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2/6/09

Be careful what you ask for...


QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Given how stark and concentrated the job losses are among men, and that women represented a high proportion of the labor force in the beginning of this recession, women are now bearing the burden — or the opportunity, one could say — of being breadwinners"
HEATHER BOUSHEY, an economist.


NYTimes online 02.06.2009

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In hindsight, after having born the burden of a very long career myself, to little avail really...women have to be wondering why they wanted all of that. The real answer of course is that neither women or men needed the rat race of the 20th century. All of us will be better off if we approach living in the 21st century with an entirely different attitude about work, priorities in life and the human condition.

In this 1950's film of a radio program, the attitude of some working women in that era to have a successful career is represented. The woman being evaluated for her potential exhibits the forward looking attitudes of the era and the men evaluating and scoring her typify the backwards looking attitudes of that same era.

When technical progress and social change (the two go hand-in-hand) are occurring in any historical era, opinion in society usually takes the generalization of two opposing views until some social and/or legal agreement is reached. The two sides exhibited here are classic for the '50s, women and men representing the most common arguments of each side regarding "career women" in the workplace.

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This video is from Professor Daniel J.B. Mitchell's YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/danieljbmitchell) where he has uploaded very interesting and useful archival footage for general education purposes.