Is cleaning the office kitchen a woman's job?

Ever since I joined the workforce I’ve been cleaning kitchens.

No, I’m not a cleaning lady or a nanny. I work in a professional job, and I just happen to be one of the only people at every office I've worked at who cleans out the fridge. In fact, I have never seen a male co-worker clean out a communal fridge since I joined the workforce in 2007.

Where I currently work there are approximately equal numbers of men and women who share the kitchen and fridge. In the past year, only myself and one other woman (let’s call her Nancy) have cleaned the fridge out. I know because there’s a signup sheet on the fridge that says, “Cleaning the fridge is a team effort! Please do your part and sign up.” The “team effort” for the past year has looked like this: Jennie. Nancy. Jennie. Nancy. Jennie. Nancy.

The dishwasher is another point of contention. A few more people contribute to turning the dishwasher on and unloading clean dishes, but by and large it’s done by women. That too has been a trend in every office I've worked at.

This got me wondering, just how widespread is it for women to do all or most of the kitchen cleaning in the office? I’m willing to bet that it’s pretty damn common, and I’m getting a little pissed off about it. Women already do the double shift (work 8 hours in the office then come home to chores, cooking and childcare) – we don't need to make it a triple shift.

Well, it only took us women decades of feminism to get men helping out in the home kitchen... do we have to wait another few decades before they’ll do their part in the work kitchen?

I love advertisements with strong, sassy, smart ladies

I just saw this ad for World of Warcraft on TV the other day and I absolutely loved it. First let me say that I do not play World of Warcraft (or any computer/video games, for that matter) but I have definitely noticed their catchy and creative advertisements (have you seen the one with Mr. T?).

Anyway, back to the reason why I like this commercial so much. First, Aubrey Plaza, who's awesomely hilarious in the TV show Parks and Recreation, is equally snarky and funny in this commercial. I love her sassy personality in this ad. She comes accross as a strong, smart woman who don't take no shit from nobody, and I love it.

There's nothing worse than whiny, weak women like Bella from the Twilight series. Kudos to the marketing team at World of Warcraft for portraying smart, powerful women in their advertising, and not trying to "cutesy" up the game or the commercials in order to appeal to women. 

Tonight's show: Raunchy feminist electro-rocker - Peaches!

Tonight we're exploring the life and music of Peaches - a Toronto-born electronic musician who now lives in Berlin. She is known for her sexually explicit lyrics, raunchy costumes, theatrical stage performances and feminist viewpoints. She plays her own instruments, programs her own electronic beats and produces her own albums. Basically, she's an all-around awesome lady and a great feminist icon.

Interviewer: "You knowingly offend a lot of people, Peaches. What offends you?"

Peaches: "The Jonas Brothers."

Can you hide your child's gender?

A Toronto couple has decided not to reveal the gender of their baby.

Kathy Witterick and David Stocker are intentionally raising a genderless child in hopes of freeing them from social norms, so that they can choose to be whoever they would like to be.

Storm, born on New Year's Day, has two older brothers — Jazz, 5, and Kio, 2 — whose genders are known, but who have been encouraged by their parents to feel free to make their own choices, gender irrelevant. Both boys wear clothing that is traditional associated with girls — sparkly pants, tutus — and Jazz chose to be home-schooled when he was uncomfortable the traditional school atmosphere (and its reaction to his female clothing).

“What we noticed is that parents make so many choices for their children. It’s obnoxious,” says Stocker. I find this quote a little ironic, because it seems as though these parents have made a pretty critical choice about their child's identity.

I appreciate where the parents' heads are at, but I don't agree with their decision. I think that they are imposing their own political values and social goals on their child in a way that may make life more difficult, unfairly so. Like Diane Ehrensaft, a California-based psychologist, I worry that they will unintentionally marginalize Storm.

Depending on how long Storm's gender is kept a secret, they may be subjected to unfair treatment at school by their peers. While even the most "normal" child can get bullied, intentionally creating a situation in which they are different from other children may be unfair. If the child grows up on wants to reject standard gender identifiers, that's one thing, but to impose that value on a baby seems a bit unreasonable.

As Jezebel rightly points out, Witterick and Stock made the gender of their child more of an issue, not less. If they really wanted their child to be who they really are, why don't they disclose the gender and let them be free to dress however they like, like the older boys? Why this need to keep it a secret?

At the end of the day, it's really not our business and much of the media's reaction to this story is out of fear for the "other," for people who don't identify as male or female. It's trumped up and reactionary.

If the child decides on their own that they want to be gender neutral, then that is fine by me. In the mean time, our society is not nearly as progressive as we like to think it is and that's quite a statement to put on such a young person.

Tonight's show: Women in Science

Why are there so few women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics careers? While women account for more than half of university graduates in Canada, they receive only 30% of the degrees granted in science and engineering fields. In elementary, middle and high school, girls and boys take science and math classes in roughly equal numbers and the girls typically have better grades. Yet few women go on to pursue these careers.Tonight we're discussing some of the reasons why women don't choose these careers and the barriers they face in both education and the workforce.

We'll also discuss a couple of awesome female scientists from the history books:

• Elsie MacGill - a Canadian and the world's first female aircraft designer
• Marie Curie - a Polish/French physicist and chemist, famous for her research on radioactivity

Elsie MacGill - not only was she the first woman in the world
to be awarded a masters degree in aeronautical engineering,
she was also a women's rights activist! This is one kick-ass lady!

Next show: stereotypes about "angry" feminists

Everybody knows the stereotype of the angry, ranting, man-hating, hairy feminist. But if you actually are a feminist, or know anything about feminists, you're aware that the actual percentage of "angry feminists" is extremely low. All feminists are lumped into this category, which is kinda like assuming all Muslims hate America, all Mormons are polygamists or any other wide-sweeping, ridiculously inaccurate generalization.

When a feminist is accused of being angry, it becomes easy for the accuser to dismiss her idea as an overreaction because she's "too emotional." "too sensitive"  or "irrational." (Men's anger, of course, is always rational).  Either that or we're accused of PMSing. Anyway, the angry feminist myth remains an extremely prevalent stereotype, so we're setting out to debunk it on our show!

Here are some references to articles and music we'll be discussing on the show:

• The Angry Feminist - a good read.
• In Defense of "Angry" Feminists - from TheFrisky.com
• The Prisoner of Sex - great article on Andrea Dworkin, the ultimate "angry feminist"
• Alanis Morissette's You Oughta Know is the epitome of angry women's music! Unfortunately, she was instantly labeled an angry woman because of this song - a label that remains with her. 

Tune in on Monday, May 9 at 8:00 pm on CJSW 90.9 fm in Calgary, or listen online at cjsw.com.

Feminist action figures!

Ok, so this ad is just for fun, but how cool would it be if a toy manufacturer actually made feminist action figures? I would totally buy these Brontë Sisters Power Dolls for the budding young feminist in my life!

Chevy's "nostalgic" (i.e. sexist) advertisement

'Remember when your cup holder sat next to you and wore a poodle skirt?'

Remember ladies, women should always sit in the passenger seat... never the driver's seat. And women should wear skirts, cos they're feminine and pretty. And women should hold the man's drink - since she's not gonna be driving, she might as well make herself useful.

I get that Chevy is playing on the whole nostalgia thing with this ad... but seriously, did they have to serve up their nostalgia with a side of sexism?

Women outperform men in school, but still earn less

Canadian women do far better than men when it comes to school, but in the year 2010 we STILL lag way behind men in terms of salary.

Findings from Education Indicators in Canada show that when compared to 30 other countries in the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, Canadian women make about 63% of the salary of a similarly educated man. That's only up slightly from 61% in 1998.

Women are earning less than men despite that fact that women achieve better academic results than men at all levels. High school girls graduate at a rate of 8% higher than boys. In college that number jumps to 11%. When it comes to university degrees, women graduate at a staggering rate of 18% higher than men.

How come we’re better educated than men and still making way less money? It may be due to a number of reasons:

(a) Canada is actually quite a ‘traditional’ country when it comes to child rearing. Women are still mainly responsible for childcare and place more importance on family than men, causing them to work fewer hours or part-time. Statistics Canada figures from July show that more than twice as many women as men work part-time jobs in Canada.

(b) Women still face biases in the workplace. A study by Catalyst shows that women with MBA’s from top business schools around the world earn an average of $4,500 less as a starting salary than men with the same credentials. Women are also less likely to move into leadership roles than men.

(c) Perhaps companies are willing to pay men more than they are women. Or perhaps women are willing to work for less. I remember reading in Naomi Wolf’s book The Beauty Myth that too many women don’t believe they’re “worth it” and will settle for lower wages. Maybe men are more likely to ask for a raise, or more driven to be financially successful.

None of this really comes as news to me, because studies have continuously shown that women make far less than similarly educated men. But there’s definitely a part of me that thinks, “Really? Come on! It’s 2010 people!” Although I believe that much of this inequality is caused by patriarchal norms that are embedded in society, along with a long-standing belief that men just deserve more, I do think that women themselves need to be more demanding, more confident and more sure of what they're worth.

Source: Women at work: still behind on the bottom line - The Globe & Mail

Today's show: Women working in male-dominated jobs, and the Calgary Dyke March!

Tonight we interview two women who work in male-dominated jobs: a machinist and a construction worker. We discuss sexism in the workplace and what these ladies love and loathe about their jobs.

Also, Calgary's first ever Dyke March is coming up this weekend, so we'll be spreading the good word about that!

Tune in from 8 - 9 p.m. on CJSW 90.9 fm in Calgary, or from anywhere in the world on cjsw.com. You can also download our podcast if you miss the live show.

Disney Gender Roles Deconstructed

Interesting...
I came across one of the photos linked here via Feminocracy and decided to check out the rest of the original post at Sociological Images.

They made me chuckle a little bit but I also couldn't deny how disturbingly accurate the commentary is.

My Struggle for Housework Equality

I am a feminist and my partner of 7 years is a pro-feminist guy. From the outside we appear like a very modern-day equality-for-all type of couple. And in many ways we are… except for one: household chores.



In chatting with my other feminist friends who are shacked-up with guys, I’ve noticed a definite trend around housework. After first moving in together, the men are keen to help out and put in the effort to get chores done. But after a few months, the honeymoon period ends and the men slide into a more relaxed attitude about housework. My guy and I have been living together for 3.5 years now, and there’s no doubt about it: I am doing the majority of household chores. I can’t help but think, “I’m a feminist… how did I let this happen?!”



In the book When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present authour Gail Collins reports on some interesting studies about the time we spend on housework. Apparently, couples who truly split chores 50/50 are extremely rare, even in homes where both adults work full time. Study after study shows that any way you measure it, women do about twice as much housework as men. It doesn’t matter if you’re working class, middle class, upper class, or the colour of your skin, the ratio remains 2:1. When child care is added to the mix, things become even more lopsided. In families with both parents working, women spend an average of 11 hours a week on childcare, while men spend three. The only households that seem to arrive at equitable divisions of labour more naturally are lesbian couples.



Lisa Belkin, a columnist for the New York Times who wrote on this topic, said she met a few couples who were seriously trying to divide household chores evenly, and it seemed like a tortuous process full of lists, negotiations and struggles on the part of the woman to get the man to understand her higher standards for cleanliness. I can completely understand this; I have tried a hundred different ways to get my partner to do more chores. We have tried everything from a white board where we list tasks to “scheduling” blocks of time into his iPhone calendar for him to do chores. So far, nothing has been very successful. The interesting thing is that he sincerely wants the housework to be divided 50/50, but that's never what happens.



What irks me the most is that I spend a lot of my personal free time doing things for “us” like grocery shopping, tidying the house and organizing our finances. When he has free time, he spends it doing things for himself like surfing the net, playing online games or going fishing. It definitely creates resentment in me, which I occasionally release by screaming at him. And so begins the cycle of the woman nagging, the man getting annoyed, the man not doing the chores, the woman getting even more resentful, the woman nagging again… and on and on it goes.



So what’s a modern day feminist to do? Why are all my straight feminist friends and I in the exact same situation? Should we lower our cleanliness standards, or should the men pick up their game? Thoughts, ideas, comments and suggestions are welcome!

Calgary woman battles gender-discrimination case for 19 years

The CBC reports on a case of gender-discrimination that has been going through Alberta's court system since 1991.

Delorie Walsh filed a complaint against her employer, Mobil Oil Canada, in 1991 because she was paid less than her male co-workers and her bosses blocked her from promotions and treated her unfairly.

In the 1980's Walsh worked as a junior map clerk at a company that would later merge with Mobil Oil. Her goal was to become a land agenet (or "landman"), but she was apparently told by her boss that "No damn woman will be a landman in the surface department."

Walsh's 19-year battle with this case is now nearing resolution as a week-long tribunal began on Tuesday. I wish her sucess and applaud her for sticking to her guns for 19 years!

Because only Mom's cook dinner...

Thanks to the awesome blog Sociological Images for initially posting this sexist ad.

Canadian Women Earn 21% Less Than Men

The Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) recently posted this graph showing the gender wage gap between median men's and women's wages. I was surprised to see that Canada's gender gap is 21% - substantially higher than the average (17.6%) for OECD countries.



This means that for every $100 a Canadian woman makes, a man doing the same job makes $121. Canada even scored worse than the USA, whose gender gap is 19%. Poland, New Zealand and Belgium are leading the way in closing the gender gap - in these countries the gap is 10% or less.



The OECD reports:

"Even though most OECD countries have laws requiring equal pay between the sexes, women still earn less than men on average... Why do these differences persist? Discrimination is part of the answer. Women are also more likely to be in low-paid occupations and less likely to get promoted – in most countries the earnings gap is bigger among higher-paid workers. Childcare responsibilities mean women are also more likely to work part-time."

Tonight's Show: Polygamy

Tonight on the show, Jennie and Geea discuss polygamy in Canada, America, and other parts of the world. In particular we'll focus on the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints (FLDS). The FLDS's are branch of Mormonism that is not accepted by the 'regular' Mormon church because they practice Polygamy - the type of marriage that involves one husband and multiple wives. Groups of FLDS's live mostly in Texas, Utah and Arizona, but there is also a small group in Bountiful, BC.



Some of the questions we pose tonight...

• Is polygamy inherently anti-feminist?
• What are the social, economic or cultural reasons for polygamy?
• How are women treated in in the Church of FLDS?
• Are there any societies that practice polyandry (one wife, multiple husbands)?

Here are some links to articles we will reference throughout the show.



Mormon polygamy in Canada among the FLDS - ReligiousTolerance.org

Lost boys are the forgotten polygamy victims - The Vancouver Sun

Bountiful - CBC, The Fifth Estate





Tune in tonight from 8:00 to 8:30 pm on CJSW 90.9 fm, or at cjsw.com.

If you miss our live show, be sure to check out our podcast!

Tonight's Show: Masculinity, Fight Club and American Psycho

Tonight we interview Paul Kennett - a fellow CJSW programmer - who wrote his Master's thesis on issues of masculinity, with a particular focus on two novels: Fight Club and American Psycho.



It's not that often that we discuss masculinity on Yeah, What She Said, but it is an important part of gender studies. Please join us for this interview - it's going to be a good one!



Tune in tonight from 8:30 to 9:00pm on CJSW 90.9 fm. You can listen from anywhere in the world at cjsw.com. And don't forget that you can always download our podcast if you miss the live show!

My Thoughts on Adam Lambert and Bullshit Double Standards

So, remember when Britney Spears and Madonna kissed at the 2003 MTV awards, and everyone was so freekin' excited about it? Well apparently that doesn't go over so well when it's two men kissing. Adam Lambert (American Idol runner up and openly gay singer) recently pulled a "Madonna and Britney," and received some pretty negative feedback.

Lambert was singing his new song "For Your Entertainment" at the American Music Awards when he kissed a male keyboardist, fondled a dancer and had another dancer briefly stuff his face in Lambert's crotch.

Lambert's actions prompted many complaints to ABC, who then canceled his TV appearance on Good Morning America.

Why are Britney and Madonna allowed - even encouraged - to get away with a very public make-out session, while it's completely unacceptable for two men to do the same thing? Why are homosexual acts between two beautiful women applauded, while homosexual acts between two men are shunned? Double standards surrounding homosexuality are really starting to get on my nerves. You know we live in a fucked up society when we're more comfortable seeing two men holding guns than two men holding hands.

So what did Lambert have to say about all this? "Obviously, I respect [ABC's] decision — they gotta do what they gotta do... It's too bad, I think there were a lot of fans who were excited to come see me. [ABC] probably had a lot of pressure coming at them from certain people who weren't happy about it."

He goes on to comment that "there are a lot of double standards as far as that goes... We've seen female pop and rock performers do that for the last 10 years. They've been very provocative, owning their power and sexuality. You just don't see men doing it very often. And I'm hoping to break down that double standard with this number."

All I have to say about this is... You Go, Adam! Own your sexuality and BRING IT! If America ain't ready to handle a gay man spreading some love... fuck 'em.

National Men Make Dinner Day

Did you know that the first Thursday in November is apparently “National Men Make Dinner Day”? (So it was yesterday, November 5th). A friend of mind posted this on her Facebook and I was intrigued so I decided to check it out. It turns out that although it may sound like a progressive idea, the whole thing is pretty backwards.



First of all, the website asks men “Are you a man who makes dinner on a regular or semi-regular basis?” If so, they are instructed to read no further… I suppose if you’re a regular contributor there’s no need to participate in National Men Make Dinner Day.



Then, it goes on to list the top ten reasons why men should participate in this event. Some of the reasons listed really play on stereotypes about men, and I think I’d be insulted if I were a man. Here are a few examples:

#10 – While cooking, you can still wear your tool belt, simply replace the hammer with a whisk.

#9 - Several recipes include beer as a legitimate ingredient.

#3 - Some desserts, such as crème brulee, require the use of a propane torch.

#1 - Participating in National Men Make Dinner Day gives you optimum points with your wife. Use those points wisely!



Ok, so the message is this: We need to bribe men with tool belts, beer, propane torches and “points with your wife” just to get them to cook dinner.

Forget it… I’ll do it myself!

Baking is a Feminist Thang!

When I bake, I feel like I’m connected to my grandmother and her mother and her mother… going back through all those generations of women.
When I bake, I feel empowered because I’ve made something from scratch.
When I bake, I’m proud that I’ve made something delicious and I know exactly what’s in it.
When I bake, I’m reminded of my mother who cooked home made meals every night, even though she worked full time.
When I bake, I feel creative.

Today many women are taking “traditional” women’s tasks such as crocheting, baking, knitting and sewing and reinventing them. No longer are they things we do because we’re women and we’re expected to do them. We do them because of all the reasons I listed above: they are creative, empowering, and it’s awesome to make something yourself!

Here are some pictures of some muffins I recently baked, and links to the recipes. Try it yourself and see how baking makes you feel!

Banana Blueberry Muffins

Raspberry Yogurt Muffins