LET’S GET REAL – ECONOMISTS HAVE A WOMEN PROBLEM
BY LYNN PARRAMORE
COMMENTARY BY CHARLES SULKA
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This article is about economists’ “woman problem.” The bigger concern — especially at the Ivy League colleges, from what I hear — is many economists’ “boy problem.” This article focuses only on the former. (We really don’t like to talk about the latter, as it is unseemly.)
The woman who is at the center of this discussion, British economist Victoria Bateman, a fellow at Cambridge University, is a radical feminist who gives public presentations where she tries to convince the audience that women need to be taken seriously in economics … by speaking in the nude. One thing is certain: her style of presentation should get everyone’s attention. I fear her avant-garde approach to the subject might simply distract everyone in the room. Some in the audience — college-aged young men, in particular — might not hear a word she says. They may be riveted, but many will struggle to keep things in focus.
Like many women, Bateman wants men to respect her for her brain, not just her body. Apparently Bateman thinks the best way to be taken seriously nowadays is to be outlandish. And naked.
If you lack the intellectual prowess to impress the men in the economists’ old boy network, you sometimes have to resort to unconventional measures. When a woman wants to convince men that she is more than just a pretty face — that she has a brain and needs to be taken seriously — she can always do what any self-righteous feminist would do to overcome gender stereotypes — flash the boys her tits.
Some might complain that this isn’t true feminism. Gloria Steinem, for example, the chief spokesperson for feminists everywhere, would argue that to represent the feminist impulse a woman must be both naked and queer (not to mention vulgar & crude.)
Everyone loves an outlandish economist with a message. And what is this radical feminist economist’s message? Some new perspective on classic economic theory? Some brilliant insight into misunderstood fundamental principles? Some serious proposal for changing our focus from Godless materialism and economic exploitation in an effort to raise the level of the human spirit?
Naw. Her message (according to this review) is that women need to demand their rights. Like to right to be whores — to perform various services that Bateman refers to as ‘sex work.’ This may not solve all the world’s problems, but feminists believe it will allow women to get the respect they deserve, and to assume their rightful leadership roles in society. (Huh?)
In this, the post-modern age, I guess this is as close as we get to serious intellectual discourse … from feminists, anyway.
In this review, Lynn Parramore claims that Bateman “brings things back into focus.” She might be right. I really can’t wait to see (I mean hear) this woman give one of her presentations ( … on economics, is it?) I’ll even bring my opera glasses. Just to make sure I keep things in focus.
To be fair, Lynn Parramore is one of the most astute economists in the world today, and without doubt, one of the best writers in the field. Reportedly, she is a woman. Parramore is able to get her message across without taking off her clothes on stage. Occasionally, Parramore embraces this post-modernist strident feminism, which really does nothing to further her accomplishments in the field of economics, nor to bolster her reputation. Let’s get real here: this other female economist, Bateman, should be recognized for what she is — an embarrassment to all women, and women economists in particular.
Q: I wonder if this could be one reason why it seems that so many Rhodes scholars turn out to be so screwed-up?
(CHS 03-13-2020 1347 -0500 / 06-18-2022 0955 -0500)
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Let’s Get Real. Economists Have a Women Problem
Posted on March 8, 2020 by Jerri-Lynn Scofield
Jerri-Lynn here. Happy International Women’s Day! Other countries make a much bigger deal about this holiday than does the United States. Perhaps because we’re so evolved as to how we treat women. (HAHAHA!)
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URL OF ORIGINAL ARTICLE AT NAKED CAPITALISM (.COM):