Lesson 41: Girl Power

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Today I was reading an Time Magazine article by James Poniewozik and learned that more women earn college degrees and hold managerial positions than men. I had a proud "You go girl" moment until I started reading the rest of the article, which discussed the sparse presence of women in late night comedy shows.

Instead of celebrating the achievements of women, Poniewozik discussed the preference of men in late night comedy. Sure, he mentioned the success of women like Tina Fey, Amy Pohler and Chelsea Handler, but the bulk of the article talked about how late night TV still belongs to the men. Instead of experiencing a moment of girl power, I experienced a feeling of "who cares?"

Women have accomplished so much since 1920 when they just earned the right to vote. Sure, there's still a long way to go, but it seems to me that focusing on their shortcomings takes us back to where we were pre-Susan B. Anthony. It may seem completely un-feminist for me to say it, but I think we'd be better off just stepping back and realizing that no, women don't need to dominate every sector of work, home and play as long as we're given an equal opportunity to pursue success in those areas.

I believe that women naturally put enough pressure on themselves and challenge themselves to be the best that they can be in whatever they're doing. So rather than saying that modern women are now earning more college degrees and holding more managerial positions than men but they're still lacking in late night comedy, maybe Poniewozik would have been better of saying that women are now earning more college degrees and holding more managerial positions than men and stopping there.