Tag Archive for "Economy"

Posts Tagged Economy

Is sex equality in the interest of men? Our boy Kristof weighs in.

In last Wednesday’s op-ed by Nicholas Kristof, he touched on a question that I have thought about for some time now: Is sex equality in the interest of men? Now you’ll remember Kristof for his co-penning of Half the Sky. His work is largely preoccupied with the plight of Non-western women. But every once in a while he throws US women a bone:

We men want our wives and daughters to encounter opportunity in the workplace, not sexual harassment; women want their husbands and sons to be in the executive suite, not jail. Nearly all of us root for fairness, not for our own sex.

The truth is that we men have typically benefited as women have gained greater ...

By Miriam • 13 years ago

Is female dominance a success for feminism?

Hanna Rosin, Co-Editor at Double X, has the cover story of this month’s Atlantic Magazine with a piece entitled “The End of Men: How Women are Taking Control–of Everything.”
This topic is a familiar one by now, not too far off from the discussions about the “he-cession“–our current recession which has seen 3/4ths of the job loss falling to men.
Rosin does a good job of really parsing the statistics about women’s increasing dominance of employment, particularly among the working class. There is one topic that is blatantly absent from her narrative: that of the extremely high rates of incarceration among low-income men of color. Men aren’t being made unemployable just by the shifting job ...

By Samhita • 13 years ago

Redefining Parenting: Paid “Daddy” Leave vs The Fight for Maternity Leave.

The New York Times has a piece today about the changing role of father’s in Sweden after a 1995 law that required men to take parental leave. The results have been lower rates of divorce, higher likeliness of joint custody in the case of divorce and men re-prioritizing their lives to work/life balance as opposed to explicitly focused on career.

Companies have come to expect employees to take leave irrespective of gender, and not to penalize fathers at promotion time. Women’s paychecks are benefiting and the shift in fathers’ roles is perceived as playing a part in lower divorce rates and increasing joint custody of children.
In perhaps the most striking example of social engineering, a new definition of masculinity ...

By Courtney • 13 years ago

The food politics conversation continues

This new film, What’s Organic about Organic?, continues the conversation about food politics, consumption, and the environment:

I still haven’t been able to eat a factory farm raised chicken since Food Inc., which is, of course, a good thing. The challenge here is to be a vigilant consumer and an advocate for sustainable and healthy food systems and practices, without making yourself frickin’ crazy. As more and more of us become educated about and start advocating around food, it will become less difficult to walk through life making sustainable food choices. Though the conversation has undoubtedly grown, it still feels difficult to navigate on a daily basis, and I live in New York City where folks are all about these ...

This new film, What’s Organic about Organic?, continues the conversation about food politics, consumption, and the environment:

I still haven’t been able to eat a factory farm raised chicken since Food Inc., which is, of course, a ...

By Samhita • 14 years ago

Street to Senate: Get to Work for the Jobless

Colorlines hits the streets to send a message to Congress–Get to work on joblessness.

As Kai Wright blogs, as many as 400,000 people are at risk of losing unemployment insurance as soon as April 5th. Republicans are going to fight any extension of benefits in the face of a crisis of epic proportions. Because all of a sudden when it is about helping out working class, mostly people of color, deficits are a huge problem.

Colorlines hits the streets to send a message to Congress–Get to work on joblessness.

As Kai Wright blogs, as many as 400,000 people are at risk of losing unemployment insurance as soon as April 5th. Republicans are ...

By ariel • 14 years ago

How not to (not to) spend Spring Break

It’s that time of year again–Spring Break time.
Spring academic recesses will break out across the nation. Some will stay home with family, or remain at school and study. Some will choose a public service alternative, or spend time with a domestic or international aid organization. Despite these attractive spring break options, countless people will still choose to go absolutely hog-wild writing articles on just how dangerous it is to party.
Many college publications have weighed in on Spring Break plans, and even J-WOWW offered sage advice. I may as well throw my hat in the ring– here are my “do’s” and “don’ts” of spring break advice lists:
DO ...

By Courtney • 14 years ago

Elizabeth Warren, the contrarian economist

She’s got the unsexist job on the planet, in many ways, but damn if she isn’t trying to make the best of it and save the American economy in the process. Check out this excerpt from her interview with Guernica:

I think partly that I always had my neck bowed, I was always going to do something else. When we were able to pick an elective in junior high school and all the girls picked drama, I, of course, had to pick debate. I said I was going to take physics, you know, just because. So, there was a little bit of the “just because,” and it was a moment when Gloria Steinem was out there talking. Did I think ...

She’s got the unsexist job on the planet, in many ways, but damn if she isn’t trying to make the best of it and save the American economy in the process. Check out this excerpt from

By Miriam • 14 years ago

New report highlights serious wealth gap for women of color

A new report from the Insight Center for Community and Economic Development paints a harsh picture of the wage gap that exists for women of color.
We’ve known there is a gender based wage gap for a long time, and that race also plays a factor. But this report, which compares the wage gap of white single women to that of single women of color, puts the challenges into perspective.

Single black and Hispanic women have a median wealth of $100 and $120 respectively; the median for single white women is $41,500. Nearly half of all single black and Hispanic women have zero or negative wealth, the latter of which occurs when debts exceed assets. About one-third of single ...

A new report from the Insight Center for Community and Economic Development paints a harsh picture of the wage gap that exists for women of color.
We’ve known there is a gender based wage gap ...