Letters to the Editor
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taken aback
So here's an essentially harmless little article written about the illogic of blaming women for America's headlong rush into overwork. Sure, our working culture is a complicated thing, and you could write about the new robber barons, about how economics majors become less likely to contribute to charity as they become more exposed to business school philosophy, about the religion of leaner-and-meaner in regard to employees. You could write about a few thousand other factors, too.
I'm a little taken aback, though, at how this little article stating one obvious thing -- i.e., "it's silly to blame (female) employees who were entering a hostile workforce for not making it more hostile by demanding changes from their bosses; one might just as easily blame the (male) bosses for not making those changes themselves" -- has set off a kneejerk reaction of "CRUSH! the evil woman" from a few readers. I feel as though I've been thrown back to 1968. And let me tell you, that wasn't my favorite year. I hadn't realized there were quite that many over-sensitive anti-feminists out there. And now that I do, I'm going quietly away, because you're depressing me.