Prospect in the UK magazine started out as an interesting new project that presented views from across the political spectrum. I took it for several years, but dropped it as it looked more and more rightwing, a trend that seems to be continuing, judging by the Working girls article in this month's issue. (Love how women are turned into "girls" - not really grown-ups in the view of the magazine.)
It claims that women's "fully equal access" to professional opportunities (ha!) has three results:
1. The "death of the sisterhood": "an end to the millennia during which women of all classes shared the same major life experiences to a far greater degree than did their men.
2. The end of "female altruism" - "The period from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century was a golden age for the "caring" sector in one major respect. It had the pick of the country's most brilliant, energetic and ambitious women, who worked in it as paid employees, but who also gave enormous amounts of time for free. Now, increasingly, they do neither."
3. A "shortage" of babies: "In most developed countries, birth rates are well below replacement level."
My response:
1. Women never were a "sisterhood", never were allowed to be a sisterhood - because their primarily allegiance was, or was supposed to be, the male to whom they were attached. In competing to get and keep a man, they were forced into opposition with each other, and societal structures pushed them to police each other to enforce "appropriate" female behaviour.
2. Alternatively, of course, you could call this the end to the exploitation of women pushed, by lack of other opportunities, to use their skills and talents for no pay and precious little recognition.
3. The birth rate figure is true, but given the huge number of humans in the world no bad thing. And anyway, the Scandinavia states have shown that if you provide sufficient incentives in terms maternity and paternity pay and leave, you'll get to something close to replacement rate.
This sort of pernicious stuff needs to be challenged, although it is extremely difficult to get anything in the mainstream media, given the views of the average male editor. (Funny how all this equality hasn't produced a flood of female editors...)
Article comments
1 - JELIEL³
Nice article Natalie. It brings forward the right-wing thinking, which is true conservatism, a return to "the good ol' days" of things. When imagination as a whole was heresy.
I agree with your 3 arguments.
2 - Pat Fish
You know I take exception to calling this a right-wing thing.
If, by this, you mean conservatives.
As the article is quoted, it seems to me that this was written by someone who doesn't have a clue.
You're right, Natalee. Women do not have a mythical "sisterhood"...what planet is this writer calling in from?
As for working for free, what the hell. So women no longer work for free and this is somehow a bad thing? No conservative would espouse working for no pay save a volunteerism as small scale "payback" or to help in an emergency.
As for birth rates, women have as many babies as they freaking want and it has nothing to do with nothing. It has nothing to do with free stuff given by the government either. All ready we have major industries going under because of exhorbitant pensions promised. Why not sink them all by forcing them to give paid leave for having babies for God's sake?
I consider myself a conservative woman and don't agree with one notion in the article mentioned. Could be the "far right" I suppose but I don't even think the staunchest of evangelicals would agree with that silly article.
Sometimes people just write stupid shit.
3 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Natalie,
If you look at which job has the most societal impact, motherhood - the rearing of children - does. A chief exec has little impact on society aside from the money he steals from the workers who make his exhorbitant salary possible. In a just society, the mother would get paid the most money. She has the hardest job - hands down.
Men cannot be mothers. They can be fathers, and they can attempt to fill the role of a mother, but that is as far as it goes. This doesn't mean that a single father need be a deficient parent. Far from it. Many single fathers are exellent and devoted parents.
But men cannot be mothers, just as women, no mattter how hard they try, cannot be fathers.
So what is sinful in this society is when a mother has to hire someone to take care of her child because she needs to make a living!
Nota bene. I didn't say that motherhood should be unpaid work, but the opposite.
At bottom, where society has been unjust to women is that is has not compensated them adequately considering the impact they have on keeping society stable.
4 - Natalie Bennett
Afraid we'll have to disagree Ruvy. Parents manage that role in all sorts of ways, and that we should make a sharp division between "mothers" and "fathers" is not (after, obviously, birth) anything "natural", but a result of social structures.
And I don't at all accept that the job of "motherhood" is "rearing children". There are plenty of societies in which all sorts of different figures - grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts, uncles, and people related only by cultural rather than genetic ties, rear the children.
As for societal impact - well I totally disagree about that too. Take for example, a brilliant teacher. They'll have far more impact on the future society - through their impact on hundreds or even thousands of children, than 100 parents.
5 - MCH
I think the poster boy for right-wing anti-female tripe is Rush Limbaugh. Of all the overbearing shit he's said over the years, one of the most ignorant was when Lardbaugh stated that the feminist movement was started to find a place for ugly women in society.
6 - Big T Mack Daddy
Rush Limbaugh is full of shit. There is no place for ugly women in society. They should be beaten with sticks and banished from the village.
7 - Andy Marsh
Natalie - do you really believe that a teacher with just a few hours of face time with a kid will have more effect on than a parent? I'm talking about a good parent now...not one that believes that latchkey kids are the way to go. I'm just asking here...I think I' e had a lot more impact on my daughters than any teacher ever has...at least in regards to things other than math and english!
8 - Steve
Well, I can't speak for teachers at university, having never been to one, but I don't know of any high school teachers that had more of an effect on me than my own family!! I'm with Andy on this one.