Hanna Rosin gave this TED talk on how women are rising above men in almost every area! She makes global generalizations on how women are succeeding everywhere. For example, women are becoming the breadwinners! Women have higher income than men! She also claims that there are more women in the world such as in China. This is not true.
According to Mara Hvistendahl, author of Unnatural Selection, there is a gender imbalance in the world. The male to female ratio is distorted. There are more men in China than women. Rosin's hopeful speech about how women are rising above men lacks solid research.
Watch and listen critically.
In Reshaping the Work-Family Debate, Joan Williams critiques Sarah Palin's version of feminism:
"In Palin's version of feminism, men need not change. In addition, she herself exemplifies the conventional success strategy, which is to dress femme but act the tomboy, taking on masculine personality traits (firm, comanding, competent, confident) and roles (breadwinner). This strategy works for many professional women while they are young and child free. But it does not appeal to many women, and for many others, assimilation opportunities end abruptly once children are born. Palin so captivated many American women, in part, because she sent a reassuring message: I can be a good mother, a hot babe, and a successful leader. Nothing needs to change (218)."
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| Really!!? |
That's what it seems so to me! You could easily replace much of what Williams said about Palin's "version of feminism" and relate it to Rosin's message. Rosin over generalizes women. Her TED talk will not appeal to all mothers, women of color, women in poverty, and more. Rosin's TED talk only leads to how "nothing needs to change" except that maybe too many women are rising to the top and we need to help men.
By the way, check out Rosin's new book, The End of Men and the Rise of Women. I don't mean to promote her work. The title sounds iffy. Challenge her work.
This is so interesting. I feel like the 'war on men' rhetoric of femminazis gives the rest of us feminists a bad name. I don't understand why so many feel men are to blame, when it is the systems that we all reside in that shape our actions and our beliefs. I would be interested in seeing how others react to Hanna Rosin's work and who her supporters are.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting the TED talk. If you remember, I popped off in class one day about this book. In addition to the generalizations you note, her chapter "Hearts of Steel" claims that college women (based on her observations at Yale) have mastered the hook up and adopted traditionally male values regarding one-night stands. Dory uses the term "femminazi," a terms that I find problematic since feminism and Nazi practice have nothing in common (feminists have never practiced genocide, for example). Nevertheless, you both raise interesting questions about how to characterize this book that's being marketed as "feminism." Once again, the "feminist" getting media attention has a narrow agenda that doesn't represent what many feminisms value. I just can't figure out her agenda. Thoughts?
ReplyDeleteYikes!!! So you were referring to Hanna Rosin! Oh my, if I had a picture of her I would have known! I honestly think Rosin needs to STOP. She needs to take a pause in her production of "feminism" and actually educate herself more. All I know is that I don't want to make sweeping generalizations like Rosin.
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