By the looks of the dates on the various comments people have left here, I seem to be a little late to the discussion. However, I just wanted to thank you for writing this particular post. It was extremely thought provoking, especially giving the fact that I am a straight female who perfers leggings and big t-shirts over tight fitted jeans and tops.

I had a professor who did most of her research on women in the American military, and she talked a lot about the fine line women had to tread between being strong and competent enough for the military but weak and, if you will allow, ‘feminine’ enough, to not be perceived as a lesbian (for which she could be dismissed from service). The professor told us how women would ask men for help carrying things that they could actually carry themselves (among many, many other things) in order to preserve those aspects of their perceived femininity.

Just a thought

It is SO easy to slip from a discussion about gender into sexism, because obviously sexism informs our understanding of gender. I may sound a bit academic here, but I think it’s an important distinction.

not enough time at all.

in american society, it just isn’t there. and i think that’s really a detriment to our culture. you get women who try to Do It All and are miserable and stressed. the average maternity leave is six,then you use up all your sick and vacation to get a little more time.

to me, it’s tragic.

of course, not ALL women want to have babies. but many do! and i just don’t see the ack of what a tremendous gift that is–it is seen more as a Burden or an Illness. as a detriment to the employer.

i, too, believe in change and we’ve made a lot of progress. but we would need a tremendous alteration in our thinking before we reach gender equality.