Highbrow Magazine - women https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/women en A Gentleman’s Ode to Women on International Women’s Day https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/9874-gentleman-s-ode-women-international-women-s-day <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Sun, 03/10/2019 - 14:18</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1womensday.jpg?itok=hbq2hnRq"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1womensday.jpg?itok=hbq2hnRq" width="480" height="319" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p><strong>Opinion:</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>Through the ages, men have sworn their adoration for the weaker sex, in paintings and poems, in songs and books and movies. But it has probably in the last century that men have openly admitted that women are better than men in far more ways.</p> <p> </p> <p>China’s Mao said: “Women hold up half of heaven,” while the Soviet Union’s Nikita Khrushchev acknowledged that “It is the men who do the administrating, and the women who do [the actual] work.” And even that arch-capitalist billionaire, Aristotle Onassis, said: “If women didn’t exist, all the money in the world would have no meaning.”</p> <p> </p> <p>As International Women’s Day fell this month— on March 8th, let’s face it, women are not just kinder and more gentle, which are often considered feminine traits, they’re also almost always more honest, less sexist, less racist and less ageist. They are just plain better human beings than men.</p> <p> </p> <p>Quick, think of 10 individuals who have ruined, just in the last 70 years alone, the lives of countless millions of people: Hitler, Stalin, Mao Zedong, Kim Il Sung, Idi Amin, Fidel Castro, Pol Pot, Slobodan Milosevic, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, Bashar al-Assad ... well, you get the idea.</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2womensday.jpg" /></p> <p> </p> <p>Police statistics worldwide confirm that men commit virtually 10 times as many crimes as women, both violent and commercial.</p> <p> </p> <p>When was the last time you heard about a gang of women holding up a bank and pistol-whipping an elderly guard, whose only defense was a newspaper and a coffee cup?</p> <p> </p> <p>How many professional female assassins have you read about?<a name="_GoBack" id="_GoBack"></a></p> <p> </p> <p>Or hijackers?</p> <p> </p> <p>Or female mass murderers?</p> <p> </p> <p>Janet the Ripper?  Adele Hitler?</p> <p> </p> <p>I don’t think so.</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/3womensday.jpg" /></p> <p> </p> <p>Women are not only far less likely to whack you over the head for your watch, or juggle the account books in your office, they are also harder-working and more responsible.</p> <p> </p> <p>In interviews with scores of factory managers, corporate presidents, restaurant managers and industrial bosses in places as far afield as Tokyo and Tashkent, Northern Ireland and South Africa, Sydney and Shanghai, I have been told repeatedly that women report on time, stay later and are more quality-conscious than men.</p> <p> </p> <p>It’s no fluke that the only person to survive with any honor from the Enron scandal happened to wear high heels.</p> <p> </p> <p>Of course, women do have some minor, irritating traits. Like almost always being right: “Put on a sweater or you’ll catch a cold…. Don’t get drunk at the office party.... I think we should turn left here....”</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/4womensday.jpg" /></p> <p> </p> <p>Yet, compared to the myriad venal and stupid habits of men, everything from murder to walking with muddy shoes on a new carpet, women are virtually divine creatures.</p> <p> </p> <p>But if women really are such earthly angels, why have men always given them the short end of the stick?</p> <p> </p> <p>The reason is simple: because we could. For as long as man has walked upright, physical strength and speed were the key requisites for survival.</p> <p> </p> <p>But it is becoming evident to everyone that muscles don’t matter much anymore. It will be brainpower that brings home the bacon. And this means that one of two things will probably happen.</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/6womensday.jpg" /></p> <p> </p> <p>Either females will finally, at long last, take their rightful position as real equals with males, in which case, the world will be a far better place. Women will bring more compassion and compromise to world relations, and probably a lot more common sense, too.</p> <p> </p> <p>Or women will slowly begin to take on all the worst traits of men—and I don’t mean potbellies and beer breath. They will begin to get heart attacks and high blood pressure. They will drink more, and shout more, and suffer from stress more. They will cut corners more, and may develop a cruel streak in the climb to the top.</p> <p> </p> <p>But what I’m more afraid of is that we men will miss this opportunity to share the weight with our women. Americans in particular are far, far, far behind much of the rest of the world in this regard.</p> <p> </p> <p>Despite all our backslapping about our cherished America being the land of equality, it is still a fact that on average women are paid significantly less than men.</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/5womensday.jpg" /></p> <p> </p> <p>Since 1963, when the Equal Pay Act was signed, the closing of the wage gap between men and women has progressed at a painfully slow rate. Already there have been women presidents and prime ministers all across the globe— from India and Pakistan, to the Philippines, Turkey, Ireland, Sri Lanka, and Israel and Germany, and New Zealand. And Argentina and Iceland, and Indonesia. And Australia and South Korea.</p> <p> </p> <p>Instead of real sustained progress for women, we in the United States offer political correctness.</p> <p> </p> <p>Yes, like cosmetic surgery for an aging face, it has some value, I suppose. But it does absolutely nothing for anybody’s well-being. Like plastic surgery, political correctness is a semantic nonsense that goes only skin-deep.</p> <p> </p> <p>This kind of thinking has given us words like “chairperson” and “humankind” but, really, what has it done for the welfare of women anywhere?</p> <p> </p> <p>Is it possible, though, to be a genuine, heartfelt feminist and still refuse to pander to political correctness?</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/7womensday.jpg" /></p> <p> </p> <p>Is it really so terrible to believe that women should have the same rights, salaries, opportunities and benefits as men – yet still feel comfortable, even compelled, to give up your seat for a woman carrying too many bags on a bus?</p> <p> </p> <p>Is it really so gauche to admire the professional skills and talents of a female boss or colleague, and still compliment them on the fragrance of their perfume?</p> <p> </p> <p>Where is it written that giving a woman a compliment – a sincere one – is some kind of belittlement?</p> <p> </p> <p>Certainly, this can’t be true if it is genuine praise, for the difference between a sincere compliment and manufactured flattery is the chasm between a wooden leg and a real one.</p> <p> </p> <p>Abraham Lincoln once said: “A woman is the only thing I am afraid of that I know will not hurt me.” I cannot recall ever once being censured by a woman for holding open a door or even saying that she looked really smashing in that little black dress at the Christmas party.</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/8womensday.jpg" /></p> <p>But now I’m told that here in the United States appreciating a woman with an admiring smile or a kind word constitutes some form of sexual harassment. How sad for them. How sad for us.</p> <p> </p> <p>Several months ago, in Hong Kong, I was sitting in on a round-table meeting with a dozen people of both sexes. The discussion dragged on. The room was stuffy. I grew listless. Glancing across the table, I caught the eye of an attractive woman just as she stifled a yawn. I shrugged my shoulders and winked.</p> <p> </p> <p>Without the slightest hesitation, she shrugged her shoulders and winked right back. There was no indecent suggestion, no illicit proposal. It was simply a human contact between two people, both bored at the same moment. Now, however, I have been told that if I had had the same exchange in the land of my birth, I would be risking a possible lawsuit.</p> <p> </p> <p>If that is true, then women may have paid too high a price for their alleged equality. In recent years, it sometimes seems that some women are not so much equal to men but are now no different. And if that is the way of the future, it is not only sad, but also a step backward.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Author Bio:</strong></p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p><strong><em>Steven Knipp is a longtime journalist who has worked as an international writer and editor and reported from all corners of the globe. He is a contributing writer at</em> Highbrow Magazine.</strong></p> <p> </p> <p><em><strong> Photos 1 - 6 by Steven Knipp; Google Images; Max Pixel (Creative Commons).</strong></em></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>For Highbrow Magazine</strong></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/steven-knipp" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">steven knipp</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/international-womens-day" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">international women&#039;s day</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/women" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">women</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/women-leaders" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">women leaders</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/men" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">men</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/equal-pay" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">equal pay</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/equality" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">equality</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Steven Knipp</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Steven Knipp (photos 1-6); and Google Images; Max Pixel (Creative Commons)</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Sun, 10 Mar 2019 18:18:05 +0000 tara 8592 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/9874-gentleman-s-ode-women-international-women-s-day#comments Fighting for Women’s Rights, Roy Hollander is His Own Worst Enemy https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/4304-fighting-women-s-rights-roy-hollander-his-own-worst-enemy <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Fri, 09/19/2014 - 14:08</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/womenarmy.jpg?itok=jbD7tW26"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/womenarmy.jpg?itok=jbD7tW26" width="480" height="376" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p>In April, New York City Lawyer Roy Den Hollander sent out an email to women’s rights organizations asking if they could help him find someone who would be a plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit. He wanted to find women to help challenge the draft registration law that bars women from registering for the draft.</p> <p><br />  </p> <p>Currently, in the United States, women 18-25 are prohibited from signing up for the draft.  If a woman wanted to sign up voluntarily, any user who marks “female” on the application form is rerouted to a page explaining the law which bars women from joining.</p> <p><br />  </p> <p>The idea of women’s conscription has been debated and rejected many times in American history, the most important of which was the 1981 U.S. Supreme Court Case <em>Goldberg v. Rostker. </em>The case ruled that because drafts are intended only for combat positions, and because women were excluded from combat positions, women are excluded from conscription.</p> <p><br />  </p> <p>But in January, the military opened up 300,000 combat positions to women, and expect to open the rest to women by January 2016, making the findings in <em>Goldberg v. Rostker</em> outdated.</p> <p><br />  </p> <p>The Center for Military Readiness declared in its May 2013 Policy Analysis that women’s conscription is an issue that must be solved before our country is in dire need.</p> <p><br />  </p> <p>“Congress should focus its time and efforts on the underlying problem: absence of women's exemption from direct ground combat,” reads the Policy Analysis. “This is the elephant in the room, and Congress needs to squarely decide what to do about it.”</p> <p><br />  </p> <p>Dr. Kara Dixon Vuic, a history professor and expert on military and gender at Highpoint University, agrees. She says that many women have wanted these options for a long time.</p> <p><br />  </p> <p>“Many women have historically pushed for greater access to the military and to combat roles because they believed service to be a duty they owed their country,” Vuic says. “They hoped that service would translate to equal citizenship, and they wanted the same benefits of service that men received.”</p> <p><br /> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/hollander.jpg" style="height:513px; width:503px" /></p> <p> </p> <p>And so, Hollander’s case is valid and it is welcomed by both advocates for women’s rights and by many military authorities. But with no luck in finding a plaintiff five months later, he says he’s dropped the case.</p> <p><br />  </p> <p>Why can’t he find a plaintiff?</p> <p><br />  </p> <p>Unfortunately for Hollander, his reputation precedes him. A self-proclaimed “serial anti-feminist” who has advocated against the Violence Against Women Act, sued Columbia over having a women’s studies program (without a men’s studies program) and a New York City nightclub for having a “Ladies’ Night,” which he says is discriminatory toward men. His aim in this case isn’t for equal opportunity for women and men, it’s for Hollander alone to feel Schadenfreude.</p> <p><br />  </p> <p>In a country where women are becoming more prominent in<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/feb/03/janet-yellen-woman-chair-federal-reserve-fed"> economics</a>, <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/01/03/women-congress-senate-record/1807657/">politics</a> and <a href="http://news.discovery.com/human/iranian-is-first-woman-to-win-nobel-prize-of-maths-140813.htm">science</a>, Hollander sees these strides as a threat. His motto is that women’s empowerment is happening at the expense of men.</p> <p><br />  </p> <p>“What I’m trying to do now in my later years,” he told <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/08/06/hey-la-a-a-dies">The New Yorker</a>, “is fight everybody who violates my rights.”  </p> <p><br /> Ironically, Hollander is in need of women’s rights advocates to help him prove that his rights as a male are being violated. Instead of realizing that equal opportunity for women would ultimately help his agenda, he continues to be spiteful and bite the hand that would ultimately feed him.  Equipped with a rogue agenda and a vengeful attitude, unfortunately for women, for men and for Hollander, he’ll add this case to his portfolio of failures.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Author Bio:</strong></p> <p><em><strong>Stephanie Stark, a contributing writer at</strong></em> <strong>Highbrow Magazine</strong><em><strong>, is a freelance writer and web producer out of New York City. Her work focuses on social, religious and gender issues in the US. Follow her at @stephanie_stark.This article was first posted in astarkreality.com.</strong></em></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/roy-hollander" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">roy hollander</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/womens-rights" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">women&#039;s rights</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/women-army" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">women in the army</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/women-combat" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">women combat</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/us-army-0" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">us army</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/obama" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Obama</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/women" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">women</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/women-soldiers" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">women soldiers</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Stephanie Stark</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Wikipedia Commons; Jezebel</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Fri, 19 Sep 2014 18:08:35 +0000 tara 5205 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/4304-fighting-women-s-rights-roy-hollander-his-own-worst-enemy#comments Should Women Have Paid Menstrual Leave? https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/4148-should-women-have-paid-menstrual-leave <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Fri, 07/18/2014 - 10:22</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/womenpilots%20%28wiki%29.jpg?itok=JD03fiR_"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/womenpilots%20%28wiki%29.jpg?itok=JD03fiR_" width="480" height="376" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p>After WWII, women across the globe entered the workforce out of necessity, before it could be supported or contested by any opinion or protected by any policy. In the U.S., the image of Rosie the Riveter empowered and glamorized working women. In France, Simone De Beauvoir began writing women's rights Book of Genesis <em>The Second Sex</em>, which outlined women were just as capable of success as men. And, in Japan, legislators attempted to accommodate women in the workforce by allowing them one day off monthly for menstrual leave.</p> <p> </p> <p>Today, 58 percent of women are <a href="http://www.dol.gov/wb/pcswinfographic.pdf" target="_blank">now participating in the labor force</a>, and that rate — up from 30 percent since 1960 — is expected to rise consistently, according to the Department of Labor. At the same time, women are learning to accommodate themselves in the workforce — in 2012, notable businesswoman and glass ceiling-breaking billionaire Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg stunned the world by announcing that she leaves work by 5:30 p.m. every day to make dinner for her kids. Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer had a nursery for her newborn built next to her office suite. And earlier this year, when GM was under scrutiny for its handling of flawed ignition switches, the first female CEO Mary Barra quickly related that "as a mom," she was deeply concerned. Prominent businesswomen are becoming unapologetic about their gender responsibilities in the workplace, and rightfully so. As women join the working world in increasing numbers, the question naturally arises: Should women take a day off work to rest during their periods? </p> <p> </p> <p>A handful of East Asian countries seem to think so. Women in Taiwan get three paid days off per year for menstrual leave. Indonesian women are given two days per month. In South Korea, they are awarded back pay if they do not take their allotted days. The Philippines order “mandatory menstruation leave” to female private and government employees, and provide half pay for those who are menopausal and pregnant. And last year in Russia, a lawmaker attempted to pass two days off monthly for women during their menstruation cycle, claiming women’s memories and efficiency at work are deterred.</p> <p> </p> <p>That legislation was rejected: The lawmaker, Mikhail Degtyaryov, happened to be male, and Russian women felt a law would be sexist and ostracizing — Degtyaryov was specifically citing mood swings and a lack of work efficiency as the need for the legislation. According to a Guardian poll, most people<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/poll/2014/may/19/women-get-paid-menstrual-leave" target="_blank"> think women should not be awarded paid menstrual leave</a> because it is a slight on women’s abilities in the workplace and a slippery slope for exploitation and discrimination. After all, in Taiwan, women are <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2014/05/16/paid_menstrual_leave_not_a_good_idea_period.html" target="_blank">reportedly</a> required to submit used pads as evidence. </p> <p> </p> <p>But Rebecca Watson, notable American feminist and founder of the blog Skepchick, says periods, however routine, are an illness and to treat them as if they are not is a disadvantage to women.</p> <p> </p> <p>"If a man went to his boss and said "I’m bleeding so much that I have to change these bandages every hour or two, I have constant diarrhea, and cramping so bad that I can’t get out of the fetal position," I would argue that that guy should go home and feel better."</p> <p> </p> <p>It’s true: Persevering through excruciating internal pain and debilitating fatigue during a workday is like running a marathon without water. Pamela Madsen, founder of the American Fertility Association, says with women's industrialized lives, we have thrown the baby out with the bathwater. She says that instead of hiding and minimizing our cycles, and in turn treating it as an inconvenience, women should be listening to their cycles and adjusting their activities to it. In many traditional cultures, she says, women convened during their periods to reflect and spiritually connect.</p> <p> </p> <p>"They were excused from their daily tasks so that they could do the work that could only happen during this time of bleeding. In contrast - in today's culture - it is frowned on to take 'time off' to take care of ourselves during this time. There is no honoring of this time - instead it is seen as an inconvenience," she wrote in <a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/shameless-woman/201101/the-importance-listening-our-menstrual-cycle" target="_blank">Psychology Today</a>.</p> <p> </p> <p>But guaranteeing all women — whose cycles are so varying and so complex — a monthly day off will inevitably further the stereotypes that stifle women’s progress. Announcing details of your physical state will only invite never-ending assumptive commentary on it, which could further women's status as what De Beauvoir would call "others" — humans who can't be taken seriously because they are emotional, inconsistent, socially distracting, and weak. </p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/tampons%20%28wiki%29.jpg" style="height:303px; width:625px" /><br />  </p> <p>Assistant Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies at Ohio University, Kim Little, says the negative consequences of the public, political debate regarding paid menstrual leave would have a negative impact.</p> <p> </p> <p>She says the public conversation could lead to discriminatory laws against women based on their biology, and cited the example of the early 20th century Supreme Court ruling <em>Muller v. Oregon- </em>which upheld state restrictions on the working hours of women in an aim to protect women's health. </p> <p> </p> <p>"If it were implemented, I believe that it would be used by both supporters and opponents of women’s rights to further their respective causes.  Such dissension would cancel out any positive effects of such legislation," Dr. Little says.</p> <p> </p> <p>So should women have to grin and bear the pain at work to avoid such stereotypes? Of course not. There could be an easy solution: paid sick leave. But not just for those lucky enough to score a job with health insurance. For women to avoid discrimination, we should invest in supporting <em>universal</em> paid sick leave to allow for flexibility and privacy for all.  Currently, the U.S. is the <a href="http://americanprogress.org/issues/labor/news/2012/08/16/12031/fact-sheet-paid-sick-days/" target="_blank">only developed country</a> that doesn’t guarantee paid sick leave for all its citizens. Two out of five private-sector workers in the U.S. — that's about 40 million people — do not have any paid sick days to recover from common, short-term illnesses, and that figure is skewed towards lower-income service jobs in which women are the great majority. So let's decrease that number considerably, and increase the number of women allowed to take time off they need. Ensuring paid sick leave won’t subject women to accusations of laziness and exceptionalism and won’t force them to share private details with curious and invasive bosses. It enables women to adjust their lives to its natural waxes and wanes is a progressive step in understanding the synergy of our work and life balances.</p> <p> </p> <p>"See what happens if you can create some space around your time of menstruation... This is a time for self care - and working on creating less stress in your life," Madsen says.</p> <p> </p> <p>The legislation to support paid menstrual leave is <em>not</em> being introduced in the US, but a bill to expand access to paid sick leave is.  The Healthy Families Act (<a href="http://www.hadassah.org/c.keJNIWOvElH/b.5772229/k.1C96/Hadassah_National_Action_Center/siteapps/advocacy/%E2%80%9Dhttp:/thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c113:H.R.1286:%E2%80%9D" target="_blank">H.R. 1286</a> &amp; <a href="http://www.hadassah.org/c.keJNIWOvElH/b.5772229/k.1C96/Hadassah_National_Action_Center/siteapps/advocacy/%E2%80%9Dhttp:/thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c113:S.631:%E2%80%9D" target="_blank">S.631</a>)--a bill that would provide 90 percent of the private-sector workforce one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked--was introduced in March and was referred to committee in both the House and Senate. To pass this bill would be a step in the right direction to allow those who have the least access to paid sick leave, and those who need it most- women in low-income jobs- to adjust their lives according to their bodily needs. </p> <p> </p> <p>"This is a special dance that only women do. It's primal and is not served by being "cleaned up" and ignored. When we tune into our internal rhythm and honor it - we can only enhance our relationship to our sexuality, our fertility and our beautifully complex emotional landscape."</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Author Bio:</strong></p> <p><strong><em>Stephanie Stark, a contributing writer at</em></strong> <strong>Highbrow Magazine<em>, is a freelance writer and web producer out of New York City. Her work focuses on social, religious and gender issues in the US. Follow her at @stephanie_stark.</em></strong></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/menstraul-cycle" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">menstraul cycle</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/women" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">women</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/menstrual-leave" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">menstrual leave</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/jobs" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">jobs</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/work-force" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">work force</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/women-work-force" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">women in the work force</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/period" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">period</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Stephanie Stark</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Wikipedia Commons; Google Images</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Fri, 18 Jul 2014 14:22:20 +0000 tara 4967 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/4148-should-women-have-paid-menstrual-leave#comments