Credit: Trishhhh, Flickr
By Amy L. Hatch
It was a rough week for women.
First, Mashable decided that it would be A-OK to portray moms as total dummies who can’t operate their television sets in an infographic about women and Facebook.
Then, Marissa Meyer, the first female CEO of tech giant Yahoo! and possibly the most visible symbol of feminism at work (literally) issued an edict directing all workers to get cheeks in chairs (bye, bye, telecommuting and flex time!).
Last but not least, Seth MacFarlane delivered a baffling performance as host of the 2013 Academy Awards that included not only a song dedicated to boobs but also a nasty thread of misogynist and homophobic—insert air quotes here—humor.
First, let me take a moment to thank them all for making it so very easy for me to write this post.
Second, let me tell you that I never considered myself a feminist. I don’t like -isms in general, and it seemed redundant to call myself a feminist when I worked in a man’s field (journalism) and behaved as if and believed that there was no gender boundary to what I could achieve.
Third, this week I changed my mind about that. I’m a feminist, damnit.
When Steve Jobs died, I thanked him for helping to enable me as a creative professional to have the kind of career that would have been impossible to balance with having a family before technology created a world in which telecommuting is possible. Being able to work from home and communicate with clients literally all over the globe has given me the chance to use my intellectual gifts to earn a living while also raising children.
Marissa Mayer thinks that’s a bad idea, that we should all sit in cubicles all day long so the bosslady can make sure we aren’t taking too many coffee breaks. This from the woman who decided two weeks was long enough to spend with her newborn.
Hey, if she wants to get right back to the office, I’ll stand behind her decision, support her in what she needs and wants. But for her to blatantly ignore the fact that her office edict will trickle down to hundreds of other families for whom that simply does not work and in fact penalizes women who have kids is not only facile, it’s dangerous. She is in a position of power as a highly visible woman with the opportunity to finally crush that glass ceiling and instead, she just erected a brand-new one.
So Marissa Mayer? Stuff it.
Now for Seth MacFarlane: I know and love many people who find his humor to be smart and sophisticated. I would really like to believe that underneath that smarmy, smug and sexist facade is a guy who’s intent on skewering modern culture, but I really don’t think that’s the case. And yes, I have watched Family Guy.
Please, don’t tell me about satire. I work on the Internet for a living, as I’ve mentioned a time or two, and I know something about what parody looks like. The Oscars did not look like parody. I’m not above a good dick-and-fart joke, but if there’s no respect for the vagina?
Stuff it, Seth MacFarlane.
Smarter, more articulate people than me have taken Mayer and MacFarlane (hey, that sounds like a road show!) to task this week, and I urge you to seek out their analysis and read it.
I do have hope, however. Because instead of a whole bunch of folks just sighing, shrugging and turning away from the blatant displays of sexism and stupidity we saw this week, we’re shining a light on it. We’re mad, and we’re not gonna take it any more.
To paraphrase: We’ve come a long way, baby, and we ain’t gonna let you drag us back. So how about you just shut up?
Well said, Amy.
AMEN!
Ah, it’s that time of the month for you, eh? What a stupid rant! Especially about Marissa Meyer seeking to go back to traditional work days.
A study on employees who work from home shows they are more productive, but less innovative. Mayer’s a smart woman — she knows Yahoo needs some serious innovation right now.
Wow. We’re not gonna take it? How about the 30+ years of making every main male role in a sitcom look like an idiot? You know, the one who is supposed to be the head of our home and the leader of the family. Why aren’t we fed up with THAT?
By all means, let a FB info graphic and Seth MacFarlane put you over the edge. I agree that it stinks for those at Yahoo (I’m sure there are also men affected) but doesn’t every company have to do what is best for their bottom line?
I understand the sentiment of this post–I really do. But I think the irritation towards Ms. Mayer is perhaps slightly misplaced. I don’t think she’s trying to turn back the clock on the rights of female workers who work from home. I think she’s simply trying to save Yahoo!.
If your options are work from home vs. work at work, I get that working at home is preferable. But what if Yahoo! continues on its previous path and, I don’t know, either goes out of business or gets bought by Google or Microsoft and they lay everybody off (starting, I presume, with the folks that work at home)? Now it is work at work vs. not work at all.
I understand that people at home can be more productive, etc., but I don’t think Marissa is trying to just shake everything up for the sake of doing so–I truly think she’s doing what she thinks is right to keep Yahoo! afloat. And I don’t think we can fault her for that, even if it means people have to go back to working in a cubicle.
Just a couple of cents, of course.
“I’m not above a good dick-and-fart joke, but if there’s no respect for the vagina?” Seems like a double standard, no? It’s OK to make jokes referencing male anatomy, but not about female anatomy? Why?
“does not work and in fact penalizes women who have kids”
So, it is the women’s responsibility to take care of the kids? That is most un-feminist thing I’ve heard. You’ve just negated everything you said in your article with that statement.
Solidarity. This is exactly why the world needs feminism (and will for a while to come). You might appreciate this: http://jezebel.com/5987118/sexism-fatigue-when-seth-macfarlane-is-a-complete-ass-and-you-dont-even-notice
Bravo Amy! It brought out my inner feminist too. Thank you for starting the discussion in CU.
By the way, here’s what the New Yorker had to say about work from home: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/cartoonists/2013/02/theres-no-place-like-work.html
On Seth:
http://www.advocate.com/commentary/2013/02/28/op-ed-seth-macfarlane-isnt-problem
Well said, BUT I’m surprised that you didn’t mention the fact that the satirical site, “The Onion” decided to go all out on an innocent OSCAR-nominated 9yr old girl, on the biggest night of her life, by calling her a “c***” on Twitter. I’m sure all the actresses who were targeted by McFarlane’s booby song were chuckling uncomfortably, but a 9yr old African American girl being singled out and called a “c***” is far more damaging.
– and I also forgot to mention that during the Red Carpet preshow, Ryan Seacrest and/or Kelly Osbourne decided to dub this 9yr old OSCAR nominated actress as “Little Q” as opposed to her real name, Quevenzhane Wallis. Prior to Oscar night, she was never referred to as “Little Q”, it’s just a lazy nickname they gave her because they didn’t even bother to learn her name…. or even try to pronounce it. Oscar night has taken women and racial issues back to pre 1950s as opposed to projecting them forward into the future. Well done Oscars. Sorry — that’s my vent.
There are way, way, waaaaaay more misogynistic comedians out there than Seth MacFarlane. I’m a woman, I love Family Guy, his humor, and the fact that he isn’t afraid to pick on anyone and everyone, including himself. That’s how you become a good comedian.
As far as Meyer goes… I’m also a business major, and in business, you have to make tough decisions to ensure that the company stays profitable and fulfills the expectations of its shareholders. If there were productivity issues, then, yeah, it’s necessary to get everyone to the office for a 9-to-5.
In my opinion, this was just a really stupid rant, and not all that feminist of one, either. Just sounded like an overbearing, presumptuous rant.
well said Lauren
When I first heard of Yahoo’s decisions my first thought was they must of reviewed their policy and found it was no long working for them- just another business decision.
I find it interesting your reaction is to automatically make it a women/mom issue when men also work from home and for other reasons than parenting- ie. long commutes and cost of living.
My question is would you have made as big of an issue if the CEO was a man and not a women? By making this a women/mother issue when it is not one doesn’t your reaction makes you more part of the problem and not the solution? I don’t think making women/mothers a victim helps with women’s equality.