November 18, 2008

Women are Still Pissed

Tina Brown's new online venture The Daily Beast just got into the game big time with the release of a poll of 1,000 voters that shows that women are still pretty pissed off about perceived sexism during the campaign.

I don't think it was too smart for them to use the idiot Mark Penn's polling firm (whose ideas helped tanks Hillary) but leaving that aside there are some juicy nuggets to get out of the poll.

The poll’s key findings include:

By an overwhelming 61% to 19% margin, women believe there is a gender bias in the media.

4 in 10 men freely admit sexist attitudes towards a female president. 39% of men say that a male is “naturally more suited” to carrying out the duties of the office

Only 20% of women are willing to use the word “feminist” about themselves. Only 17% of all voters said they would welcome their daughters using that label.

48% of women thought Hillary Clinton received fair media treatment and only 29% believed Sarah Palin was treated fairly. In contrast, nearly 8 in 10 voters thought the press gave fair treatment to Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

More than two-thirds of women said they were being treated unfairly in the workplace (68%)
I'm sad that women don't want to call themselves feminists but not surprised. And I'm not surprised at the generational issues. But yikes, the number of women who think they are discriminated at work is really, really high. Seems like the workplace needs some serious help.
There is a generational divide with "Women over 50, the first generation to have a majority in the workforce, see far more discrimination in every area of life than younger women." Older women believe by nearly 2/1 that when given an equal opportunity, women will succeed at whatever they do. Younger women agree but more of them (43%) feel that men and women have different strengths and weaknesses in what they can do well.
And the kicker-
When it comes to politics, 85% of women feel strongly that a female president would definitely bring some good qualities that are lacking in most male candidates. They say it is time to elect a women president, believing such a victory will serve as a role model for the next generation. Not surprisingly, women completely reject the idea that a women president would be too emotional and end up crying in the Oval Office.
Let's use this anger to continue raising attention about issues that are important to women and the world around us. We can't let a progressive president let us become complacent about vital issues. Remember Dorothy, we live in a sexist world no matter if Barack Obama is gonna be president.

The Barrier That Didn’t Fall (The Daily Beast)