The Truth About Women, Work, & the Pandemic
Plus: call for entries, classical liberal women in history, liberty gigs, & more
Has the COVID-19 pandemic seriously set back women in the workplace?
That's the narrative from politicians and a lot of scary sounding stories in the media. “In one year, the pandemic has put decades of the progress we have collectively made for women workers at risk," VP Kamala Harris said in February.
But the truth is more complicated—and nowhere near as dire as many have made it seem.
In the latest episode of our new video series, Feminists for Liberty founders #KatAndLiz talk about women, work, and the pandemic. How have workforce participation and unemployment numbers for men and women compared? Have school and business shutdowns been changing gender roles at home? Could shifts to telework be beneficial for working parents—especially working moms—in the long run? And if there's really a baby bust going on, why does it seem like every fifth woman we know is now pregnant?
P.S. Check out our previous episodes of our new Kat & Liz Talk About… series (with transcripts) here:
• Feminists for Liberty Explained
Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to stay up to date on future panels and videos. (And, as always, you can find us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, & Society6, too.)
Talk to us about libertarian feminism.
You've still got a few weeks left to submit to our short video contest, with a chance to win some awesome prizes, have your video seen by a great panel of industry professionals, and have your video screened at this summer's FreedomFest. We're looking for short (2 to 7 minutes) videos of all sorts that address libertarian feminist themes. Go here for more information on what we're looking for, what you can win, and how to enter.
Women's history through a libertarian feminist lens.
If you missed our March #F4LChats panel celebrating women's history month, never fear: you can now check out the whole thing on YouTube. Panelists Kaytlin Bailey, Jayme Lemke, and Paul Meany talk about early female philosophers, coverture laws & sexual purity, how lineage fears played a big role in restrictions on women's liberty, how urbanization and industrialization contributed to U.S. women's advancement, Rose Wilder Lane, Isabel Paterson, and more.
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What we've been reading, watching, & listening to lately
•Will feminism please stop calling the cops? "Certain categories of criminalized acts—those perceived as primarily harming women and girls—have been nearly immune from the spirit of criminal justice reform.”
• A 2010-2012 study on intimate partner violence "found that male respondents experienced reproductive coercion slightly more often than women at a 9.7 percent rate compared with 8.4 percent of women.” It also found that "“Contrary to prevailing notions of pregnant teens lacking contraceptive knowledge or being careless, researchers asking different questions found that men were flushing birth control pills down the toilet or forcing partners to get abortions.”
• California is going through a childcare crisis thanks to overregulation.
• Utah will start allowing jail inmates access to contraception.
• “Our aim with LILA Uruguay is to revindicate the original libertarian foundations of feminism. Sabrina and I found that there were many feminist groups speaking of capitalism and economic freedom as enemies of women, leaving many women feeling isolated and outcasted if they held different views. We provide women with an alternative to traditional feminist groups, one centered around the ideas of liberty.” — María José Fernandez, April LOLA of the Month
• Violent crime and property crime in Baltimore plummeted after the city stopped prosecuting people for prostitution, drug possession, and a range of other non-violent misdemeanor offenses.
• How would abortion access be affected if Roe v. Wade were overturned?
• Will at-home abortions make Roe v. Wade obsolete?
• “El Salvador is committing "gender violence" by criminalizing women with obstetric emergencies, human rights groups argued before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.” (NBC News)
• Sex trafficking panic and victim blaming follow the Atlanta massage parlor murders.
• “The SAFE TECH Act would fail to address harms and risk silencing marginalized communities," writes Cathy Reisenwitz.
• “President Joe Biden has promised to build upon Obama-era policies by allowing every transgender, intersex or nonbinary person the option to change their passport gender to X, rather than M or F, but it hasn't happened yet,” notes CNN.
• The city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, will become the second municipality in the country to legalize domestic partnerships between three or more people.
• Gabrielle Monroe, Bella Robinson and Kathryn Arielle: “A Conversation About Decriminalizing Sex Work” with Rod Graham. Watch a recording of the panel here.
• The Oldest Profession podcast talks to writer, teacher, and media-maker Tina Horn, creator of the sci-fi sex-rebel comic book series SfSx (Safe Sex).
• Lead with gratitude (Avens O’Brien has a new Substack newsletter!)
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