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The end of the year is for reflection. I like to take a look back at all the feminism & gender issues I covered for BlogHer. Since it's hard for me to remember what happened an hour ago, let alone in July or, heaven forbid, January, this is an important exercise for me. It reminds me what feminists accomplished, what still needs to be done, and what I'll can only laugh about or else I'll be curled up in the fetal position whimpering. This year, I sorted stories by topic.
1sts
First Latina Supreme Court Justice, Sonia Sotomayor, is confirmed in August. The journey was ridiculous, as Nordette Adams noted at BlogHer, with every special interest group on the planet raising some sort of objection. When Sotomayor was finally confirmed, Maegan La Mamita Mala at Vivir Latino congratulated her: "Felicidades to fellow Nuyorican mujer Sonia Sotomayor who was confirmed today by the U.S. Senate as the 111th justice of the Supreme Court." Brings tears to my eyes.
Alysa Stanton becomes the first African American female rabbi.
September 22, the first day of autumn of 2009, saw another first: Command Sgt. Maj. Teresa L. King was appointed first female head of the Army drill sergeant school in Ft. Jackson, SC. Meloukhia at this ain't livin' wrote, "Congratulations are in order for Sergeant Major Teresa L. King... Seriously... she’s amazing."
Beauty and Body Image
The star of Precious, actress Gabourey "Gabby" Sidibe, is over 300 pounds. She told New York Magazine, "I love the way I look. I’m fine with it. And if my body changes, I’ll be fine with that." If only more girls and women were like this!!! mo pie at big fat deal wrote, "don’t want to be caught unawares when she’s walking down the red carpet on Oscar night and we need to post about how hot she looks and/or what insane thing she’s wearing...I’m thrilled to see actresses like Sidibe and Mo’Nique getting recognition for this project..."
On Halloween (insert "trick" joke here), Suzi Godson told a woman in the The Times that if she wants to keep her younger boyfriend, she should groom herself in the way he finds attractive. And by groom, I mean get a Brazilian wax. According to Godson, porn has rendered men incapable of looking at women with pubic hair and finding them attractive. Unsolicited Opinion rakes Godson over the rails. After analyzing the idea that porn guides instinct, she concluded, "I hope the letter-writer has the good sense to ignore her stupid advice... and either tell her young man to appreciate her body or get the hell out of Dodge." BellaSugar turned to sex educator Debby Herbenick, Ph.D., MPH for a second opinion. Her advice also made much more sense than Godson's. I summarize: "I would advise this particular woman — and any woman or man who isn't sure what to do with their pubic hair — to do only what they feel comfortable or sexy doing."
Career
In February, a full three weeks before the front page of The New York Times blared As Layoffs Surge, Women May Pass Men in Job Force, their own economic blogger, Casey B. Mulligan broke the news to blog readers: women are, for the first time, more than 49% of the workforce. Signal handwringing, finger pointing, and name calling fests for the rest of 2009. Ann Bartow at Feminist Law Professors asked how long it will be until "the economic recession is labeled an evil plot by feminists." Of course, the reason for women's job security in these scary economic times is sadly due to gender segregation. As the Times explains:
a full 82 percent of the job losses have befallen men, who are heavily represented in distressed industries like manufacturing and construction. Women tend to be employed in areas like education and health care, which are less sensitive to economic ups and downs, and in jobs that allow more time for child care and other domestic work.
The other reason that women are finding themselves working is that they tend to be paid less than men, both because of the careers they opt for that "allow more time for child care and other domestic work" and because even when women perform the exact same job as men, they tend to be paid less. The Association for American University Women reports that "just one year out
