Short Response 11/2

     All of the articles touched upon both prevalent societal gender and class issues. To synthesize their main arguments, all of the women personally experienced the downfalls of patriarchy and how difficult it is to be a working woman with a child. Critenden discussed the vulnerable position women are put in when they want to become a mother and still work. She discussed a woman who worked for Aetna, who had a very successful career and received several promotions and raises. However, she was subsequently fired after asking for a more flexible work schedule due to fact that she was pregnant. The women decided to sue Aetna but ended up losing the case and later appeals. The people on the jury felt that a women wouldn't be able to successfully handle her work load and the responsibilities of a child. I found Rangel's article particularly interesting and unique. Her experience at an elite institution such as Smith was extremely trying , specifically because she had children. As she was telling her story it dawned on me all the extra responsibilities she had due to being a single mother. Her time at Smith was spent worrying and rationalizing all of her decisions. Similarly, Hakim- Dyce found herself in a bad position when she had to pay for her expenses. Her options were very limited because she was under-qualified and thus couldn't obtain a good position. Dyce seriously contemplated becoming a stripper to help pay all of her bills. She tried to justify it by thinking that if men wanted to spend all of their money to see girls get naked then they were the stupid ones. However, as time passed she realized that this was not the lifestyle she wanted.
    After reading all of these articles I realized the desperate and almost hopeless situation some women are put in. To this day women make significantly less than their male counterparts, yet the media makes it seem like everything is for the most part equal. These women had to make extreme sacrifices in order to survive. Many times, government agencies only demoralized and looked down upon these women. It is clear that there aren't many places women can go to get help and if there are it is a long and strenuous process to be approved. Our country as a whole needs to be more proactive in assuring that people who truly need help have some resource to obtain it, or else these inequalities will continue to be reproduced.