Let’s see… gay marriage, women, women, women, women, women, women. Ad nauseum. All I see in most of these debates is a lot of bitching and moaning predicated on dubous feminist doctrine as to what’s “good for women”. Leaning in? Great! Opting out? Only great when feminism says it is – IE only OK if it’s a choice made completely independent of the pressures of working (AKA never). Apparently the workplace is supposed to miraculously transform its environment from one predominantly profit-drive to one driven by an overwhelming desire to mollycoddle women.
Let’s continue ignoring the ongoing issue of chronic male underperformance in education (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/… and focus on the message being sent by fantastical female characters in Disney movies. Why? Because “monolithic view of society premised on patriarchy” says men should matter less. As for casting sexual assault in the military as a women’s issue, the majority of those reporting suffering a sexual assault were men: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06… But again, the presence of penises confounds. If only all these pesky penis-possessors would just take themselves and their penises somewhere and off themselves. Oh yeah – they are: http://www.bcmj.org/articles/s…. Good news! Now back to the important issues – like whether the “lean in” debate is too rich and white.
From Supreme Court cases to blockbuster films, these are the narratives on sex and gender that dominated the news this year.
Some of the biggest stories and debates in the media in 2013 had to do with gender relations—LGBT rights, women in the workplace, parenting styles, and more. Same-sex marriage gained more approval and legitimacy than ever this year, both in public opinion polling and as a matter of federal law. Sheryl Sandberg told women to “lean in” at the office, while the military told women they were now permitted to “lean in” on the battlefield. Bradley Manning became Chelsea Manning. And researchers offered up interesting new studies for individuals seeking a happy home life. Here are our picks for the most interesting narratives about sex and gender in 2013.
Gay Marriage Starts to Influence Straight Marriage
Gail Albert Halaban
On June 26, the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, which had denied federal benefits to gay couples legally married in their states. In The Atlantic’s June cover story, Liza Mundy argued that gay marriage has the potential to change straight marriage—for the better. Mundy pointed to research showing higher rates of satisfaction in same-sex unions. Same-sex partnerships, researchers quoted in the piece suggested, may finally shed light on an old question: How much of the conflict we’ve come to see as inherent in heterosexual marriage is about marriage, and how much of it is about gender roles? Same-sex couples often have different approaches to handling chores, childcare, and intimacy, Mundy noted. Maybe straight couples have something to learn. Intriguingly, however, it appears there’s one area where gay marriage is reinforcingtraditional norms: name-changing.
Marissa Mayer Shakes Up the Work-Life Debate
“Marissa Mayer is a CEO first and a woman second,” wrote Anne-Marie Slaughter in February. (Henny Ray Abrams/Associated Press file photo)
Marissa Mayer was already a divisive figure and potential feminist icon when the year opened, having become CEO of Yahoo in July 2012 and taken only two weeks of maternity leave that October before returning to work. In February of 2013, she made headlines again with a controversial ban on telecommuting. Some called Mayer hypocritical for having made life more difficult for Yahoo’s working parents while she, herself, could afford to have a private nursery built next to her office. In April, though, Mayer doubled paid maternity leave for mothers and instituted a new eight-week paid paternity leave to fathers. Critics hailed the move as a first step towards gender-parity in parenting.
Marriage Is Good for Your Career—If You’re a Man
Miramax
In January, the American Historical Association revealed the results of its 2010 Career Paths Survey. As Alexis Coe reported for The Atlantic, the study showed not only that men progressed quicker from associate to full professor than women did, but also that marriage hastened a man’s promotion, while slowing a woman’s promotion. The difference was attributed, in part, to the support married men get from their female partners, who are more likely to take a leave of absence from their own jobs to aid a husband’s career. Another study Coe covered that same month suggested this isn’t just true in academia: It pays to be a married dad whose wife doesn’t work full-time.
A VERY interesting comment from the bottom of this article: http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/12/the-great-american-gender-debates-of-2013/282419/
