“Women and their opinions are often not taken seriously…in my profession, powerful women are very few and very far between. Unfortunately, 90% of the successful women in the 40 and 50-something generations in my field are criticized all of the time, in personal and extremely offensive ways.
“Many men claim that this is not because they are women but is only because of their particular, individual personalities. But how can that be the case? Nowhere near 90% of the powerful men are criticized in this manner. If successful women have strong opinions, the are demonized and considered you-know-whats. The weak, wishy-washy women are sometimes promoted, and in my opinion this may be because they are not threatening. The most strong, successful, and able women are almost never promoted to positions of real power…
“So although I do not like Hillary Clinton’s politics very much, I think it is important to give her latitude in the way she campaigns, I think it is important to give her latitude in the way she campaigns. There is no female precedent, and yet a woman will not and cannot act exactly like a man does. She is breaking new ground and should be given credit for that.”–Betsy Barton, scientist
Betsy Barton, a scientist who frequently reads and comments on this blog, wrote an interesting blog comment response to my recent blog post Gloria Steinem: ‘What worries me is that some women hope to deny the sexual caste system’. I thought it merited its own blog post because her perspective on sexism is interesting. And since my daughter says she wants to be a scientist in Betsy’s specialty when she grows up, whenever Betsy talks about her career, I pay close attention.
I would also ask this–for women who work in male-dominated professions., do Betsy’s observations ring true? And for men who work with a few women in male-dominated professions, have you seen women endure the sexist treatment Betsy alleges?
From Betsy Barton:
I completely agree that voting for Hillary because she is a woman is sexist. Absolutely. I completely agree that Steinem systematically fails to recognize that the feminist movement has now given women many unfair advantages over men. In fact, I completely agree with many of the criticisms made in the comments after this article. It’s shameful that as a public figure, Ms. Steinem does not hold herself to a high standard of evidence, truth, and fairness.
However, it is important to note that Steinem’s intellectual dishonesty itself does not negate every point she makes. She made some points that I believe are true. I do not think that men should now pretend that all the bias is in favor of women. In my opinion, most of the directly government-sponsored bias is unfairly in favor of women. But some of the remaining cultural bias is in favor of men. Here are some of the things Steinem says that I agree with, at least partially:
(1) “Gender is probably the most restricting force in American life, whether the question is who must be in the kitchen or who could be in the White House.”
I don’t know it that it is the *most* restricting force, but it still plays a huge part in people’s lives. It restricts both men and women. (Really, that’s why were all here.)
(2) “…anything that affects males is seen as more serious than anything that affects ‘only’ the female half of the human race”
This is an exaggeration and does not apply to most of the current actions of government, but in my experience, there are elements of truth to it. Women and their opinions are often not taken seriously. Perhaps I can see it so much because I work mostly with men, and perhaps it would be the other way around if I worked mostly with women. But overall, is it not the case that we think the things men traditionally do are “important” and that the things women traditionally do are not?
(3) “…because there is still no `right’ way to be a woman in public power without being considered a you-know-what.”
I think this one is important and true. Of course, my experience is limited, but in my profession, powerful women are very few and very far between. Unfortunately, 90% of the successful women in the 40 and 50-something generations in my field are criticized all of the time, in personal and extremely offensive ways. (more…)
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