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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/21/barack-obama-women-better-than-men-myths-leaders
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| You're not helping, Obama – just reinforcing myths about men v women | You're not helping, Obama – just reinforcing myths about men v women |
| (3 days later) | |
| Obama’s remark that women are ‘indisputably’ better than men points to the trope that women and men are innately different | Obama’s remark that women are ‘indisputably’ better than men points to the trope that women and men are innately different |
| Sign up for The week in patriarchy, a newsletter on feminism and sexism sent every Saturday. | Sign up for The week in patriarchy, a newsletter on feminism and sexism sent every Saturday. |
| Women are “indisputably” better than men, according to renowned male feminist Barack Obama. | Women are “indisputably” better than men, according to renowned male feminist Barack Obama. |
| “I’m absolutely confident that for two years if every nation on earth was run by women, you would see a significant improvement across the board on just about everything,” the former president recently opined at a private leadership event in Singapore. | “I’m absolutely confident that for two years if every nation on earth was run by women, you would see a significant improvement across the board on just about everything,” the former president recently opined at a private leadership event in Singapore. |
| Thanks for the vote of confidence, Obama, but that’s complete nonsense. If every nation on earth was run by a woman like Jacinda Ardern it might be true. If the world were run by the likes of Aung San Suu Kyi, however, it would be quite another story. Women, you’ll be amazed to know, are not a monolithic group. | Thanks for the vote of confidence, Obama, but that’s complete nonsense. If every nation on earth was run by a woman like Jacinda Ardern it might be true. If the world were run by the likes of Aung San Suu Kyi, however, it would be quite another story. Women, you’ll be amazed to know, are not a monolithic group. |
| Obama’s sweeping statements about women aren’t just facile, they’re supremely unhelpful. They reinforce the myth that women and men are innately different; that women are biologically programmed to be more cooperative and compassionate than men. We’re not. We’re just socially conditioned to be people-pleasers. And, from day one, we’re held to higher standards than men; “boys will be boys” but girls are expected to be angels. | Obama’s sweeping statements about women aren’t just facile, they’re supremely unhelpful. They reinforce the myth that women and men are innately different; that women are biologically programmed to be more cooperative and compassionate than men. We’re not. We’re just socially conditioned to be people-pleasers. And, from day one, we’re held to higher standards than men; “boys will be boys” but girls are expected to be angels. |
| Having more female leaders is also completely meaningless if those women simply “lean in” to exploitative systems of power. It’s not old white men that are the problem, it’s patriarchal capitalism. It’s an economic system in which power and resources are hoarded by the few. It’s the conflation of “leadership” with stereotypically “male” traits like aggression. And it’s the idea that one sex is “indisputably” better than another. | Having more female leaders is also completely meaningless if those women simply “lean in” to exploitative systems of power. It’s not old white men that are the problem, it’s patriarchal capitalism. It’s an economic system in which power and resources are hoarded by the few. It’s the conflation of “leadership” with stereotypically “male” traits like aggression. And it’s the idea that one sex is “indisputably” better than another. |
| Why were female candidates the only ones to apologize in the Democratic debate? | Why were female candidates the only ones to apologize in the Democratic debate? |
| Thursday’s Democratic presidential debate finished with the sort of question you might find in Cosmopolitan magazine: candidates could choose to ask forgiveness from their party rivals, or give them a gift. The women on stage, Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar, both chose to apologize; Warren for getting “really worked up”, Klobuchar for “being blunt.” The men, on the other hand, all said they’d give their books as gifts, or that beating Trump would be a gift to America. It’s depressing that, no matter how many achievements they rack up, women still feel like they need to apologize for their passion and speaking their minds. And it’s infuriating that so many men in power seem to think they never need to apologize. | Thursday’s Democratic presidential debate finished with the sort of question you might find in Cosmopolitan magazine: candidates could choose to ask forgiveness from their party rivals, or give them a gift. The women on stage, Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar, both chose to apologize; Warren for getting “really worked up”, Klobuchar for “being blunt.” The men, on the other hand, all said they’d give their books as gifts, or that beating Trump would be a gift to America. It’s depressing that, no matter how many achievements they rack up, women still feel like they need to apologize for their passion and speaking their minds. And it’s infuriating that so many men in power seem to think they never need to apologize. |
| Would you lend us a hand toppling the patriarchy in 2020? | Would you lend us a hand toppling the patriarchy in 2020? |
| If you enjoy the Guardian’s independent reporting we would very much appreciate you supporting us with a small (or large!) year-end gift. We don’t believe in walls, or paywalls, and rely on readers like you to keep our journalism open and accessible to everyone. Contribute now. | If you enjoy the Guardian’s independent reporting we would very much appreciate you supporting us with a small (or large!) year-end gift. We don’t believe in walls, or paywalls, and rely on readers like you to keep our journalism open and accessible to everyone. Contribute now. |
| The Women’s World Cup might be held every two years | The Women’s World Cup might be held every two years |
| Fifa is considering doubling the frequency of the competition, which is currently held every four years. If they are so keen on women’s soccer you’d think they might pay them the same as the men: in 2019 the World Cup prize money was $30m, 7.5% of the Men’s World Cup jackpot of $400m. Pretty classic that Fifa wants women to work twice as hard for a fraction of the money. | Fifa is considering doubling the frequency of the competition, which is currently held every four years. If they are so keen on women’s soccer you’d think they might pay them the same as the men: in 2019 the World Cup prize money was $30m, 7.5% of the Men’s World Cup jackpot of $400m. Pretty classic that Fifa wants women to work twice as hard for a fraction of the money. |
| Fallon Sherrock makes darts history | Fallon Sherrock makes darts history |
| Sherrock became the first woman to defeat a man at the PDC World Darts Championship on Tuesday. “Us women, we can beat these men,” the British 25-year-old said in an interview afterwards. “We just need more opportunities to prove ourselves.” | Sherrock became the first woman to defeat a man at the PDC World Darts Championship on Tuesday. “Us women, we can beat these men,” the British 25-year-old said in an interview afterwards. “We just need more opportunities to prove ourselves.” |
| Beyonce is launching a gender neutral fashion collection | Beyonce is launching a gender neutral fashion collection |
| She’s teamed up with Adidas to relaunch her Ivy Park brand and the gender neutral collection will go on sale in January. Unisex fashion has exploded in recent years as gender binaries get blurred. | She’s teamed up with Adidas to relaunch her Ivy Park brand and the gender neutral collection will go on sale in January. Unisex fashion has exploded in recent years as gender binaries get blurred. |
| Women aren’t as good at self-promotion as men | Women aren’t as good at self-promotion as men |
| There’s a massive gender gap in self-promotion. Men rate their performance 33% higher than equally performing women, according to a new study. | There’s a massive gender gap in self-promotion. Men rate their performance 33% higher than equally performing women, according to a new study. |
| Face of Japan’s #MeToo wins court case | Face of Japan’s #MeToo wins court case |
| Shiori Ito, a Japanese journalist, has won a high-profile civil court case against former TV reporter Noriyuki Yamaguchi, whom she accused of rape. Ito described her victory as “one of the landmark cases for Japanese sex crimes.” | Shiori Ito, a Japanese journalist, has won a high-profile civil court case against former TV reporter Noriyuki Yamaguchi, whom she accused of rape. Ito described her victory as “one of the landmark cases for Japanese sex crimes.” |
| Harvey Weinstein faces yet another lawsuit | Harvey Weinstein faces yet another lawsuit |
| Kaja Sokola, a former model, filed a lawsuit Thursday accusing the disgraced mogul of sexually assaulting her when she was just 16 years old. | Kaja Sokola, a former model, filed a lawsuit Thursday accusing the disgraced mogul of sexually assaulting her when she was just 16 years old. |
| Keeping up with the latest Kim Kardashian West blackface scandal | Keeping up with the latest Kim Kardashian West blackface scandal |
| Kim Kardashian West has been accused of blackface (again) after posing for the cover of 7Hollywood in what looks like very dark makeup. A source close to KKW (probably her publicist) told Page 6 that “it’s the lighting that makes her look darker” and denied that she had done it on purpose. After all, a Kardashian would never do anything deliberately stupid and offensive just to get attention. |
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