Hurrah for female employees of General Electric in Erie, Pennsylvania. A definite crack has been made in the glass ceiling with Senior U.S. District Judge Peter C. Dorsey's ruling that a recent class action suit filed in May may proceed. The claim of GE Transportation's chief counsel Lorene F. Schaefer is that General Electric pays female executives less and promotes them more slowly than men. Apparently the proverbial can of worms was opened when Schaefer was demoted after receiving consistent positive performance appraisals. She states that the case is about equality and getting through the glass ceiling.
Getting close is not enough for more that 1000 women throughout GE who are now able to proceed with their gender discrimination claims. As stated in the news article "The court's decision creates an important precedent for all women throughout corporate America!" Whoo, hooo........!!
You can access the complete article "Judge gives lawyer OK to sue GE" (January 25, 2008) at
http://www.goerie.com/
Barbara Ehrenreich is my new hero! Hurrah for her rant entitled "Bonfire of the Disney Princesses". You can read her recent speak-out at
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20071224/ehrenreich. She supports my claim regarding the mind altering effects of the media on our young girls' perceptions of themselves. Disney, she quotes, has saturated our society with a concept, a concept where the once thought of princess role models are really a "bunch of wusses".
Ehrenreich supports my research on the impact of childhood themes on our girls. This article stabs at the tales we market to our young. The princesses spend much of their time in captivity or a coma, waking only by the kiss of the prince. These female heroines have no ambitions, no marketable skills, and not too much brain power. Some do, however, show a penchant for cooking, cleaning and helplessness. To make matters worse, they ooze with a sexuality that would make a grown man wince. This manipulation must stop if we are ever going to raise healthy, independent and hearty females. I am all for the bonfire. In fact, I think I have a couple of Barbies I can toss on the heap!
