Art Exhibit Highlights Struggles for Women in the Construction Industry

Here is an article about a riveting art exhibit titled "On Equal Terms." The Exhibit has been featured at Brandeis University, Michigan State University Museum, and Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural Center in Manhattan, but it closes this week. It shows its audience a dark side of the construction industry: the side that continues to harass and discriminate against women in the industry. As the article points out, the construction industry is pretty much the ONLY industry that has NOT seen gains for women in recent decades. Still today, only 2.6% of construction workers are women, and that is the SAME as it was 30 years ago. This art exhibit is interesting in part because it seems to offer its viewers a glimpse of a day in the life of a female construction worker. As you move through it, it seems you would get the chance to experience what it would actually be like on the job--a chance to walk a mile, or even just a step or two, in a female construction worker's work boots. I wish I'd had the chance to see it.

Dangerous Sexism - Colorlines

Gender Equality: Is there an App for That?

Here's another wonderful editorial about gender equality by Natascha McElhone. (This is actually an edited version of a speech she gave at Wired 2013 in London.) She shares a lot of anecdotes of her experiences with sexism which will probably ring true for (or sound familiar to) many of us. She discusses the phenomenon of "casual sexism," which is oft times subtle and is far more pervasive, I would imagine, than any of us realize. One facet of that phenomenon is the casual objectification of women, which, according to McElhone, is sexist primarily because it happens so much more frequently than the converse (the casual objectification of men), and because of the powerless positions in which women are portrayed in sexual images.

And McElhone asks a number of great questions about a variety of issues. Among those most important in my mind are:

"Why should men not garner respect for staying at home for those formative years?"

Undoubtedly an issue worthy of much discussion is the right of men to play a more active role in raising their children and maintaining their households if they so choose. The importance of this issue should be abundantly clear because, as anyone who has thought long and hard about gender equality should realize, women will never and can never play a truly equal role in the workplace until men play a truly equal role at home. Or, in the paraphrased words of Sheryl Sandberg, women can't "lean in" at the board table until men "lean in" at the kitchen table.

Many men are wonderful fathers, and homemakers, but they are never truly given the chance because of the stigma, stereotype, or casual sexism wrapped up in the still prevailing idea that these tasks are women's tasks--and continue to be women's tasks--even as women are expected to contribute equally to the workforce. If you find this insulting to men, then that only proves the point that domestic (and traditionally feminine) roles are demeaned and stigmatized in our society. Maybe a woman makes a free choice to stay home, or a man makes a free choice to bring home the bacon, but until the stigmas are eliminated for both sexes, no one can really make a choice that is completely free. And, in my view, this is the area in which WOMEN are the most guilty of contributing to the problem of gender inequality, by refusing to let their male partners play a more active role at home. You have to step back if you want them to step up. I only know this because I have been quite guilty of this myself!

Here was another of my favorite excerpts from McElhone's piece: "If I were a journalist, I would ask every man I interviewed if he was worried about his hair loss, his weight, how he managed his work/home balance, what his neuroses were – and skip over the content of what he actually did."

Ha. I would pay to see that. This is of course hilarious because this is usually what happens when the media interviews many women; they ask them about their appearance and not about their accomplishments--even women as accomplished as Hillary Clinton, which is presumably what brought them onto the show in the first place.

Natascha McElhone: It's Time to Find an App for Gender Equality

Companies with More Women Leaders Enjoy Higher Profits

Here's a great opinion piece by Nicholas D. Kristof in which he advocates for more women in positions of power. As his first example, he points out that the majority of tweeters on Twitter are female, yet the board of directors at Twitter is comprised of seven men and ZERO women. That's a company that is likely pretty out of touch with its own consumers. And this is an all too common occurrence. Kristof argues that equal representations of the sexes in leadership positions isn't just good for women; it's good for everyone, AND, more important to some, it's good for business. He cites some powerful facts and figures showing how companies with higher numbers of women in leadership positions have higher profits. And before you start debunking the correlation as not necessarily causative, whether the chicken came before the egg here isn't really the point. The bottom line is that these companies have something to show the rest of the corporate world--a world where still, in the 21st Century, women hold only 18% of board positions. Thanks to Mr. Kristof for this great editorial.

Twitter, Women, and Power - The New York Times

Meet Samantha Marquez, Girl Genius and Up-and-Coming Scientist

Here's a story about am amazing 17-year-old girl named Samantha Marquez who already has seven scientific patents under her belt. One is for Celloidosome, something that can organize cells into a new or different structures. Most of this science talk is beyond me, but I thought it was a great example of girls who are succeeding in STEM fields.

INNOVATOR: Samantha Marquez, Pioneering Teen Scientist - NBC

Former Highest-Ranking Female Executive at Booz Allen Hamilton Settles Sex Discrimination Suit

At one time, Molly Finn was the highest-ranking female executive at large defense contracting company Booz Allen Hamilton. This is a company where only about 20% of the partners are female. Ms. Finn, who began working at Booz in 1986, claims that the higher she got up in the ranks, the more discrimination she experienced, because of what she and others call a glass ceiling, which seeks to get rid of women before they advance any further. (We wouldn't want them taking over the company, aahhh!) Ms. Finn says that another executive at the company told her to "stop saying 'pro-woman, feminist things'" if she wanted to keep her job. Eventually, Booz fired her in 2010. She filed suit in 2011 and has now settled the suit. Naturally, Booz has admitted no wrongdoing, but a female spokeswoman for the company did point out that, "The higher you go in the firm . . . the risk is higher." The risk of what exactly? The risk of a discriminatory termination, maybe? Hm, cryptic words indeed from a company woman.

Another female executive of Booz, Margo Fitzpatrick, who began working at Booz in 1999, was also fired in 2010 and also filed suit in 2011 for the same reasons. Her suit is ongoing.

Booz Allen Hamilton Settles Lawsuit with Former High-Ranking Female Executive - The Washington Post

12 Amazing Women from Nepal

Here is a really nice collection of photos and biographies of some very amazing and powerful women from Nepal. Among these women are the first female Nepali elephant rider, the first female Nepali mountain guide, and the first female Nepali pilot. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Women Who Broke The Rules In Nepal - NPR

United States Sues Industrial Labor Management Group, Inc. (ILM) in Nashville, TN for Gender Discrimination

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has sued Industrial Labor Management Group, Inc. (ILM) in Nashville, TN for gender discrimination. The lawsuit alleges that ILM, a temporary staffing agency, refused to place qualified female applicants in positions because of their gender. It further alleges that ILM directly told a female applicant that certain jobs in warehouses were only for men.

EEOC SUES Employment Staffing Agency ILM for Sex-Based Hiring Discrimination - EEOC Press Release

Mormon Women Protest for the Right to Become Priests

Mormon ladies are getting feisty! A Mormon activist group called Ordain Women organized a group of some 150 Mormon women and their supporters at an all-male convention of Mormon priests. The women were turned away. I wonder how long it will be before Mormons level the playing (or preaching) field. For that matter, I wonder how long it will be before these women realize that these religions are inherently sexist and they can simply start their own religion! But who am I to say they should not still fight for equality within their existing establishment? By all means, preach on, ladies.

Mormon Officials Turn Away 150 Female Members From All-male Conference - The Raw Story

Gender Equality Rankings by U.S. State

Here is a really cool compilation of data and infographic which tells us the rankings for all U.S. states in terms of women's equality. The Map incorporates all kinds of different factors, from number of women in political office, to number of women living in poverty, size of the wage gap, pro-choice/anti-choice laws, paid leave laws, number of women in management positions, etc. If you click on the link to explore the data in more detail, you can actually look at each individual factor they analyzed and view all the states by rank on that particular factor. Many of these rankings are no surprise, but there are others which seem inconsistent with my personal experiences . . . . One thing that came as no surprise to me, however, is that the Deep South is not the nation's hub for gender equality! How do your states fare?

Mapping the State of Women in America - Center for American Progress

A Call for More Women Judges (in the Context of the Health Care Cases)

Here's an articulate plea out of Denver for more women judges. The piece draws some intriguing parallels between "Obamacare" and women's rights. Currently, about 30% of federal judges nationwide are women (thanks in part to Obama, who has appointed far more women judges to the federal bench than any other President in U.S. history, despite Congress's refusal to approve many of them), and in Colorado it's 27%. And in the U.S. Court of Appeals (10th Circuit, which includes Colorado), it's only 10%.

There are two cases currently pending, one in federal district court in Colorado, and the other in the 10th Circuit, which deal with "Obamacare's" requirement that businesses cover reproductive health care services for women as part of their health care plans. The intent of this requirement was to eliminate the gender discrimination inherent in excluding certain health services for women, as such exclusions have an obviously disparate impact on women. Two companies, Hobby Lobby and Hercules Industries, are challenging this requirement as unconstitutional because it goes against their religious beliefs (presumably the belief that reproductive health care is evil or a sin, presuming that a corporation is a "person" who can actually hold religious beliefs (?)) and they should therefore not be required to pay for this type of health care. Interesting issues.

According to this writer, if there were more women on the federal bench deciding these types of cases, maybe those judges would be more likely to rule in favor of women's rights because they understand the importance of these services. Not sure if I agree that a judge would be more likely to rule one way or the other on a constitutional issue just because she is a woman, but still, it's something to think about.

We Need More Female Judges - Denver Post

For the law geeks, here is the recent appellate opinion on the injunction issues in the Hobby Lobby case which concludes that for-profit corporations are indeed "persons" who can hold religious beliefs (pages 25-35 of the opinion):

Hobby Lobby v. United States - 10th Circuit Court of Appeals

Would Having More Women in Office Reduce Sexual Harassment?

Here is a great piece about local politics in San Diego and the Bob Filner sexual harassment scandal going on there. The fact that such egregious harassment could go on for so long in a political office raises a larger question about the gender dynamics in such environments. The statistics this article quotes are 19% as the number of women in Congress and 23% as the number of women in political office at the statewide level across the country (and of course 51% is the number of women in the general population). Interestingly, that number was 28% at one point but has been declining for the past 12 years.

This writer, Jamie Quient, observes: "More women at the top would help end the culture of silence that enables sexual harassment to go unreported and unaddressed." Quient also notes how difficult it can be for women to come forward about harassment "when the person harassing you controls your livelihood and can shape your professional reputation." Amen to that! I completely agree with this assessment. If there were more women in leadership positions, not only would bosses be less likely to sexually harass their subordinates, but the subordinates would also would have more superiors they felt comfortable talking to about harassment if in fact they were being harassed. Thanks to Donna Frye for her courageous act of coming forward in San Diego and to Jamie Quient for this great article.

San Diego Needs More Donna Fryes - Voice of San Diego

The Reality of Second Generation Sexism in the Working World

I'm glad to see someone finally discussing second-generation gender bias in the context of all the recent equal pay discussions. Why in so many different professions do women start out in equal numbers to men at entry level, but when you get to the top you see they have almost all dropped off the path to advancement? According to this article, it's because the path to advancement "is often interrupted for a simple reason: when women display leadership behaviors we consider normative in men, we see them as unfeminine. When women act more feminine, we don’t see them as leaders." This is the classic double bind that is the heart of second generation sexism. Either way, we lose. It is sexism reinforcing itself. Circular reasoning.

Studies also show women do not receive the same desirable or lucrative projects or assignments that would allow for advancement within a company. And women don't have the same opportunities for mentorship by leaders at the top. These vicious cycles are simply the reality of sexism reinforcing itself, again and again.

Ambitious Women Face More Obstacles Than Just Work-Life Balance - Harvard Business Review

British Feminist Comedian Wins Award

Congratulations to Bridget Christie, British feminist stand-up comedian, who won the UK's most prestigious comedy award, the Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Award, for her feminist comedy show. This is especially significant because professional stand-up comedy has long been a male-dominated profession. Christie is the third woman ever to win this award.

Feminist Wins Edinburgh Comedy Award with Show Poking Fun at Sexism - The Guardian