The blindspots of Western feminists

[JackLuis]

From Al-jazeera, no less?

http://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/Images/2012/6/25/2012625125240885734_20.jpg

Anne-Marie Slaughter, a professor at Princeton University and former Director of Policy Planning at the US State Department, recently made a splash when the Atlantic published an article she wrote entitled "Why Women Still Can't Have It All".

The piece is problematic, not for the excellent conclusions that it draws but for the premises from which it flows. Slaughter, a highly distinguished professor and, from what it sounds like, a committed and loving mother, makes the case for the many ways in which "The Workplace" can be adapted to accommodate the many peculiar needs that working mothers face.

I like the picture. Worth more that a Kiloword.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Here's the article that Al Jazeera is talking about;

I still strongly believe that women can “have it all” (and that men can too). I believe that we can “have it all at the same time.” But not today, not with the way America’s economy and society are currently structured. My experiences over the past three years have forced me to confront a number of uncomfortable facts that need to be widely acknowledged—and quickly changed.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/07/why-women-still-can-8217-t-have-it-all/9020/

Western feminists do have many blind spots. We, (because I am one myself)-- tend to forget about women in other cultures, and white middle class women forget about women of color in this culture.

Needless to say, There are as many opinions about Anne-Marie Slaughter's opinions-- as there are women to have them.

Also and as an aside, someone made this great little Guide to Atlantic's Guides To Be Women;

http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/blogs/xx_factor/2012/06/26/120628_DX_roadmap.gif

 

[voluptuary_manque]

There was a political cartoon about the "Rise of Women" a few years ago. The last panel showed a guy lying on the beach with a smile on his face. The punchline read "the men win again". Y'all want to take over the world? Your frickin' welcome to it!

The most important, from a male bear's perspective, part of the the article was the emphasis from the next generation of men that beating yourself to death for the good of the firm or at the behest of the Beltway was not a desirable life. Men, as much as women, need to get off the idea that work=life. It does not. It never did and it never will. They are separate worlds, complimentary ideally, but conflicting too often. And the organism who puts work over life lacks one. Personally, wealthy idleness sounds like the ideal but since someone has to take out the trash and weed the garden I, too, raise my hairy paw in favor of balance.

 

[Handley_Page]

We used to have a saying: "You cannot do enough for a good company".
It was a while before someone in Management woke up to that particular two-edged sword.

The snag is that, with the general shortage of jobs and the need to provide for a family, many men are being forced to work the extra hours required; to the detriment of their family and /or their social life.

 

[TE999]

The snag is that, with the general shortage of jobs and the need to provide for a family, many men are being forced to work the extra hours required; to the detriment of their family and /or their social life.

That applies equally to women, especially if they are the sole breadwinner.