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Do women still feel they need special treatment?


I am not sure we can use Hollywood to actually see how successful women are in America.

Reese Witherspoon by all accounts is a very successful actor. Been in many hits and has made allot of money in her career.

But in the real world I don't see any kind of system holding women back? As a matter of fact in the corporate world I work in it seems to lean towards favoring women.

I look at my own world and my sister in law is a psychologist, my girlfriend is a therapist, I have cousins who have careers, from owning her own chiropractor practice to an attorney, a couple who work for the government.

They all went to college and applied for jobs and that is about it. Actually in my family the women have been more successful overall than the men.

My workplace, my manager is a woman, the assistant VP and VP are women. There is only one guy in the management chain up until the CEO in my department.

Is there really a system in place that is making women work harder to be successful just because they are women?

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Don't forget that Reese Witherspoon is also white, Christian, and straight. She has all the privilege in the world. She should be the last person to cry about special treatment. When she got arrested and proved to be an egomaniac almost 3 years ago, she got a slap on the wrist and people still see her as a role model. If she were black, she'd be demonized for that arrest for the rest of her life.

What a grip! That's from counting money.

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"Privilege"... *sigh* smh...

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I'M A VICTIM!!!

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Being white very literally takes privileges away from you today.

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Privileges such as?

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you can't get a scholarship just because you are white.
You can't get a job that you may be more qualified for than a minority if you're white.
You can't have a network dedicated to being white, if you're white.
You can't have your own history month if your white.

...need I go on?

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Yes, there is. Women of note are counted in organizations to make sure there are some but not too many. In fact, often the way a job is designated as minor is by saying, "women do it." Clerks, secretaries/adm.ass'ts, teachers, retail workers. It's not that ONLY women do it, but that it is primarily done by women. Why? Because the pay scale is so suppressed.

Educated, professional women will have to speak for themselves here. Certainly there are women attorneys who have risen to the top of their ranks. The same with doctors. But do women find themselves welcomed in those education programs with the same enthusiasm? I can only speak for myself. Men enrolled in teachers training are treated like rare gems with hardly a problem finding whatever job in whatever district they want to apply themselves. Is it because it elevates the job that a man is doing it? I ask you to think about that. The excuse given is that students need to see a man as an example. Do women not set an example?

With all that said, women who have succeeded need to mentor and support women who are trying to succeed in the same field. Some of the critical language Ms. Witherspoon, for instance, has offered is not helpful. Read her quotes. They generally give the appearance of being supportive but in reality center around herself, the length of her career, how she has succeeded where others did not, and how rare she is. If she was serious she would be setting up mentoring programs instead of bashing people.

It's not what a movie is about, it's how it is about it.
RIP Roger Ebert

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Yes, there is. Wanna know why? Because women who are more educated than men make 70% of what they do (for the same work). Because female actresses make less than men in movies. Because the only industry that women make more than men is the pornographic industry.

"After coming into contact with a religious man, I always feel I must wash my hands." - F. Nietzsche

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I don't see it in my company. But that could be due to there being so many women in my department?

Allot of jobs out there especially in the corporate world have very structured salary ranges. You are going to get an offer within that range and that is about it.

Though my director who is the only guy in my management chain told me that women tend to want more benefits instead of maximum pay where as men want the most they can get.

I have heard that from other friends, male and female, that do hiring. Most guys especially single don't even ask allot about paid time off or things like paternity/maternity leave. Where as women tend to care more about that part of it. Health benefits, alternative work arrangements things like that.

I wonder if they factor in the whole "compensation package" when they figure out how much men and women are paid for the same job?

I did hear something interesting yesterday. A female co worker is interviewing for a different role with our company and is disappointed that a woman is doing the interview.

I asked why? Wouldn't that help? She said no way, she had NEVER been hired by a woman. I knew why right away. She is attractive. I said it is because you are attractive? She nodded yes.

That is also not the first time I have heard that as well.

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The thing with wanting more men in education is that the field (at least for elementary education) has historically been dominated by women. I had a female teacher for kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades, and in 4th- 5th when we had five different teachers for different subjects, only two (science and SS were men). The others (math, English, and reading) were women. We did have P.E. and music teachers who were male. Most of my junior high teachers (except science and one year of both math and history) were females. Only in high school did I have as many male as female teachers. It is about diversity. Just like they want more black, Latino, and Asian teachers to "balance" the white ones, the want more men to balance out the women. A black man would have a good chance getting a teaching position, all things being equal.

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Judging from recent events, yes. And I agree, Hollywood is not representative of how things really are in America. But it's what we see and we see better than we can think, unfortunately.

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You have a sister-in-law, which means you are married to her sister (or brother) AND a girlfriend?! You rascal does your WIFE know?

And you do know that a wife and a gf are 2 separate and distinct entities, right?

Oh, you don’t? No wonder you fit in at Corporate.

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*sigh*

Or maybe the OP has a brother, or indeed a sister, who is married to a woman who happens to be a psychologist. Or perhaps they're divorced and because they had kids with their ex, they still regard their ex's sister, as their 'sister-in-law,' although I would put money on it being more likely to be the first example.

Wow, you contrarians and naysayers aren't very bright, are you?

You're so desperate to 'prove the OP "wrong"' that logic and common-sense just flies out the window...

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