The XX Factor: What women really think.

Americans Are Pro-Paychecks, Anti-Dirty Houses

A post from DoubleX blogger Amanda Marcotte:

Maria Shriver and the Center for American Progress have released a report about women and work that manages both to be interesting and not at all surprising. The report perfectly captures Americans' contradictory attitudes about women working: We're fans of the money women bring in, but we don't show a strong willingness to make the necessary adjustments at home so that women's unpaid labor isn't as necessary ... (Read more in DoubleX.)

The Havoc Wreaking He-cession

In Foreign Policy, Reihan Salam is predicting that male dominance will be a casualty of the economic downturn (or the he-cession, as he calls it, since more men than women are being laid off). He writes:

The great shift of power from males to females is likely to be dramatically accelerated by the economic crisis, as more people realize that the aggressive, risk-seeking behavior that has enabled men to entrench their power—the cult of macho—has now proven destructive and unsustainable in a globalized world.

What will follow is not a femitopia, but rather ... (Read more in Double X.)

Woody Allen Summers in Cincinnati

Obama 2012 watchers are all aflutter over yesterday’s news that the president’s approval rating in bellwether swing state Ohio has dipped to just 49%, down from 62% in May ... (Read more at DoubleX.com.)

Lipstick Level Lunacy

You know, there's something about the whole lipstick level concept that doesn't make any sense to me. The theory is that lipstick is an economic indicator; supposedly during economic downturns, women will purchase comparatively cheap lipsticks rather than buy high-end frocks. But the whole thing seems like fuzzy logic to me. Either that, or from years of freelancing, every trend piece of this sort reads more blatantly as evidence of a reporter's ability to sell a so-called story that may or may not exist than evidence of an actual, real-world trend. What is more than evident if one surveys the latest fashion "trend" stories is that 21st century women are completely schizophrenic. Flats are in. Actually, high-heels are the new black. They're bringing sexy back. Wait, no, in fact it's really all about the return of masculinity by way of the '80s power-shoulder. Tie me up; tie me down. What's the word for what comes after postfeminist? Schizofeminism? The real trend piece is about whatever internal conflict is raging within women, not what's going on economically.

Who's Doing the Second Shift in Recession Land?

Men, Women, and Layoffs

On Sunday, the NYT business section ran a piece called "Why the Sting of Layoffs Can Be Sharper for Men." It's got some not particularly evidence-based generalizations about how men are harder hit because their self-esteem is based on professional success more than women's. Also more interesting, if anecdotal, reports from psychiatrists that increasing numbers of men are coming in to talk about anxiety and depression related to the economic crisis. I'm skeptical about the broad claim that men feel the pain of layoffs more than women do. But I'm curious about how the downturn is playing out along gender lines. Are male egos collapsing because of the crisis? Are female ones? How are women supporting their laid-off or unemployed male partners, and how are men supporting the jobless women in their lives? If any of you readers have a story along these lines that you're up for sharing, please send it to doublex.slate@gmail.com. E-mail may be quoted in Slate unless the writer stipulates otherwise.

When Economies Are Tight, Virgins Go to Auction

Regarding the news that Natalie Dylan, a 22-year-old women's studies major, is selling her virginity to the highest bidder (currently, the top bid is at $3.7 million), Samantha wondered how selling one's virginity is, as Dylan claims, "empowering." For the expert opinion on the tricky relationship between sex, money, and empowerment, I asked Audacia Ray, a former sex worker and author of Naked on the Internet: Hookups, Downloads, and Cashing in on Internet Sexploration, to weigh in with her thoughts on the matter. 

I'm a former sex worker (the put-myself-through-graduate-school kind) and a vocal advocate for sex worker's rights and the ability of women to make their own choices about their bodies and sexual expression both inside and outside of the sex industry. That said, I find the trope of "empowerment" a bit tiresome and oversimplified. The spectrum of conversations about female sexuality (commercial or otherwise) doesn't seem to actually be much of a spectrum: women can either be empowered or degraded about their sexuality. When I get asked about whether or not I felt empowered by my work in the sex industry, I always feel compelled to say yes, but I say it without much conviction. If I don't affirm that I'm empowered, that means I've been a victim—or that I'm about to hit the inquirer with a heady dose of semantics.

Jobs in the sex industry are often seen in a roughly hierarchical way by both people inside and outside the business, depending on the degree of nudity and sexual interaction and the amount of money one gets paid for the work. Stripping and modeling (sometimes even including porn) work seem to be increasingly acceptable, perhaps because they give the impression of flirting with naughtiness while the woman doing it is a good girl in bad circumstances. The stigma and the social price of crossing the line into sex for money is a bit different—and also viewed differently by law enforcement. The hierarchy tends to be enforced by "Never would I ever..." statements that sometimes enforce norms that aren't even all that logical but are driven by emotional reactions.

I'm all for people making money off of their assets and a bit of cunning marketing. If a girl can get $3.7 million for her virginity, why the hell not? But let's also step back a minute and separate sex and money. When the sex industry gets discussed, it's usually the sex part that is emphasized. The notion of empowerment that gets kicked around is solely about the sex act, not about the money. Maybe this is part of a cultural seduction that people want to buy into: the idea of the prostitute who is compelled to do her work because she's brimming over with sexual desire and the money is a nice side benefit. But the reality is that most sex workers, like other members of the work force, do their jobs because they get paid. So if you want to talk empowerment, maybe it's time to talk about money, too. Do Wall Street workers feel empowered? Well, maybe not in this economy.

The Economic Terror Dream

For most of us, the 20s aren't the most financially stable decade of our lives. But it doesn't seem that bad, since we've been instilled with the sense that there is a way to practice what E.J preaches, to "figure out how to dive in and turn your education and talents into your own income." Eventually the instability will be a charming memory, and you'll be nostalgic for a simpler era when you ate scrambled eggs for dinner multiple times a week.

Except if you're in your 20s right now, you're likely to toggle your browser from your slim checking account to front page headlines not just about staggeringly high unemployment rates and the collapse of the financial system as we know it, but also the slow death of various industries, perhaps including your own. Building a sustainable career in certain industries starts to seem less achievable, even one that's not the sparkling husband-supported freelance romp we're all debating. So, on the one hand, the Samantha scenario seems coldly practical. But, as June aptly pointed out, it's also a delightful fantasy, one that seems tailor-made to counteract the scary front-page news these days. If, as Susan Faludi has written, that after 9/11 we collectively fantasized about cowboys and supermen, retreating to old-fashioned gender roles to comfort our terror, what fantasy are we going to cook up in this depression, when we're confronted not with death but with financial ruin? Maybe it's just that stable guy or girl who is just as much checkbook-affirming as life-affirming.

And of course, these fantasies aren't just coming from our isolated brains, as my sister pointed out in an e-mail to me this morning, "In romantic comedies that the heroine is always somewhat artsy or in publishing and 'independent' and powerful, but then the guy comes in and typically one of the plotlines involves her professionally and personally dissolving." There will probably be lots more film moments like the odd Mama Mia! one Dana noticed coming up, since naturally we love to see comfort fare when we're down. But what will be really interesting will be to look in ten years or so, when the Gen Y-ers have made more of our choices. Dahlia's right that it all seems a little theoretical now for most women my age (the Mr. Howell fantasy is at least in part a way of buying mental space and allowing yourself time to work on your career without making money your main motivation) but philosophy shapes practice. So how will the scars of this scary financial moment affect the way we structure our careers and marriages? Or will they—am I overblowing this?

What Price Beauty?

Times Richest and Neediest

Last week, we put out a call for a parody of the "Feel the Crunch" series  in the New York Times. Here is our favorite, by Elizabeth Lazar of Chicago:

"As the Recession Worsens, Rich Teens Show Character"

This fall, Morgan Wellington began her senior year of high school much like the other privileged students at Kenilworth High, on Chicago's suburban North Shore. Her parents were providing a weekly allowance to cover basics such as a spa regimen, bento-box lunches and gas to cover the strenuous 8-block school commute.

But in October, Morgan's dad lost his top-paying job managing his father's investment firm, Wellington Fund in the Loop. He was forced to take a lower-ranking executive position with more hours and less pay at the nearby Wellington Family Foundation. Morgan's life changed almost overnight.

First to go was the school morning spa ablutions, a daily package which included black-soap body cleansing, steam room, deluge of freezing water, Spanish-whirlpool followed by a brief massage.

"I had to start showering at home twice a week," said Morgan, who is 17. "At first it was really hard and my pore size almost doubled, but now I'm totally used to it. I've gotten really good with the exfoliator."

It is impossible to quantify how many hyper-affluent parents have pruned allowances in recent months—or how many of their offspring, in turn, have adjusted their lifestyles to meet the stringent terms of the newly pared budgets. But interviews with dozens of North Shore teenagers, parents and teachers suggest that many youngsters in the area seem to have developed a new work ethic as the economic crisis that has jeopardized their parents' investments has also led to reduced spending money for after-school shopping sprees at the local Marc Jacobs or study-group hangs at the Michelin 5 corner spot up the street.

"I told my friends just to meet me in my home library wing for exam crams because by the end of the week I was starving and couldn't afford anything on the menu except the veal carpaccio appetizer. I was embarrassed at first, but my friends have been really supportive."

OMG: Katie Couric Interviews Sarah Palin

Here's the interview on the economy, and here's the interview on foreign policy. Total viewing time is about eight minutes.

I am speechless. She cannot possibly be this uninformed. You absolutely have to see these for yourself to believe them. These are self-mocking; they could be SNL appearances. Tina Fey couldn't possibly improve on this.

This is why they've been keeping her under wraps.

Opting Out vs. Being Forced Out

The New York Times just posted an interesting story about women dropping out of the work force. It says that many economists now think that the supposed "opt out" movement has less to do with women's alleged desire to leave the work force and more to do with America's economic downturn. On Tuesday (tomorrow), a new congressional study will lay out all the data. As the Times reporter summarizes it:

The women, in sum, are for the first time withdrawing from work with the same uniformity as men in their prime working years. Ninety-six percent of the men held jobs in 1953, their peak year. That is down to 86.4 percent today. But while men are rarely thought of as dropping out to run the household, that is often the assumption when women pull out.

As Heather Boushey, an economist who's written a lot about the opt-out movement, observes, women who lose their jobs and can't get another say that they're staying home with the kids—the implication being that saying so saves face. Whereas for a man that's not the case. Another economist observes that women's median wages have dropped since 2004. She notes that this is a relatively new experience for women in the work force—not since the 1970s has there been so prolonged a decline—perhaps making women more reluctant than their male peers to accept lower wages.