Dangerous irony of the New York Times’ viral opinion piece

“Have women ruined the workplace?”

This was the question posed by New York TimesUnsurprisingly, it quickly went viral. The gist of the argument was that women were gossips and overemotions, thus posing a threat to the search for truth and innovation as they took over more and more jobs.

To say women around the world are being shot would be an understatement. Talking to the owner Samantha Selinger-Morris Open Morning Edition podcastsenior writer Jacqueline Maley delves into so-called “conservative feminism” and the political and cultural forces that led to this moment.

Click the player to listen or watch the video below. full episodeor read on for an edited summary of the conversation.

Maley: There’s no doubt that women and men behave in different ways and have different strengths, right? And there are numerous studies and studies confirming this, not to mention human observations.

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But emotion in this context seems to be shorthand for emotionality, which is probably a symptom of emotional distress more common in women, with crying at work. I would definitely bet that women cry at work more than men. Clear distress, worry and worry, that sort of thing.

But when we talk about emotion, we somehow ignore the masculine expressions of emotion that tend towards rage, rage, open hostility, bullying, tantrums. All of this, I mean, right now, I’ve been in this workplace for, I think, about twenty years, which makes me feel very old, but I remember a time when workplaces were a lot less feminine.

Selinger-Morris: How were they, Jac? I remember too, but I’m only interested in your remembering.