The glass ceiling is alive and well???

Things may be better than the Leave it to Beaver days, but prejudice against women is alive and well across the world. I imagine that will always be so.

Even in the good ole USA different regions (even within one metro area) can be incredibly diverse in their experience. Many people still don't travel much or read much. I can think of a number of cities even in California that are "quaint" and would consider me a freak for any number of reasons (1. I dress somewhat punk, 2. I do web design for a living, 3. I've never been married, 4. I've never had kids, 5. I have a tattoo, 7. My boyfriend wears earrings...etc, etc, etc).

Yes, ignorant conservatism is alive and well is the States...even towards women who do their best to fit the mold of 'perfect' professional.

I don't know if you're familiar with the Anita Hill / Clarence Thomas scandal in the nineties, but about two years after that case I ended up working in the law library at the University of Oklahoma where Anita Hill taught. Anyway...most of the professors there were male and several were the biggest condescending jerks you could imagine. Did anyone bat an eyelash at their demanding hissyfits? No!

Miss Hill on the other hand was incredibly polite and professional, yet she was constantly blasted daily in the news for any little thing. God forbid you're a women who trys to stand up for hersel against a professional male. That of course is an extreme case, but no...the story you posted doesn't suprise me at all.


There ARE a lot of amazing cool guys/organizations/companies that support women, but there are still just as many that don't. (*hint* WAL-MART)

 

Things are fine just the way they are, I dont know why everyone want's to change the world...

 

Then you don't know the US very well.

 

I think we've found our quote of the week...LOL!

 

I think the title of this thread is incorrect, should be "ignorance is alive and well."

I'm a Dad, and I take my kid to pre-school like many other Dad's at the school. So I don't stand out as unusual, but when I hear the school taking about 'parents' in some topic, they never address the kid's parents as 'parents' it's always "mom's". Mom's this, Mom's that, etc. Funny thing is the staff that seem to only have "mom's" in thier vocabulary are the WOMEN staff. Go figure.

tom

 

I hate the problems that a lot of women have in society and in the working world.

I, also, hate the other extreme though. The women that hate men and feel that men should be locked away somewhere and only harvested for their sperm.

There was a female author whose big argument was that high-level executive women were at a disadvantage when it came to having children. She stated that women should get over a year for maternity leave, should not have to work weekends, and should only have to work from 9 AM to 3 PM. Yet she made argument for men with children.

One of the problems I have with that is that rarely will anything wait a year. If a person is in an executive position and just leaves for a year, I don’t think they should just be able to come back in and take things like normal. Also, I don’t really see someone inspiring their employees or being anywhere near as productive when they only work 30-hour weeks.

As far as women, I’ve always believed in equal, but different. In sports where power and size come into play (power lifting and football) woman are not going to be able to compete. Their body composition is just different. In other sports women have no trouble being equal with men. That being said top female athletes can dominate 80-90% of men out there, but when it comes down to the female elite athlete versus the elite male athlete in power and size events they will lose.

Other than those rare instances I don’t believe women are inferior to men in any other aspects. In other cases I think women excel over men. On average women have a different temperament and brain chemistry than men.

Equal but different.

 

I definitely agree with some of what Hodge has to say.

It's great to talk about these topics and to work towards a balance of equality but the world is never going to be a place where you always get what you want, or where everyone plays fair. I might be tempted to say that guys generally have it easier, but that doesn't mean as individuals they never have to struggle, or are never faced with any type of prejudice themselves.

Everyone works damn hard to get what they want from life.

 

Just right a book everyone! You've got it going so far.

 

I started writing a book a while back. It's titled "Everything Men Know About Women"

Here's an excerpt:
Anyhow back to the subject...

Living in California, I'm definitely exposed to a lot less ignorance (be it bigotry, sexism, or any of a number of other forms of utter stupidity). But I've traveled all over and some parts of the country are unbelievable. It's our responsibility as parents to change the world by raising our children to be less ignorant than we are. We are at least 5 generations from seeing the glass ceiling disappear - and even that is a stretch. Racism is completely gone from some segments of our society, but it's thriving in others. I don't know if that will ever go away, but here's to hoping it will.

We've gotten to the point where women can be just as qualified as men to hold top positions, and even to the point where they can do a better job in a great deal of instances. We've even gotten to a point where a woman in a high profile positition - like say CEO of Hewlett Packard - can do her job without the pressure of ruining chances for other women in the future if she doesn't do so hot. What hasn't been achieved is society as a whole understanding that there's no difference between a man being in charge and a woman being in charge. The day will come, but it's a long ways off. Those kinds of ideas just don't penetrate the small towns in Mississippi very well.