[PEN-L:11418] Re: Gender and Hierarchy (was: Male Chauvanist Mathematics)

[MScoleman@xxxxxxx]

In a message dated 97-07-23 09:26:05 EDT, Anders writes:
>Corporate hierarchies don't look the way they do simply because of the
>inherent needs of capitalism or because they are "reproducing the power
>elite":  they are gendered in a way that fits how Western society
>constructs maleness.  That's why, as Maggie pointed out, it's good for male
>corporate weasels to be aggressive but not ok for female corporate weasels.
> That's also why in corporations, men in traditionally female roles tend to
>be treated better than women in traditionally male roles.  For example,
>female secretaries are expected to "mother" their bosses in a way that male
>secretaries are not (for a wonderful analysis of these dynamics, check out
>Jennifer Pierce's study of male and female lawyers, paralegals, and
>secretaries in corporate law offices).
>
>This doesn't mean that if women were running things, we wouldn't have
>domination, competitiveness, back-stabbing, etc.  But in our form of
>capitalism, sexism isn't just a matter of how much men vs. women get paid,
>it's built into the fabric of how power operates at a day-to-day level.
>
>Anders Schneiderman
>Progressive Communications
I agree.  Gender is as inseperable from the exercise of power is it is in all
our other relationships.  Capitalism as exercised by women will still be
exploitation, but it will not necessarily look the same.  In order to
understand where feminist arguments fit within the heirarchy of discussions
on economic issues, it's important to recognize this--not just trash all
feminist argument as 'bourgeois' or 'petit-bourgeois'.  This is particularly
insulting to working class women who are dealing with feminist issues of
their own. Because we don't see women in positions where they dominate or
exploit, society as a whole tends to come to the conclusion that women are
incapable of being nasty--and are shocked when women are.  On the other hand,
facing the assumption that I'll always be 'motherly' and 'nice' has stood me
in good stead on occasion...............
maggie coleman mscoleman@xxxxxxx

p.s.  Using statistics descriptively for a moment: Caucasian women with
college diplomas earn less, on average, than African American men with high
school diplomas.