As I am posting this post much later than anticipated, I will extend your time until Saturday November 12th at 5pm (that being I said, I strongly recommend you do it soon as the chances are very high you will forget once Saturday rolls around!).
11/13/ UPDATE: Apparently the link did not work (thanks Candace!), so I have posted the entire column in the body of this post.
Blue Is the New Black
WASHINGTON
Women are getting unhappier, I told my friend Carl.
“How can you tell?” he deadpanned. “It’s always been whine-whine-whine.”
Why are we sadder? I persisted.
“Because you care,” he replied with a mock sneer. “You have feelings.”
Oh, that.
In the early ’70s, breaking out of the domestic cocoon, leaving their mothers’ circumscribed lives behind, young women felt exhilarated and bold.
But the more women have achieved, the more they seem aggrieved. Did the feminist revolution end up benefiting men more than women?
According to the General Social Survey, which has tracked Americans’ mood since 1972, and five other major studies around the world, women are getting gloomier and men are getting happier.
Before the ’70s, there was a gender gap in America in which women felt greater well-being. Now there’s a gender gap in which men feel better about their lives.
As Arianna Huffington points out in a blog post headlined “The Sad, Shocking Truth About How Women Are Feeling”: “It doesn’t matter what their marital status is, how much money they make, whether or not they have children, their ethnic background, or the country they live in. Women around the world are in a funk.”
(The one exception is black women in America, who are a bit happier than they were in 1972, but still not as happy as black men.)
Marcus Buckingham, a former Gallup researcher who has a new book out called “Find Your Strongest Life: What the Happiest and Most Successful Women Do Differently,” says that men and women passed each other midpoint on the graph of life.
“Though women begin their lives more fulfilled than men, as they age, they gradually become less happy,” Buckingham writes in his new blog on The Huffington Post, pointing out that this darker view covers feelings about marriage, money and material goods. “Men, in contrast, get happier as they get older.”
Buckingham and other experts dispute the idea that the variance in happiness is caused by women carrying a bigger burden of work at home, the “second shift.” They say that while women still do more cooking, cleaning and child-caring, the trend lines are moving toward more parity, which should make them less stressed.
When women stepped into male- dominated realms, they put more demands — and stress — on themselves. If they once judged themselves on looks, kids, hubbies, gardens and dinner parties, now they judge themselves on looks, kids, hubbies, gardens, dinner parties — and grad school, work, office deadlines and meshing a two-career marriage.
“Choice is inherently stressful,” Buckingham said in an interview. “And women are being driven to distraction.”
One area of extreme distraction is kids. “Across the happiness data, the one thing in life that will make you less happy is having children,” said Betsey Stevenson, an assistant professor at Wharton who co-wrote a paper called “The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness.” “It’s true whether you’re wealthy or poor, if you have kids late or kids early. Yet I know very few people who would tell me they wish they hadn’t had kids or who would tell me they feel their kids were the destroyer of their happiness.”
The more important things that are crowded into their lives, the less attention women are able to give to each thing.
Add this to the fact that women are hormonally more complicated and biologically more vulnerable. Women are much harder on themselves than men.
They tend to attach to other people more strongly, beat themselves up more when they lose attachments, take things more personally at work and pop far more antidepressants.
“Women have lives that become increasingly empty,” Buckingham said. “They’re doing more and feeling less.”
Another daunting thing: America is more youth and looks obsessed than ever, with an array of expensive cosmetic procedures that allow women to be their own Frankenstein Barbies.
Men can age in an attractive way while women are expected to replicate — and Restylane — their 20s into their 60s.
Buckingham says that greater prosperity has made men happier. And they are also relieved of bearing sole responsibility for their family finances, and no longer have the pressure of having women totally dependent on them.
Men also tend to fare better romantically as time wears on. There are more widows than widowers, and men have an easier time getting younger mates.
Stevenson looks on the bright side of the dark trend, suggesting that happiness is beside the point. We’re happy to have our newfound abundance of choices, she said, even if those choices end up making us unhappier.
A paradox, indeed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/20/opinion/20dowd.html?_r=1
I'll start by saying I really enjoyed Maureen Down's writing style. I found myself smiling and nodding my head in agreement, or shaking it in disagreement while reading this editorial, it was as if she was conversing with me about this topic face to face, instead of text to thoughts.
ReplyDeleteHer conversational, witty style captivates the readers attention and strongly formats her own voice and opinion without having to explicitly state her view. She begins the article with quotations from dialogue that she had with one of her peers. "“Because you care,” he replied with a mock sneer. “You have feelings.”..Oh, that." Her witty, conversation in this text really makes her voice stand out as if I was the one she was having the direct interaction with
Her subtle sarcasm also shapes her voice. While reading you can hear her monotone reply and unreadable facial expression. "We’re happy to have our newfound abundance of choices, she said, even if those choices end up making us unhappier...A paradox, indeed." Without talking to her I can understand the indirect meaning behind her diction, her conversational, witty, & sarcastic style really makes her voice stand out.
-Joseph Fiddmont
The first thing I noticed about the voice of the writer is her strong but subtle, "I'm always right" attitude. She uses a method that I sometimes utilize when I am purposefully trying to sound knowledgeable. Her use of complex and long-winded sentences loads the reader with an infinite amount of facts. This concept instantly persuades the reader because they are forced to believe these claims backed with stacks of evidence.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I noticed was her witty, slightly sarcastic voice. The dialogue in the beginning of the article, "Oh, that," was the first expression of her sarcasm. I could literally hear her voice as I read. Another was her use of metaphors, like when she referred to women with cosmetic procedures as "Frankenstein Barbies," made her voice stand out. Although she is very subtle with it, her voice is still dominant throughout the article.
-Sundae Holmes
Maureen creates her voice by using bold, strong, and rhetorical language. She states positions that may be disagreed upon by many, and several controversial issues. Maureen's voice is made by her ability and lack of fear to take risks. She is consistent and true to her style of writing.
ReplyDeleteThe way in which she continued to pose questions, made it appear as if she truly knew what she was talking about, even if she had lack of knowledge on the issue. Personally, I agreed with several issues she brought up including, many women have added stress due to their choice to balance college,kids,looks, marriage, as well as their careers.
The primary reason why Maureen's voice was so strongly heard,was due to the way in which she presented her argument, and her bold stance in voicing her opinions.
-Lorina Kegler
Through this article I can tell that Maurren Down is very witty sarcastic and strong through her straight forward approach towards the issue of why women are not as happy as men in this generation. I can also tell she's very strong with her article with her statement saying did the feminist revolution benefit women or men more. She's also bringing out the reason why many american women aren't married and how it's due to the fact that many of the women are obsessed with plastic surgery and how the women in America are fake and plastic. She uses the wittiness with her term Frankenstein Barbies with her straightforward approach.
ReplyDeleteMaureen I feel isn't afraid to speak her mind and isn't afraid to speak upon her opinions even if you agree with her or not.
Through reading this article I can instantly see that Maureen isn't afraid to say what she feels regardless if anyone disagrees. She also has a very strong and bold style to her writing using alot of rhetorical language and sarcasm with her writing style. Not only does Maureen show these things but her style of writing is also very conversational. I constantly felt as though we were having a conversation and her whole argument made me agree with her. She isn't afraid to say how she feels and to speak her mind.
ReplyDelete-Re'Nada Smith
Maureen Down is absolutely correct on what she stated about women and their lack of happiness, and I agree.
ReplyDeleteHer voice is very strong, she makes it seem as if she is actually talking to us in person as Joseph Fiddmont stated.
Her voice is clearly expressed through her writing, and this shows me as a reader that she is bold she gets straight to the point of what she wants to say.
When Maureen has that conversation in the beginning of the article with her friend Carl about why women are sadder, he replied by saying, “Because you care,” with a mock sneer. “You have feelings.” and she says, " Oh, that." That right there caught my attention because she was being witty and somewhat sarcastic. Her voice also paints a picture because when she said " Oh, that." I can imagine and picture how she said it.
- Tara Harris.
Dowds use of conversational language definetly contributes to her strong witty and sarcastic voice. Dowd jumps right into her article by opening with a simple one liner that begins dialougue:"Women are getting unhappier, I told my friend Carl.“How can you tell?” he deadpanned. “It’s always been whine-whine-whine.'"
ReplyDeleteIt's a little different to read a piece of literary work without a long, descriptive intro to "paint the scene/picture " of the author's opinion. Ms. Dowd uses the Toulmin Model, however where everything is not explicitly spelled out with Claim,, Clarification, Evidence and Warrant. Howver, Dowd's conversational form of writing makes it easier to find her argument. Ms Dowd definitley had my attention through her use of coversational and figurative language. She is bold in her writing and is not afraid to refer to women's feelings with the phrase, "Oh, that". Dowd provides lots of substantial evidence to support her claim, and still makes her article interesting to sift through by the use of metaphorical devices. "(Women) tend to attach to other people more strongly, beat themselves up more when they lose attachments, take things more personally at work and pop far more antidepressants. Dowd's witty and conversational form of writing are used to shape her strong, sarcastic, and witty voice.