- Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: OUP USA; Reprint edition (13 Sep 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0195147146
- ISBN-13: 978-0195147148
- Product Dimensions: 21.8 x 14.1 x 2.2 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 573,642 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
"Finally, a logical look at the work vs. family debate....Williams blends brilliant scholarship, rigorous analysis and family values in a proposal to radically change the American workplace."--The Seattle Times
"Williams would jump-start a movement with reasoned argument. Her documentation is encyclopedic and scrupulous."--The Nation
"Like The Feminine Mystique and The Second Shift, Unbending Gender could ignite a new debate over what should happen next."--Yale Law Journal
"An ambitious work and a precious accomplishment."-- Women's Review of Books
"This book makes a notable contribution to the feminist literature for its eminently sensible, readable, and thoughtful look into the roots of women's disadvantage in market work...Highly recommended to readers who seek real explanations and solutions to labor market gender discrimination."--Choice
Product Description
In Unbending Gender, Joan Williams takes a hard look at the state of feminism in America. Concerned by what she finds--young women who flatly refuse to identify themselves as feminists and working-class and minority women who feel the movement hasn't addressed the issues that dominate their daily lives--she outlines a new vision of feminism that calls for workplaces focused on the needs of families and, in divorce cases, recognition of the value of family work and its impact on women's earning power. Williams notes that good jobs in America are designed for the ideal employee, who works full-time and often overtime, with no career interruptions. Even today, most American mothers do not meet this ideal: a majority do not work full-time, and only a small fraction work overtime. Williams points out that women will never achieve equality until mothers do: she argues that employers need to implement parent-supportive policies--or face liability for sex discrimination. She also maintains that ideal-worker fathers are supported by a flow of family work from mothers, yet divorce courts treat the family wage as owned solely by the ideal worker. The result is the impoverishment of women and children, who comprise the bulk of the poor in the United States. Unbending Gender questions the idea that women simply choose between staying at home with their children or going to work. Given the limited options that contemporary American culture allows them, mothers are forced to make compromises. Joan Williams' solution is an inclusive, family-friendly feminism that supports both mothers and fathers as caregivers and as workers.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
As a full-time mother and "home manager," I greatly enjoyed Nina Barrett's piece on motherhood [in the Yale Alumni Magazine]. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
As a full-time mother and "home manager," I greatly enjoyed Nina Barrett's piece on motherhood [in the Yale Alumni Magazine]. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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15 reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Williams' Hits the Nail On The Head
12 Jan 2000
Format:Hardcover
This is a book for anyone who has struggled to mesh their work, their family, and their personal growth and development into one life that is balanced, fulfilling and just plain fun. Joan Williams says what we all feel, but fear: the way things are right now, the deck is stacked against all of us: men, women, and children. But as "Unbending Gender" so clearly illustrates, there is a solution well within our grasp. We can redefine our priorities and our idea of success. We can implement public policy that allows all of us to become vital and productive members of our communities. We can bridge the gap between a successful work life and a successful family life. All it takes is imagination...and will.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Essential reading for every woman lawyer
6 April 2000
Format:Hardcover
Joan Williams scholarly, thorough, and accessible book is a must-read for every woman lawyer (and working woman) struggling to balance work and family. Each time I've recommended it to one of the women attorneys I coach I've seen their perspective transformed. They stop blaming themselves for their difficulties juggling their many life roles - suddenly they understand that they're facing a system which makes it impossible to do everything well. Williams' treatise on the issues most central to working women is thought-provoking and a provides a useful framework for understanding why balance is so hard to achieve and how we might go about changing ourselves and our workplaces.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
A New perspective on work and family roles.
20 April 2000
Format:Hardcover
This splended book must be read by everyone trying to understand and remedy the strains on the contemporary family and to redirect the movement towards gender equality.While the majority of women with children are now employed outside the home, most "good jobs", from blue collar through corporate executive are still designed around men's bodies and "breadwinners'" ability to spend endless hours and energy on the job because they receive a constant flow of services from a partner. That partner, who may or may not be employed outside the home, does most of the family work but is "marginalized", that is, paid at a lower rate, and has lower status and power in the work world and in the family. This organization of market work and family work penalizes men, women and children. Reform requires re-organization of our work world, redefinition of our gender roles and a shift in the way society values and rewards family work, part time work and part time careers. The book is based on a wealth of new research and is a must for academics, policy makers, feminists and other activists working for a better society.
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