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March 8, 2006
Get Real Work Done
Today is Blog Against Sexism Day. I've read several great posts on the subject, none more thought provoking than "Science and sexism" by Janet Stemwedel on Adventures in Ethics and Science . I had just about made up my mind that I had little to add. Then I listened to the CBS Evening News and heard about Microsoft's new Origami, a computer midway in size between a palm computer and a laptop. Brad Graff, Intel's Director of Marketing was explaining an unexpected market that turned up during market research.
"One category we didn't expect is soccer moms," he says. "They would drop off their kids at the game, do some shopping, run an errand and have some dead time. We deployed these devices and we found they loved it. They could get real work done in between things."
What was the "real work" that these soccer moms might do during this occasional dead time? Well, the online report doesn't say it but John Blackstone's on air report was quite clear: watch television, surf the internet, play computer games and read their email. I was struck with the idea that real work for women was no longer limited to producing and caring for men's prodigy. It was now surfing the internet and playing computer games.
Well I am married to a woman who now likes to surf the internet and play an occasional computer game but is more likely to be found reading a book or doing research on something that interests her. It was not always so. During the early days of our marriage, she held down important professional jobs and bore our children. She worked. And she worked in the face of pervasive sexual discrimination. Our daughter now teaches in a field that until quite recently was nearly totally dominated by men. She works.
It is shocking that a director of marketing could say what he said and let it go at that. There is certainly nothing wrong with the Origami being a platform for fun and games. There is something wrong with confusing that for "real work" in the context of the day to day activities of some women. Playing computer games may be women's recreation but it is certainly not women's work.
By the way, being a soccer mom is real work. I know. For several years, I was a "soccer dad." And while I would not trade that experience for anything, it was among the hardest jobs I ever had. It would have been great to have an Origami to play with during the dead time.
Posted by Duane Smith at March 8, 2006 9:31 PM | Read more on Odds and Ends |
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Comments
I missed blog against sexism day...
Posted by: beepbeepitsme at March 10, 2006 11:46 PM
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