Redefining Feminism

Last week, I read some depressing statistics about "the wage gap". Looking at the historical data, it seems like this gap is unlikely to just go away (as it should) . . .


Forty-some years after the Feminine Mystique, most employers are now following equal employment opportunities, girls are outperforming boys on the SAT and women are dominating in colleges. So, how come the wage gap isn't shrinking? To explain this bizzare trend, the wage gap is being attributed to women's behaviour. A host of experts have identified a plathera problems: women are increasingly choosing family over work, women not negotiating to success to women smiling too much in the boardroom. For some of these problems, solutions are suggested like "Negogiate Damnit" and "Stop smiling", etc. However, most experts are not sure what to tell women about balancing work and family. After all, women are the social caretakers and if they do not make the sacrifices, who will?

Recently, I read a refreshing article (thanks M for the link) about what we can do to close the gender gap. The Rules for women are:

There are three rules: Prepare yourself to qualify for good work, treat work seriously, and don’t put yourself in a position of unequal resources when you marry.

Suprisingly, Hirshman (herself a beneficiary) points her finger at liberal arts education . . .

The first pitfall is the liberal-arts curriculum, which women are good at, graduating in higher numbers than men. Although many really successful people start out studying liberal arts, the purpose of a liberal education is not, with the exception of a miniscule number of academic positions, job preparation. . . So the first rule is to use your college education with an eye to career goals.

The second rule suggests women should look for more lucrative careers. . .

So the second rule is that women must treat the first few years after college as an opportunity to lose their capitalism virginity and prepare for good work, which they will then treat seriously.

The best way to treat work seriously is to find the money.

The last and possibly most controversial rule is that women should avoid being on a less powerful position in their family life (here, money is equivalent to power). The refreshing part about this article is that it contains suggestions that actually make sense.

Taking the easier path first, marry down. Don’t think of this as brutally strategic. If you are devoted to your career goals and would like a man who will support that, you’re just doing what men throughout the ages have done: placing a safe bet.

For some reason, this mercenary approach to picking a career and a husband does not mesh well with my way of thinking. However, Hirshman has a point. In this world, where money is power, women are voluntarily "choosing" the short end of the stick, even Harvard educated MBAs. On the small scale, these are individual choices but globally this brings down the value of all educated women . . .

After working for a few years, it seems to me that women have to overcome significant gender handicaps at the work place in order to succeed. While their biological clocks are racing, women often times make decisions that make it difficult for them to compete equally in the job market (and therefore make the world a better place). However, the good news is that science is on our side (with women living longer and able to have kids at an older age) and other options are becoming more socially viable (adoption). Hopefully, a redefinition of feminism and a women-friendly instutional and societal changes will ensure that the future will not be as bleak . . .