 |
|
|
|||||
Recently, New York Times opinion columnist Ross Douthat moderated a debate on the Interesting Times podcast between Helen Andrews and Leah Libresco Sargeant, two conservative critics of modern feminism. The podcast received major blowback, starting with (but not ending with) the fact that the original headline of the conversation was “Did Women Ruin the Workplace?” Quickly, after the predictable backlash hit, the headline was changed to “Did Liberal Feminism Ruin the Workplace?” But the diversion didn’t help the conversation’s case all that much. While the headline was softened to perhaps dress up the discussion as an urgent political issue, mostly, it felt like intellectualized sexisma debate about women’s rightswhen the real question should be, wait, why are they up for debate anyway? If you could make it through the whole podcast, good on you. In truth, the question “Did women ruin the workplace?” felt like it was just waiting for Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin, and Jane Fonda to burst through the office door and tie it to its desk chair. All About “Wokeness” Mainly, the debate revolved around wokeness. It started with Andrews, who recently wrote an article called The Great Feminization that criticizes women as being emotional and lacking logic, started talking about “wokeness” at work, and suggested that women are to blame for its presence in the office, noting that “the pathology in our institutions known as wokeness is distinctively feminine and feminized.” Andrews continued: “And that, in a very literal sense, our institutions have gone woke because there are more women in them than there used to be.” She also went on to talk about the uptick in sex scandals being reported, and how backward she finds it that we’re “suddenly” expected to “believe all women” regardless of how credible many of them can surely not be. The very boys club argument seemed to suggest that women in the workplace are complaining about innocent flirtations or, men just being men. For Andrews, the platform felt like a continuation of her article. She also talked about female toxicity, which she explained means things like gossiping, being unable to “deal with conflict directly,” and a host of other dated stereotypes she claimed are female traits. Sargeant pushed back on Andrews’ rhetoric several times, but she had her own troubling views about women in the workplace, too. Her take seemed to be more about the idea that no one should really expect total fulfillment at work, and if that’s the case, then women really shouldn’t bring their “woke feminism” ideas to work in the first place. “I think we make a mistake in seeing the workplace as the primary space we work out our cultural foibles,” Sergeant explained. Predictable Outrage The podcast did genuinely feel like it was better suited for an era when objectifying women at work was totally cool, a lack of DEI (another topic the guests railed into), and policies protecting women simply didn’t exist rather than an era where many are pushing to obliterate women’s rights in the office (and everywhere). Of course, like the overt sexism in even posing the question “Did Women Ruin the Workplace?”, the response has been just as direct. Almost instantly, the response pieces started circulating, critiquing, not just the host of the podcast, or its guest, but NYT for running such a clearly anti-woman article, which asked whether women ruined the workplace with all of their incessant needs, like to be viewed as equal human beings and all. In a Vanity Fair response piece, journalist Kenneal Patterson pressed that such a question is ludicrous in today’s world, and showcases fear around “the encroachment of liberal feminism in the workplace.” Patterson suggests that women are essentially being coerced into standards of womanhood dictated “by the patriarchy.” Patterson continued, “Women are losing the rights to their bodies, dignities, and beliefs every day. Starting an article with the headline Did Liberal Feminism Ruin the Workplace? does nothing more than appeal to those who try to keep lower-income women oppressed and drive young people into a tradwife future that keeps them caged.” On X, the podcast is being slammed, too. In a reshare of the article, X user and author Jess Davies wrote, “Dunno, I think the men who created hostile working environments through sexual harassment, sexist behaviours, unfair promotions and being inconsiderate of basic needs like maternity, childcare and womens health ruined the workplace.”Davies added, “But sure, its womens fault for speaking up.” Who did women ruin the workplace for? Surely, there may be a ton of people who do believe that women have ruined the workplace simply by being in them and demanding to be respected and treated fairly. So, a better question, perhaps, would be, who did they ruin it for? Surely, not their employers because in many regards, women are killing it at work. While glaring pay gaps still exist, women are outpacing men in terms of education, they hold an ever-rising share of high paying occupations, and, according to recent findings, are often held to higher standards than men in CEO roles, too. And while the tradwife trope may be preferred by men and certain groups of women, most modern women want to work. In fact, labor force participation has been rising for young women at the same time it is falling for young men. Women surely may have complicated the workplace for those who are worried about women getting ahead, who fear diversity, or who don’t want the boys club to change. As far as ruining it goes, were still waiting for the case to be made.
Category:
E-Commerce
Tesla is getting into the rental car market. Drivers can now rent a Tesla in two Southern California locationsSan Diego and Costa Mesafor three to seven days, starting at $60 daily, according to Electrek. Tesla will be renting, not leasing its EVs, and plans to continue rolling out additional U.S. locations starting this month. Fast Company has reached out to Tesla for comment. The news comes as the electric vehicle (EV) maker looks for new ways to head off further declines in U.S. sales following the expiration of its federal tax credits, and comes amid continued backlash against the company for CEO Elon Musks role in the U.S. government, coupled with growing competition in the EV market. Those federal EV tax credits of up to $7,500 expired on October 1, after President Donald Trump signed his One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) into law. Each Tesla rental will include the option for supervised Full Self-Driving and Supercharging, at no extra cost, and as incentive to buy, customers will a receive a $250 credit if they purchase a model within a week, Electrek reported. Shares of Tesla, Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA) were trading up over 4% in midday trading on Monday. Shares of rental car company Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. (HTZ) were down nearly 3% at the time of this writing in the aftermath of its recent quarterly earnings report. The car rental giant had purchased a fleet of Teslas to increase its EV offerings, but has been selling them as demand decreased, along with resale value. The news comes just days after shareholders approved a controversial pay package for CEO Elon Musk worth up to nearly $1 trillion in compensation, and as a head of Tesla’s ailing Cybertruck business announced he was leaving Tesla following the company’s recall of some 63,000 Cybertrucks due to their bright front lights, per the Associated Press. A look at the numbers shows Tesla’s third quarter earnings missed analyst expectations, even while it reported $28.1 billion in revenue, up 12% from the previous year. Earnings per share (EPS) came in at 50 cents versus an expected 54 cents. The company has reported year-over-year revenue declines the two previous quarters.
Category:
E-Commerce
Think. Create. Change. These three verbs are the driving force behind the World Changing Ideas Summit, a first-of-its-kind event created in partnership with Fast Company and Johns Hopkins University (JHU). This November 19 at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center in Washington, D.C., the World Changing Ideas Summit will convene academics and senior business leaders for a day of immersive, thought-provoking experiences designed to advance Americas innovation ecosystem. From dynamic panels to interactive innovation showcases to hands-on breakout sessions, the World Changing Ideas Summit aims to go beyond dialogue and inspire action. “The World Changing Ideas Summit is a wholly new kind of event: a partnership between two very different organizations, both known for their commitment to innovation, coming together to explore the near future through the ideas they’re most excited about, says Brendan Vaughan, editor-in-chief of Fast Company. The World Changing Ideas Summit is modeled after Fast Companys annual World Changing Ideas list, which celebrates the businesses and organizations developing creative solutions to the most pressing issues of our time. Paired with Johns Hopkins University’s renowned history of scientific discoveries, the World Changing Ideas Summit stands as a dynamic partnership between two of the most innovative forces in media and academic research, focusing on transformative advancements in healthcare, space exploration, and physical AI.As we celebrate our 150-year anniversary, Johns Hopkins is doubling down on our commitment to improving lives by bringing the benefits of research to the world, said Cybele Bjorklund executive director of the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center. This summit provides a fresh vision and venue to bolster America’s powerful innovation ecosystem, rooted in our drive to forge stronger connections between government, universities and the private sector.” The World Changing Ideas Summit features a mix of JHU faculty and World Changing Ideas honorees including Akhila Kosaraju, cofounder and CEO of Phare Bio; Jordan Shuff, research engineer at the Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute; Hongquan Li, cofounder and CEO of Cephla; Dennis Woodfork, mission area executive for National Security Space at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory; and more who will unpack key topics from how to use star-mapping technology to analyze cancerous tumors to examining national security implications in space to how AI-powered predictive models are evolving professional sports, and much more. With spotlights on how these innovations can strengthen the health, well-being, and flourishing of the world (and beyond), the World Changing Ideas Summit will highlight the full extent of what is possible when government, academia, and business industries join forces. Visit the World Changing Ideas Summit event page to register for the event and stay up-to-date with the agenda and list of speakers.
Category:
E-Commerce
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||