprise me.
also, can we talk about the very teenage-myspace-i-think-pictures-of-eyes-very-up-close-are-artistic quality of the cover shot? i mean, i wouldn’t complain except that whoever took it probably got paid more for it than I will this year.
True that. It’s the pensive eyeball of ambiguity! It perfectly depicts the depression at the heart of equal rights for all women which has, like, totally been achieved. Either that or the model is really skeptical of the headline.
you’re right, it does kind of look like she’s examining it very closely and suspiciously. how meta.
I’m just glad there is no dramatic scene reflected in her pupil…(yeah, that’s all it really takes to make me happy).
she is clearly smiling with her eye here.
laura, are you drunk
The question is, are you? (yes)
i was not at the time.
There was a time when I would have been outraged, furious and fighting mad about Time Magazine’s “Special Report”, but now I am just sad, so very sad.
Yet, I’m oh-so-proud of ‘Riese’, your writing and analysis makes a momma’ proud.