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| Can women even find Syria on a map? | |
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| Can girls even find Syria on a map? If you're reading Syria coverage and opinion writing in major news publications, the answer would seem to be "no". The overwhelming majority of expert talking heads and op-ed writers on US intervention in Syria are male. It's not because men know more about the Middle East or foreign policy or war and security, it's because of long-standing and often unconscious assumptions about male power and competence, and how our media reinforce and perpetuate them. | Can girls even find Syria on a map? If you're reading Syria coverage and opinion writing in major news publications, the answer would seem to be "no". The overwhelming majority of expert talking heads and op-ed writers on US intervention in Syria are male. It's not because men know more about the Middle East or foreign policy or war and security, it's because of long-standing and often unconscious assumptions about male power and competence, and how our media reinforce and perpetuate them. |
| In reading through traditional media coverage of Syria, it seemed to me that most of the op-eds I was reading were penned by men. Wanting to confirm that suspicion, I did a quick count of the male v female bylines on pieces about Syria published in the opinion pages of the New York Times and the Washington Post since 1 September. I counted columns, but not blog posts or letters to the editor (counting columnists actually jacked up the female byline numbers pretty significantly, as Maureen Down of the New York Times and Kathleen Parker of the Washington Post together accounted for about a third of all the female-penned pieces). In my very informal survey, I found that male voices outnumbered female ones almost five to one – more than 80 pieces by men, fewer than 20 by women. Notably, a substantial number of women's pieces were co-authored with a man. | In reading through traditional media coverage of Syria, it seemed to me that most of the op-eds I was reading were penned by men. Wanting to confirm that suspicion, I did a quick count of the male v female bylines on pieces about Syria published in the opinion pages of the New York Times and the Washington Post since 1 September. I counted columns, but not blog posts or letters to the editor (counting columnists actually jacked up the female byline numbers pretty significantly, as Maureen Down of the New York Times and Kathleen Parker of the Washington Post together accounted for about a third of all the female-penned pieces). In my very informal survey, I found that male voices outnumbered female ones almost five to one – more than 80 pieces by men, fewer than 20 by women. Notably, a substantial number of women's pieces were co-authored with a man. |
| The problem certainly isn't that there aren't any women working in national security and foreign policy. It's true that women are underrepresented in the national security and foreign policy worlds, making up less than 30% of senior positions in key foreign policy institutions. But "few" doesn't mean "none", and there are substantial numbers of brilliant women doing important work. | The problem certainly isn't that there aren't any women working in national security and foreign policy. It's true that women are underrepresented in the national security and foreign policy worlds, making up less than 30% of senior positions in key foreign policy institutions. But "few" doesn't mean "none", and there are substantial numbers of brilliant women doing important work. |
| The Obama administration has appointed a few of them, from National Security Advisor Susan Rice to US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power to Janet Napolitano (former Homeland Security Secretary) to Lisa Monaco (chief counterterrorism advisor) to Hillary Clinton. Dozens of other women have held prominent positions in government, at think tanks and in academia, including Anne-Marie Slaughter, Condoleezza Rice, Fran Townsend, Michele Flournoy, Heather Hurlburt, Isobel Coleman and Jolynn Shoemaker. Women are writing about national security and foreign policy around the internet – Katie Drummond, Diana Wueger, Zainab Al-Suwaij, Nora Bensahel, Anna Therese Day, Juliette Kayyem, Michelle Shephard. | The Obama administration has appointed a few of them, from National Security Advisor Susan Rice to US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power to Janet Napolitano (former Homeland Security Secretary) to Lisa Monaco (chief counterterrorism advisor) to Hillary Clinton. Dozens of other women have held prominent positions in government, at think tanks and in academia, including Anne-Marie Slaughter, Condoleezza Rice, Fran Townsend, Michele Flournoy, Heather Hurlburt, Isobel Coleman and Jolynn Shoemaker. Women are writing about national security and foreign policy around the internet – Katie Drummond, Diana Wueger, Zainab Al-Suwaij, Nora Bensahel, Anna Therese Day, Juliette Kayyem, Michelle Shephard. |
| Many of these women are speaking and writing about Syria, yet the media narrative centers the opinions and voices of male commentators. And actual Syrian women who may have something to say? Or female Middle East experts who live in the region or are from there? Forget about it. | Many of these women are speaking and writing about Syria, yet the media narrative centers the opinions and voices of male commentators. And actual Syrian women who may have something to say? Or female Middle East experts who live in the region or are from there? Forget about it. |
| The dearth of female voices on Syria and on national security and foreign policy generally isn't caused by a lack of female experts. It's a combination of problems: the journalistic and national security boys' network; the assumption that national security is a "hard" issue dominated by men; the reading of authority and intelligence into the male voice; and female (and particularly liberal female) insecurity and hesitancy to discuss anything on which we are don't believe ourselves to be experts. | The dearth of female voices on Syria and on national security and foreign policy generally isn't caused by a lack of female experts. It's a combination of problems: the journalistic and national security boys' network; the assumption that national security is a "hard" issue dominated by men; the reading of authority and intelligence into the male voice; and female (and particularly liberal female) insecurity and hesitancy to discuss anything on which we are don't believe ourselves to be experts. |
| That media bylines are disproportionately male is a well-documented fact. Female bylines are particularly absent in legacy media pieces about the economy, international politics, social action and security. Part of that is the narrow and cyclical world of opinion journalism: op-ed writers are more likely to be printed in a prestigious publication if their work has been printed in a prestigious publication before, so the guy who wrote a couple one-offs about the Middle East for an impressive publication five years ago probably has a better shot at publishing an op/ed tomorrow than the woman who has studied the issues and worked in the region for a decade but hasn't ever published. Men have dominated journalism and the international politics space for a long time; their publishing legacies make it easier for them to be published going forward. | That media bylines are disproportionately male is a well-documented fact. Female bylines are particularly absent in legacy media pieces about the economy, international politics, social action and security. Part of that is the narrow and cyclical world of opinion journalism: op-ed writers are more likely to be printed in a prestigious publication if their work has been printed in a prestigious publication before, so the guy who wrote a couple one-offs about the Middle East for an impressive publication five years ago probably has a better shot at publishing an op/ed tomorrow than the woman who has studied the issues and worked in the region for a decade but hasn't ever published. Men have dominated journalism and the international politics space for a long time; their publishing legacies make it easier for them to be published going forward. |
| Columns about so-called "hard" political issues like security and foreign affairs also require a commanding editorial voice. Cultural conditioning leads us to perceive women's words as less authoritative, and women themselves as less competent than men – and our perceptions shift based on a name alone. One Yale study found that science researchers evaluated candidates with female names on their resumes as less competent and less hirable than male-named candidates with identical experience; the male candidates were offered higher salaries and more career mentoring. It wasn't intentional sexism, and the science faculty always had clearly-articulated gender-neutral reasons for why they preferred the male candidate. But it's not a stretch to suggest that we likely read a level of competence, intelligence and authority into op-eds with male bylines that female writers are not afforded. | Columns about so-called "hard" political issues like security and foreign affairs also require a commanding editorial voice. Cultural conditioning leads us to perceive women's words as less authoritative, and women themselves as less competent than men – and our perceptions shift based on a name alone. One Yale study found that science researchers evaluated candidates with female names on their resumes as less competent and less hirable than male-named candidates with identical experience; the male candidates were offered higher salaries and more career mentoring. It wasn't intentional sexism, and the science faculty always had clearly-articulated gender-neutral reasons for why they preferred the male candidate. But it's not a stretch to suggest that we likely read a level of competence, intelligence and authority into op-eds with male bylines that female writers are not afforded. |
| Unlike a comparison of identical resumes, writing is a craft, and its evaluation subjective. There are many hard-and-fast rules of what makes something "good," but there's a lot of personal opinion in there too. That can elicit even further unconscious gender bias. Other industries have sought to challenge unintentional sexism by removing gender from the equation. For example, orchestras around the globe began using blind auditions in the 1970s and 80s to screen new members; that method significantly increased the number of female musicians earning orchestral seats. It wasn't that male musicians were better; it was that their being male led listeners to perceive them as better. Writing isn't all that different. | Unlike a comparison of identical resumes, writing is a craft, and its evaluation subjective. There are many hard-and-fast rules of what makes something "good," but there's a lot of personal opinion in there too. That can elicit even further unconscious gender bias. Other industries have sought to challenge unintentional sexism by removing gender from the equation. For example, orchestras around the globe began using blind auditions in the 1970s and 80s to screen new members; that method significantly increased the number of female musicians earning orchestral seats. It wasn't that male musicians were better; it was that their being male led listeners to perceive them as better. Writing isn't all that different. |
| We're also accustomed to seeing men in positions of power. Men account for 479 of the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. They make up 82% of the US Congress, 86% of executive officers and 84% of corporate board members. Men tend to be promoted on the basis of potential, whereas women earn promotions through accomplishments. To put that another way, women have to prove their abilities, while men are assumed to have them. As men move up the ranks, they're seen as more likable. For women who enter positions of power, it's the opposite. We see examples all the time in powerful women who are routinely imaged as nagging or shrewish or insufficiently nice -- Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, Stephanie Cutter. | We're also accustomed to seeing men in positions of power. Men account for 479 of the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. They make up 82% of the US Congress, 86% of executive officers and 84% of corporate board members. Men tend to be promoted on the basis of potential, whereas women earn promotions through accomplishments. To put that another way, women have to prove their abilities, while men are assumed to have them. As men move up the ranks, they're seen as more likable. For women who enter positions of power, it's the opposite. We see examples all the time in powerful women who are routinely imaged as nagging or shrewish or insufficiently nice -- Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, Stephanie Cutter. |
| Like the scientists who sincerely believed they had valid reasons for choosing the male candidates over the female ones and the members of audition panels who sincerely believed they had valid reasons for selecting male musicians, editors no doubt sincerely believe they're simply selecting "better" op/eds from male writers. Readers no doubt sincerely believe they take written words at face value and evaluate articles fairly based on content and not bylines. | Like the scientists who sincerely believed they had valid reasons for choosing the male candidates over the female ones and the members of audition panels who sincerely believed they had valid reasons for selecting male musicians, editors no doubt sincerely believe they're simply selecting "better" op/eds from male writers. Readers no doubt sincerely believe they take written words at face value and evaluate articles fairly based on content and not bylines. |
| A sincere belief, though, is not a fact. | A sincere belief, though, is not a fact. |
| Reacting logically to a culture that views us as inherently less intelligent and authoritative, women are less likely to see ourselves as adequately qualified to comment or pontificate. I suspect that's why you see so many more female bylines on articles about gender, family and women's issues – at least we know we're experts on our own lives. | Reacting logically to a culture that views us as inherently less intelligent and authoritative, women are less likely to see ourselves as adequately qualified to comment or pontificate. I suspect that's why you see so many more female bylines on articles about gender, family and women's issues – at least we know we're experts on our own lives. |
| I watch every day as male political journalists wax on about US intervention in Syria while my female peers stay quiet, feeling that they aren't well-informed enough to publicly voice an opinion despite having done the same reading and research, watched the same speeches and covered the same issues. It's not just in publications, but in social situations as well. In an New York Times Style Section piece decidedly not about gender or politics but rather covering the last weekends of summer in Montauk, a popular Hamptons summer vacation town for "youngish" New York City dwellers, the Times reporter described the scene at a trendy restaurant and bar thusly: | I watch every day as male political journalists wax on about US intervention in Syria while my female peers stay quiet, feeling that they aren't well-informed enough to publicly voice an opinion despite having done the same reading and research, watched the same speeches and covered the same issues. It's not just in publications, but in social situations as well. In an New York Times Style Section piece decidedly not about gender or politics but rather covering the last weekends of summer in Montauk, a popular Hamptons summer vacation town for "youngish" New York City dwellers, the Times reporter described the scene at a trendy restaurant and bar thusly: |
| Women in heels and their last white dresses of the season teetered around the whitewashed interior and did their best not to bump their hair on low-hanging beams onto which someone had thoughtfully stenciled "Watch your head." | Women in heels and their last white dresses of the season teetered around the whitewashed interior and did their best not to bump their hair on low-hanging beams onto which someone had thoughtfully stenciled "Watch your head." |
| Men, some in madras shorts and long-sleeve button-downs, others wearing deep V-neck T-shirts, were drinking, taking selfies and discussing whether or not the United States should intervene in Syria and the ethics of drone warfare. Then again, it was very loud, and it was difficult to know exactly what everyone was saying. | Men, some in madras shorts and long-sleeve button-downs, others wearing deep V-neck T-shirts, were drinking, taking selfies and discussing whether or not the United States should intervene in Syria and the ethics of drone warfare. Then again, it was very loud, and it was difficult to know exactly what everyone was saying. |
| That snapshot – women teetering, men talking about Syria – may itself be the product of some sexist assumptions (apparently women don't talk?), but in terms of the gender divide in social discussions of politics isn't all that off. Men aren't more informed or opinionated than women, but men are brought up to believe that their opinions are valid, important and necessary, and that they should share them. They're rewarded for that behavior. Women, on the other hand, know that outspoken and opinionated women are considered socially uncouth. | That snapshot – women teetering, men talking about Syria – may itself be the product of some sexist assumptions (apparently women don't talk?), but in terms of the gender divide in social discussions of politics isn't all that off. Men aren't more informed or opinionated than women, but men are brought up to believe that their opinions are valid, important and necessary, and that they should share them. They're rewarded for that behavior. Women, on the other hand, know that outspoken and opinionated women are considered socially uncouth. |
| There are a few ways for media organizations to push back. Women in editorial roles and positions of power certainly helps. A gender-equal byline goal and weekly or monthly evaluations of bylines challenges perceptions of equality with hard numbers. Resources like SheSource and The Women's Room connect journalists with female experts on a variety of issues. | There are a few ways for media organizations to push back. Women in editorial roles and positions of power certainly helps. A gender-equal byline goal and weekly or monthly evaluations of bylines challenges perceptions of equality with hard numbers. Resources like SheSource and The Women's Room connect journalists with female experts on a variety of issues. |
| Women are here, working on and writing about national security and foreign policy. We've earned our place at the table. Now we just need media platforms to cede some space for our voices. | Women are here, working on and writing about national security and foreign policy. We've earned our place at the table. Now we just need media platforms to cede some space for our voices. |