The New Soft War on Women

Is the battle of the sexes really over? Or has it simply gone underground?

For the first time in U.S. history, women make up half the educated labor force and are earning the majority of advanced degrees. It should be the best time ever for them, and yet, fifty years after the Equal Pay Act, women are still earning only seventy-seven cents for every dollar men make, and the worst thing is that many women don't have a clue. In large part this is due to the 'end of men' message they're being fed the notion that women are now on top while men have all but dropped out of the race. Do women today really have it made?

In The New Soft War on Women, Caryl Rivers and Rosalind C. Barnett, respected experts on gender issues and the psychology of women, argue that an insidious war of subtle biases and barriers us currently being waged that continues to marginalize women. Although women have made huge strides in attaining higher education and employment opportunities in recent years, these gains have nottranslated into money and influence. Consider the following facts- Female financial analysts take in 35 percent less than male financial analysts, and female chief executives earn 25 percent less than male executives. Even in female-dominated occupations, men earn more. In the twenty most common occupations for women for women, including teaching, nursing, and secretarial work, men outearn women in all but two.

In this eye-opening book, Rivers and Barnett offer women the real facts as well as tools for combating the subtle 'soft war' tactics that are preventing them from advancing in their careers. With women now central to the economy, determining to a large degree whether it thrives or stagnates, this is one war no onecan afford for them to lose.