Sing It Sister

Comments

1. Suebob says:

   December 3, 2008 at 7:26 am

   As someone who has no “family,” by which I guess people mean no husband and no kids, because my 2 parents certainly require quite a bit of my time – I would like to say that working 19-20 hours a day is not on my agenda.
2. Queen of Spain says:

   December 3, 2008 at 8:22 am

   It’s not Sue? You had better tell the Gov! lol
3. Summer says:

   December 3, 2008 at 8:37 am

   Ugh. Why does having a family = having a life? Oh that’s right, because she has a uterus so the only life she could have is being a mom and wife. How silly of me, I forgot!
4. Backpacking Dad says:

   December 3, 2008 at 9:33 am

   But the only un-controverially sexist flavor in that video comes from HER. If sexism is assuming differences in sex impacting differences in irrelevant areas, then her assumption (that just because he is a man saying what he said means that he would not have said a similar thing about a male job candidate) is the only sexist opinion on the table.

   I know that CULTURALLY men in power often reveal sexist attitudes about women. But there was nothing in this man’s comment itself that screams sexism, and it only raises the questions raised if he is painted as sexist in the first place. Question-begging is just not compelling. This is the kind of bull that she is committed to cutting through, but she’s offering it up on her own pretty well.
5. Backpacking Dad says:

   December 3, 2008 at 9:34 am

   Oh, and the Valleywag article was ridiculous. Can I keep my balls now?

   :}
6. Queen of Spain says:

   December 3, 2008 at 9:42 am

   I totally disagree. Implying that her single status leaves her better able to work long hours is sexist. Brown has a point, and it’s valid, this is not said about men. Ever. You never hear about their family obligations or how it will affect their job. This is not an issue with a single guy or a married with family guy.
7. heidi says:

   December 3, 2008 at 9:56 am

   I have to agree that by mentioning her lack of family, he is implying that she will not be distracted from her job the way another woman would be if she had children. This is not implied when it comes to men receiving these types of positions well heck any position of power. In a sense, it is unfair to men that they are expected to ignore their families and that this is somehow an admirable trait.
8. Backpacking Dad says:

   December 3, 2008 at 11:25 am

   It absolutely is said about men, and in radically disparate fields. As an army brat I saw this kind of attitude displayed both classically and contemporarily against soldiers with families; as a graduate student I was told married students without kids have the highest dissertation completion rate, but married students without kids have the lowest (and that one is gender neutral); and even culturally the theme of the family man overlooked for promotion, discouraged from applying for arduous jobs, or being faced with the sacrifice of family to put in long hours at work for success is a virtual trope. I don’t have to look very far for an example there: “The Family Man” is just that sort of cultural notation.

   Law firm partnership tracks, Wall Street brokerages: they are notorious for encouraging, promoting, and advocating the single or childless male.

   The claim that this sort of consideration, whether one has a family or not, is only made with respect to women is false. It may be true on balance (although I doubt it), but it would have to be true overwhelmingly to impute sexism to the statement of this male politician without knowing anything else about him. What is doing the work in the assignment of gender bias is the anchor’s very own gender bias: that if a man (white man? political man?) is talking about a woman then the content of the statements he will make are loaded with sexist baggage. I don’t think it’s fair to this guy to ASSUME that he carries this sexism in his soul and then point to statements he makes and interpret them through that assumption of sexism and then accuse him of carrying sexism in his soul.

   That there is a valid question here I have no doubt. But it isn’t a question about him. It’s a more general question, inspired by his statements but unrelated to them. “Do women face an unfair pressure to remain single/childless as they work, and is this pressure higher on them than on men?” That’s a different question than “Why do only women face this pressure?” which is what she is asking, and in asking she slanders someone because of the presumption that being a man talking about a woman he must have a gender bias.
9. Backpacking Dad says:

   December 3, 2008 at 11:31 am

   Sorry, that contrast should be “married students w/o kids have highest; married students with kids have lowest”.

   Forget me own head next. :}
10. Devra Renner says:

    December 3, 2008 at 1:57 pm

    I want to hear Governor Rendell use the mic again, only this time I want to hear him commit to changing the system so a double standard need no longer exist and all of us can have “A life”. http://www.parentopia.net/blog/2008/12/governor-rendell-please-come-back-to.html
11. Amy says:

    December 3, 2008 at 2:20 pm

    I agree about the law firms and wall street- I was visiting a friend in a lawfirm and when a young associate mentioned he’d be leaving “early” (around 5:00 on a Friday) because his wife was having labor pains, the response was “boy, he’s on a tight leash.” Responding to family is bad for your career whether your male or female.
    That said, I haven’t heard many complaints about Obama having a family and that making him incapable of putting in the hours to be president.