Bitch cofounder is featured in this Time Magazine article. She discusses why she chose the name, "Bitch" and why the feminist essays focus on pop-culture.

Thirty-Five Percent of Female Workers Say They Are Paid Less Than Men In Their Workplace, CareerBuilder.com Survey Finds

Mars versus Venus is still in effect in the workplace, with female workers continuing to report gaps in pay and career advancement opportunities, according to a recent CareerBuilder.com survey. Thirty-five percent of women say they are paid less than male counterparts who have similar experiences and qualifications in their organizations, up from 31 percent in the company's 2003 survey. The CareerBuilder.com survey, "Men and Women at Work 2006" included more than 1,400 women and over 575 men working full-time.
Comparing age groups, younger female workers reported less instance of pay disparity at their employers. Thirty percent of female workers age 21 to 35 say they are paid less than equally qualified males. This compares to 35 percent of female workers in the 36 to 50 age bracket and 43 percent of female workers in the 51 to 65 age bracket.

"The perceived inequality women are experiencing in the workplace extends to career progress," said Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources at CareerBuilder.com. "Thirty-two percent of women report their employers offer less career advancement options to women than men. The good news is we are seeing more and more companies remedying recruitment, compensation and promotion practices to provide the same opportunities to all workers, regardless of gender and cultural background."

When asked to identify the cause for the disparity in pay and upper mobility, 27 percent of women attribute it to being less apt to schmooze with management. Twenty-one percent say management shows favoritism to the opposite sex while 10 percent point to seniority.

Men also reported a gender bias in pay levels and career advancement, but on a smaller scale. Eight percent of men say they are paid less than their female counterparts who have similar experience and qualifications and 15 percent say their employers afford women more career advancement opportunities in their organizations.

Survey Methodology
The CareerBuilder.com survey, "Men and Women at Work 2006," was conducted from February 21 to March 6, 2006. Methodology used to collect survey responses totaling more than 575 men and more than 1,400 women working full-time involved selecting a random sample of comScore Networks panel members. These Web Panel members were approached via an e-mail invitation, which asked them to participate in a short online survey. The results of this survey are statistically accurate to within +/- 2.61 percentage points for the women and +/- 4.08 percentage points for the men (19 times out of 20).

Discussion Topic:

1) She feels she lives life with the perspective of how things shouldn't be, while men just accept things as they are.

2) Is negativity realistic? Or are we are own road block?

I am working on another blog, For The Long Haul. I write about relationships, what makes them float - and what makes them sink. Check it out!

The facts are worse than we imagine. At least that is what I find whenever I come across articles like this one.

Skimming across the Chicagotribune.com headlines this morning, I noticed one that said, "More Women Say No To Menstruation. Period."

What do you think?

I'm not sure what I think about all this yet. Personally, I'm a little creeped out by products like 'Seasonale' that allow your period only four times/year. Actually, I'm creeped out by the idea of birth control all together. Although I am using the pill as my contraceptive currently.

I avoid genetically modified foods - so really I'm not surprised to see that I do not want to change the natural path of my body with birth control. But I cannot afford a baby right now, so I'm not considering going off the pill - like so many other women, it just isn't an option.

Now, I wouldn't dare disregard Margaret Sanger's pioneer efforts toward the contraceptive, and I would never say a full-time form of control should not be an option. I'm just saying it may not be for me.

How dare you call me 'annoying'.

How many times have you dealt with a boyfriend, girlfriend, friend, mother, father, classmate, teacher - calling you annoying, or scoffing at you when you are upset/frustrated with society?

Whether I am upset over the fact that America has re-elected George Bush, or the fact that talentless women are still clad in bikini's on the cover of every magazine - I still find that my boyfried, or whomever is annoyed with me for being annoyed.

God forbid I express myself or have emotions.

This isn't rage. This is a contemplated anger.

How annoying of me to turn over magazine covers in the "Express" line at the grocery store. "It is an EXPRESS line," after all. How dare I take an extra three seconds out of a stranger's, or my boyfriend's life, to cover something that should't be there in the first place. Something that continues the cycle that says, "it is okay to objectify and degrade women". That little girl's, teenage girl's, women and "goodies, but oldies" alike - should feel ugly, not good enough, or fat because PEOPLE magazine tells us everyday that we should.

And I say, "F*CK YOU."

I do not want to look at that crap. Because it makes me feel fat, ugly or less than? Maybe. Or for a better reason: I would like to see Beauty. I would like to see intelligence, creativity and imagination. I would like to share childlike bewilderment with everything that graces my eyes - and enjoy it all with that person waiting so patiently behind me in line. Because as it turns out, she could be a woman. And she probably wouldn't mind staring at a piece of artwork, or nothing at all, than some no-name-waste-of-time.

I'm riding the el with Tim and I look up. A creep-ass guy is leering at a girl inside the train. She is properly clad (as in "prim & proper") in a knee-length green skirt with a cute eyelet print and a denim white jacket. Her makeup is subtle, her hair pulled back in a curly bun, and she is reading a book. The reason I describe her is that, she was doing nothing to attract attention to her, in any way, especially a sexual one. I watched the man stare at the side of her face, eyes move down her neck adn to her barely showing kneecaps. She is completely unaware of the fact that this man is "checking her out."

From this point on, I will use the term "objectifying" in replace of "checking out"

Unfortunately, the creep-ass gets on the train. He goes right for the chair across from Tim and I. Darts his head to the side, nose but an inch from her hair and breathes in. The sniff wasn't too dramatic, there was no eye closing or gasps for breath - there was no poetry. The sniff was rather like that of a dog detected shit in his yard. His territory. His domain.

Snapped from my analysis he looked at me. I jolted from my safety seat directly into oncoming traffic. The creep-ass was now objectifying me. I closed me eyes, "Oh, God. Please make it stop. The blood-shot eyes slowly undressing me must be off the train when I re-open my eyes." I opened my eyes and matched his. Quickly looking away. I felt ashamed as soon as I looked away. He was winning. A battle was on - no other passenger on the train was aware of the show-down, not even my boyfriend snuggled into my arm.

To no avail I silently prayed that this man might even smile - show some sign of humanity. Some recognition that says, "I know you're human. I see you as more than an object, or a piece of meat."

I contemplated telling him to, "Fuck off." But then he would win even more. Then he'd have a voice to go with the fantasy slowly rolling in his sick mind.

Maybe he wasn't in the middle of a sick fantasy, but the part that disgusts me is that it was possible - that there was NOTHING I could do about it.

Instead of telling him off, I decided to collect all of my strength and better knowledge and confront him mentally. I would look him in the eyes, one last time and tell him exactly what I thought - that I was strong, and smart, and human. That he couldn't rape me. I wouldn't be victimized. He couldn't see me as something sexual.

But I lost. As I always do, as I always will.

*My friend Shannon and I were having a discussion yesterday about this type of situation. The daily run-in we have with men. Men who objectify us in a glance. It is as if we are raped everyday. And the worst part isn't the actual rape, it is the simple truth that we are absolutly helpless. Completely dehumanized.

I'm riding the el with Tim and I look up. A creep-ass guy is leering at a girl inside the train. She is properly clad (as in "prim & proper") in a knee-length green skirt with a cute eyelet print and a denim white jacket. Her makeup is subtle, her hair pulled back in a curly bun, and she is reading a book. The reason I describe her is that, she was doing nothing to attract attention to her, in any way, especially a sexual one. I watched the man stare at the side of her face, eyes move down her neck and to her barely showing kneecaps. She is completely unaware of the fact that this man is "checking her out."

From this point on, I will use the term "objectifying" in replace of "checking out"

Unfortunately, the creep-ass gets on the train. He goes right for the chair across from Tim and I. Darts his head to the side, nose but an inch from her hair and breathes in. The sniff wasn't too dramatic, there was no eye closing or gasps for breath - there was no poetry. The sniff was rather like that of a dog detecting shit in his yard. His territory. His domain.

Snapped from my analysis he looked at me. I was jolted from my safety seat directly into traffic. The creep-ass was now objectifying me. I closed me eyes, "Oh, God. Please make it stop. The blood-shot eyes slowly undressing me must be off the train when I re-open my eyes." I opened my eyes and matched his. Quickly looking away. I felt ashamed as soon as I looked away. He was winning. A battle was on - no other passenger on the train was aware of the show-down, not even my boyfriend snuggled into my arm.

To no avail I silently prayed that this man might even smile - show some sign of humanity. Some recognition that says, "I know you're human. I see you as more than an object, or a piece of meat."

I contemplated telling him to, "Fuck off." But then he would win even more. Then he'd have a voice to go with the fantasy slowly rolling in his sick mind.

Maybe he wasn't in the middle of a sick fantasy, but the part that disgusts me is that it was possible - that there was NOTHING I could do about it.

Instead of telling him off, I decided to collect all of my strength and better knowledge and confront him mentally. I would look him in the eyes, one last time and tell him exactly what I thought - that I was strong, and smart, and human. That he couldn't rape me. I wouldn't be victimized. He couldn't see me as something sexual.

But I lost. As I always do, as I always will.

***

My friend Shannon and I were having a discussion yesterday about this type of situation. The daily run-in we have with men. Men who objectify us in a glance. It is as if we are raped everyday. And the worst part isn't the actual rape, it is the simple truth that we are absolutly helpless. Completely dehumanized. And practically no one knows its happening.