If judged by the attendance at
conferences, women dominate the world of writing, but is there a “bias against
women in the workplace” and why?
We
hear over and over again about a woman who unsuccessfully sued her employer
because she was earning
79 cents to the dollar. There are
studies showing that people preferred unseen male bosses over females despite
hearing the same description about each.
In addition, transgender individuals have found themselves to be
assumed better leaders after becoming men.
Is the U.S. misogynous? I have a different, and likely unpopular, view.
Could it be that this bias is inborn from the
historical rolls that men and women played? If you’ve read The Red Tent, you’ll find that women,
too, are assumed to be better than men at some things, things that are, in
fact, more important than money to the existence of our species - for example,
making childbirth happen.
Yes, we are assumed to be more intuitive, more empathetic,
more persistent through long-lasting pain.
Could a man endure child birth?
In science fiction, maybe. The
uterus is strong and flexible. In the
world of plants, bamboo has that distinction and is revered as a deity by some
in Asia. Are women stronger?
I think the argument that women are assumed to be
poor leaders has its own bias (seemingly relevant to the world we’ve created
for ourselves but forgetting the other side of the coin).
The perspective of some transgendered people comes
from a source that has its own slant. Many
women, by their admission, haven’t fit in as women so may not have experienced
as much of the up-side of being women and having their power. The notion
that the world is biased against women makes victims out of people who are
important through their naturally given powers, and assumes money and power on
the job are the most important powers.
Workplace leadership may be judged to be a good
measure of success – now with the breakdown of the family and the trend toward
having fewer kids. We want to be labeled
as “equal” in the workplace which is, perhaps, the closest thing in our everyday
life to the role of the buffalo hunter of the past.
I'm dubious of anecdotal observations in some
studies that fail to address the confounding issues. Always a
devil's advocate, I studied "studies" and the resulting stats. It seems the proven inequality results from
an assumption, often a preconceived idea of men and women being born with
exactly the same natural abilities.
There will always be women assumed to be so-so
managers who are actually the top of the heap, men assumed to be the
better bread-winners yet are so empathetic and nurturing that they are the
far better parents to stay home with their children and help bring babies
into the world. But the unconscious biases may not be easily explained as
a pernicious undercurrent of prejudice. Might it be nature rather
than nurture?
In some ways women have it better today. Flippantly I can joke that women have evolved faster to fit in our world. Females can be nurturing and yet happily attack fields previously dominated by men, even encouraged through programs to bring science and leadership into their worlds. Boys, however, are not allowed the nature, aren’t just encouraged to play with dolls, they are not allowed rough play and are forced to put their toy guns away, be more feminine when dealing with the world. Women are being allowed to expand, manliness is being stifled and even reviled as barbaric. I'd rather be a woman in this day and age.
I think it’s a disservice to ignore the
strength of nature and approach feminism as a fight against victimization. Why not open the doors to all, acknowledging
that the unconscious biases are not malevolent but innate. Why not put more emphasis on the successes of
women that in fact outshine those of men?
The
sensitivity serves women writers well, think Rowling . And step aside Stephen King, the recent queen of fiction is Stephenie Meyer. The stay-at-home mother who wrote Twilight accounted for more than 15
percent of all books sold in the U.S. In 2010.
(These thoughts were inspired by Author Maria Popova who referenced writings by NPR
science writer Shankar Vedantam about biases and their effects on our lives. Popova argued that those biases hold women back in the
workplace. My reaction to Popova’s take
on the issue is clearly contrary to modern day feminism. I think, however, that some who call themselves
feminists may be ignoring the other side, maybe a more powerful side.)
-Inkpot