Women's Equality Forum

Just a quick jubilant heads-up that my post for The National Council for Research on Women's blog The Real Deal was quoted in Linda Basch's article over at The Huffington Post!

Check out the whole forum here (and comment!) and you can find my post here. A little excerpt:

I don’t know much about politics, but I do know a little bit about equality. And I know that right now the two terms don’t really mix. Still, I have this fantasy about the American political system, and I can’t decided if it’s more disheartening to think that it’s still a fantasy or more frustrating to realize that some people don’t see a problem. Is it too much to ask for a political stage on which candidates are challenged based on the strength of their ideas, not the strength of their jump shot; where debates are waged over the economy and health care instead of necklines, pant length and shirtsleeves? Is it so difficult to imagine a female politician holding political office without first weighing the advantages and disadvantages of having a woman in power? When we consider each new candidate, the question shouldn’t be, “Is this woman right for the job?” but “is this person right for the job?” After all, do we often consider the merits of a male politician’s manhood?

Check it out!

"The Streep Effect": Meryl Streep and Economics

In another of my series of posts wherein I throw short little tidbits at you to cover for the fact that I'm not really posting these days (it's a temporary hiatus, I promise!) due to my dissertation (oh, that old thing?), here's a great article from The Independent, which I found, as I often do, browsing Women and Hollywood.

The article, "The Streep effect: Why economists love her," expounds on Meryl Streep's recent "career renaissance," and then tracks the compelling economic effects her films have had, from increasing the sales of ABBA records (post-Mamma Mia) to pushing Virginia Woolfe's Mrs. Dalloway to number 1 on Amazon's best-seller list after her portrayal of Clarissa Vaughan in The Hours.

Streep, who turned 60 in June, has carried off a unique feat among contemporary Hollywood leading ladies: she has sustained a long, A-list career without a break, and moved into roles that have the authentic prestige of the grande dame without settling for matronly support slots. The achievement is all the more impressive considering how many of her best contemporaries have fallen by the wayside, suffered patchy careers, or bowed out, weary of sub-par roles...

Check it out.