When will the Atlantic finally deal with its women problem?
The venerable magazine regularly publishes thoughtful reporting and
analysis about the Middle East, U.S. politics, the future of China,
the global economy, climate change --- on and on. It's only when the
publication gazes on the 50 percent of the population that is not male
that it wanders off into Cloud cuckoo land.
If the proverbial Man from Mars knew about women only from reading the
Atlantic, he would believe that their hormones go completely haywire
at a certain age, making them unstable, unreliable creatures (The
Bitch is Back) /and at the same time they are on the verge of taking
over all the power in society, leading to The End of Men. They are
selfish careerists destroying their children, or they have decided
they really can have it all and are disdaining marriage. Or, they use
other women's resentment of men to succeed.
In the December issue, the magazine suggests that the most successful
female entrepreneur on the planet gained her wealth and fame by
bonding with women over the cruelties and insensitivities of men.
Caitlin Flanagan writes [1] that Oprah Winfrey, more than any other
broadcaster ever, understands the ways in which men can hurt women.
Men "tend to be wary of her, if not outright hostile. She's onto
them."
Indeed, Oprah has spoken of her own history of abuse, and has promoted
women who write about such issues, including Alice Walker and Toni
Morrison. But if she's a "manogynist," she is an amazingly forgiving
one. Are Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz wary of Oprah? Probably not, since she's
made them superstars. She's made two movies from Mitch Albom's books.
Oprah evangelizes for empowerment for everyone, not only women. She
created a travel show for her new channel featuring a young man with
cerebral palsy. Flanagan sees Oprah through an absurdly reductionist
lens, but then, that's how she views much of the world.
Many women I know --- and not a few men --- scratch their heads over
the Atlantic's fascination with Flanagan. She represents a very tiny
sliver of American womanhood today. She is the wife of a very wealthy
executive who can afford hot and cold running nannies, and repeatedly
attacks working women as self-centered careerists who are destroying
their children. She never mentions the mountain of reliable evidence
that finds kids of working mothers as emotionally healthy as children
of at-home mothers. (See Ellen Galinsky's "Ask the Children [2].")
Flanagan advocates for a very retro style of marriage. She believes
husbands should be in charge and women accommodating. Indeed, wisps of
Mirabel Morgan cling to her. (Remember Total Woman [3]?) But Flanagan
would never be so déclassé as to greet her husband at the door clad
only in Saran Wrap, as Morgan suggests. She does, however, seem to
find [4] men who care for children a real turn off. She admits she
would feel "a distinct lack of erotic feeling" if her husband
interrupted his Saturday tennis game to help out with the children.
(Most women I know would have the opposite reaction. They'd toss hubby
on the couch for a quickie just for the suggestion.) At times,
Flanagan morphs into some eerie clone of Martha Stewart, about whom
she writes, rhapsodizing over artifacts from an earlier era. She says
[5], "No woman with a beating heart and an ounce of femininity" can
resist such domestic ephemera as a freshly laundered fluffy white
towel or the sight of "A child's lawn pinafore draped across a painted
rocking chair."
Has anybody since Edith Wharton ever even seen a lawn pinafore?
Flanagan would have made a great Victorian, but the statistical odds
are that she would have been one of the maids, not the lady of the
house. Would she enjoy both the fluffy towel and the lawn pinafore so
much if she was the one who had to iron them?" Sometimes I think
Flanagan is simply writing satire and one of these days she will break
into a cackle and say, "Got Ya!" But I guess that is not going to
happen.
If Caitlin Flanagan represents one half of the universe of women in
Atlantic's vision, the other half is occupied by Sandra Tsing Loh. And
no odder odd couple could be found. Tsing Loh is a caustic, often very
funny cultural critic and playwright who casts a cold eye on our
current situations --- personal and political. But in 2009 she wrote
a piece [6] that was as atypical of American women as is Flanagan's
Victoriana. She has decided that smart, fortyish women like her are so
capable and competent in all realms of life that they don't need
husbands. As Tsing Loh (who has jettisoned hers) writes, "I can pay
the bills, I can refinance the house at the best reasonable rates"
and, she adds, take care of all the children's needs as well. She can
do it all. Alone. So why not? There are always guys out there for sex.
But how many accomplished --- and yes, feminist --- women share that
view? None that I know. Women who are successful are not just busting
their buttons to discard their husbands. In fact, research [7] finds
that women who earn more than their husbands have marriages just as
stable as women who earn less.
Another article [8] that the Atlantic featured by Tsing Loh, in
October 2011, was called "The Bitch is Back." She had (or is having) a
really, really rotten menopause, causing her to behave badly and to
often despise most of those closest to her. As usual, she can be
sharp and funny, but what is the message when a magazine that rarely
writes about women publishes an article showing a woman In full-blown
hormonal rage? (Oh My God, we knew it, they really do go crazy at
midlife!)
If this piece had appeared in say, Redbook, it would have received
little notice. But since it appeared in a major policy publication,
it did get attention. The influential columnist David Brooks of the
New York Times named it to his list [9] of ten best magazine articles
of the year. But it was the only one written by a woman. In 2011 women
did wonderful journalism about Iraq, Afghanistan, the Arab spring,
politics and science. But why was the only one that made the "best
list" about female hormonal rage?
The leitmotif of much of what the Atlantic publishes about women is
that female gains are dangerous --- to children, to families, to
marriages, to themselves, and to men. The "End of Men [10]" was a 2010
cover article written by Hanna Rosen, the premise of which was that
because women now outnumber men on college campuses, they will move
into the jobs that lead to power in society and replace men as the
power elite.
There seems scant evidence for this proposition. Women have been at
near parity with men in colleges for decades; shouldn't the End of Men
be well under way by now? But the gender pay gap has barely budged.
And men are hardly fleeing colleges. The numbers of men who are
attending college is steadily rising, even though women's upward curve
is steeper. Also, who goes to which colleges is also relevant here.
Much of the increase of women is accounted for by older women and by
minority women, especially African Americans. This is good news, but
these women are probably not on a straight upward trek to join the
power elite. Even high-scoring women may not be on a fast track.
Getting top grades in college does not automatically open doors for
women. A Sloan foundation study [11] "Women Lead in College but not in
the Workforce" found that women's earnings have not kept up with their
gains in educational attainment. If you are female, you may be the
valedictorian, but you probably won't keep up in money and prestige
with your top-level male classmate.
Will this narrative ever change in the Atlantic? I hope so. One day I
would like to pick up the magazine and see a well-reported article
about American women that's without the "What the hell are they up to
now?" brand of alarm.
But I am not holding my breath.
Boston University journalism professor Caryl Rivers is the co-author,
with Rosalind C. Barnett, senior scientist at the Brandeis Women's
Studies Research Center of "The Truth About Girls and Boys:
Challenging Toxic Stereotypes About our Children." (Columbia
University Press.)
See the article here:
Caryl Rivers: The Atlantic's Woman Problem
Links:
------
[1] http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/12/the-glory-of-oprah/8725/
[2] http://www.amazon.com/Ask-Children-Breakthrough-Reveals-Parenting/dp/0688177913
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marabel_Morgan
[4] http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2003/01/the-wifely-duty/2659/
[5] http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/2002/09/flanagan.htm
[6] http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/07/let-8217-s-call-the-whole-thing-off/7488/
[7] http://www.womensenews.org/story/commentary/060830/career-women-bad-wives-lets-ask-the-guys
[8] http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/10/the-bitch-is-back/8642
[9] http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/25/opinion/25brooks.html?_r=1&ref=opinion
[10] http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/07/the-end-of-men/8135/
[11] http://www.prb.org/Articles/2007/CrossoverinFemaleMaleCollegeEnrollmentRates.aspx?p=1
http://www.textileglobal.com/2012/01/caryl-rivers-the-atlantics-woman-problem.html
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