<![CDATA[Jezebel: the feminine mystique]]> http://tags.gawker.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/jezebel.com.png <![CDATA[Jezebel: the feminine mystique]]> http://jezebel.com/tag/thefemininemystique http://jezebel.com/tag/thefemininemystique <![CDATA[House Of Yes]]> A new line of "Audible Modern Vanguard" classic books will be recorded by a series of well-known actors and writers, with commentary by the narrator. So, how do you feel about Parker Posey reading The Feminine Mystique? [Yahoo]

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<![CDATA[Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique; MLK's "I Have A Dream" Speech; JFK's Assassination]]> All happened in 1963, which seems to be the year the next season of Mad Men will take place. Newsweek's Louisa Thomas asks: "Will the turmoil of 1963 provide a release [for the characters], or just inflict more trauma? [Newsweek]

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<![CDATA[Many Women Prefer Stay At Home Motherhood To Soulless Cubicle Dwelling]]> "To be sure," writes Sandra Tsing Loh in the summer issue of the Atlantic, "attacking feminist criticism as being the extended whine of a privileged, educated upper class is as old as … well, as bell hooks’s 1984 critique of [Betty] Friedan’s Feminine Mystique." Loh is discussing two recent books about women and the workplace (Linda Hirshman's Get to Work … And Get a Life, Before It’s Too Late and Neil Gilbert's A Mother’s Work: How Feminism, the Market and Policy Shape Family Life) in her article "I Choose My Choice!" Loh points out that Hirshman's book, which rallies against the opt-out revolution (wherein hyper-educated women choose to become stay at home moms), overvalues the amount of fulfillment women get from their jobs. In his book, Gilbert says that Hirshman (a former lawyer) and her ilk overvalue work fulfillment because "the vast majority of those who publicly talk, think, and write about questions of gender equality, motherhood, and work in modern society are people who talk, think, and write for a living. And they tend to associate with other people who, like themselves, do not have 'real' jobs—professors, journalists, authors, artists, politicos, pundits, foundation program officers, think-tank scholars, and media personalities."

Most American women, you see, are not professors, lawyers, doctors, or even bloggers (I know, you're shocked). Many are cubicle dwellers, spending their 9-5 hours toiling under bad lighting in stale air. "When it came to interactions with different partners, the women ranked interactions with their children as more enjoyable than those with clients/customers, coworkers, and bosses," Loh reports.

Have middle class and lower class women really been the beneficiaries of what Loh called the "extended whine of a privileged, educated upper class?" In some ways, yes, but in many ways, no. I don't really buy Hirshman's trickle down feminism; I don't think that if all of those Harvard Business School grads stayed at Goldman Sachs, life would get any better for the average working woman. Loh writes, "While the economy benefits, for working-class families with young children, so much of a second income is eaten up by child care and taxes and other costs." These women are just as trapped in some ways as the unhappy housewives of Friedan's era.

Earlier this month, Hirshman wrote an essay against "intersectionality" in the feminist movement, which Moe rebutted. Moe used the example of the upwelling of support from Jezebels for those felled by honor killings in Iraq. While of course there are more glaring incidents of violence against women outside the United States, we can't forget that there is still feminist work to be done within our country. And the work isn't going to be done through hundreds of articles written by upper class, educated, white feminists attacking each others' choices in an endless elite media circle jerk (the words "women" and "opt-out" appear in over 6,000 NYT articles). Loh's article is called "I Choose My Choice," and perhaps more writers need to acknowledge that a very, very small percentage of working women in the United States have anything close to a choice in the first place.

I Choose My Choice! [The Atlantic]
Looking To The Future, Feminism Has To Focus [Washington Post]
The Feminine Mistake [Washington Post]

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<![CDATA[Low Libido In Women Is Not A "Disease"]]> Yesterday marked the official 10th birthday of Viagra, the little blue boner maker, and U.S. News and World Report has a trio of articles about potential Viagras for women. There are currently two lady libido drugs in the midst of clinical trials — one is a testosterone gel, and the other is a pill that acts on serotonin receptors. The testosterone gel is closer to FDA approval, but part of the hold-up is that approval standards for a female version of Viagra are higher than they were for the original: according to U.S. News, "A drug for women must not only elicit desire but also yield an increased number of sexually satisfying events."

That seems like a lot to ask, especially since some doctors, like NYU School of Medicine's Leonore Tiefer, don't think a testosterone gel will really help the female libido in the first place. Tiefer tells U.S. News: "There was a big study in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2005 that has never been refuted showing that low testosterone may have nothing to do with [low libido]." In 2000, Tiefer formed what she calls a group of "like-minded feminists" under the heading the New View Campaign to educate women about the medicalization of female sexuality.

Earlier this month, Moe tackled the same question Tiefer wrestles with: Is not being horny a disease (Moe: "probably not!")? And Tiefer elaborates on exactly why. She thinks the variety of sexual problems a woman faces — loss of interest in sex, irregular sex, interest in the wrong partner — have been hijacked by the medical community when those issues have nothing to do with medicine. "I would regard fluctuations in sexual interest not just as normal but as a good thing built into one's feelings about pretty much everything; with the seasons, with age, with changes in a relationship, with changes in health, with changes in work responsibilities," she says. "Everything comes and goes." Anita Clayton, co-author of Satisfaction: Women, Sex, and the Quest for Intimacy, adds, "For women, a lot of our sexuality is above the neck, not below the waist,"

Then there are women like "Bette," a 72-year-old breast cancer survivor who says using the testosterone gel, which was prescribed to her "off label," basically saved her life. "I'd rather have something worth living for right now, rather than living in the old folks' home. I'm not going to miss any fun."

Sex Drug Viagra Turns 10; Women Still Waiting [U.S. News & World Report]
Women Lacking Libido Aren't Sick [U.S. News & World Report]
A Woman's Sex Drive Restored By Testosterone [U.S. News & World Report]

Earlier: Five Reasons To Love Viagra
Is Not Being Horny A Diesase? Okay, Probably Not, But Should Big Science Keep Working On Female Viagra Anyhow?

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<![CDATA[ This Funny or Die video called "Women's...]]> This Funny or Die video called "Women's History: Presented by Porn Stars" features famous porn stars reading cue-cards about pivotal events like Seneca Falls and the publishing of Betty Friedan's the Feminine Mystique, which adult film vet Nicki Rhodes declares "the best book ever." Unremarkable yes, but the ending is unbearable: photos of women like Eleanor Roosevelt and Hillary Clinton alternated with women like Jenna Jameson. The filmmaker also includes Zoey Zane in his montage (Zane is the 18-year-old who posted nude pictures of herself online and was murdered late last year) and Diablo Cody. There's so much wrong with this video: the implication that porn stars are stupid; using a dead woman to make a tasteless joke; relying on that played-out Diablo Cody commentary. Funny or die? We say die. [Funny or Die]

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