In the Way of Women: Men's Resistance to Sex Equality in Organizations

by Cynthia Cockburn

How are men responding to feminism? In particular, at work dealing with the challenge to their power and privilege represented by positive action for sex equality? The 1980s saw many organizations, from major companies to left-wing local councils, take action to improve women's chances. The research on which this book is based evaluates the part of men in the equality process. The author demonstrates the social mechanisms through which women's aspirations for change are thwarted and draws lessons from experience for feminist activism in organizations in the 1990s.

264 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Saskia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bit outdated now, but still highly relevant in many ways. I loved her approach of comparing four different organizational settings in which "equal opportunity policies" were implemented and resisted, and would have enjoyed an even more systematic discussion of differences and similarities across these organizations.

Overall, I found the theoretical discussion of the intersections between capitalist and patriarchal power relations particularly fascinating - this is a lens often missing from contemporary "mainstream" feminist analysis. A masterclass in conveying complex theories in clear, everyday language. The final chapter, which evaluates various policy recommendations for achieving gender parity across different types of organizations (some very big-picture, some very tangible), is excellent.

[Chris Cook · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was required reading for one of my courses this term, and it was interesting, but did not, to my mind, present anything spectacularly new to the subject of sexual discrimination in the workplace. Granted, the book is now nearly 25 years old, and so what may have been innovative research then is now a quarter century old. It's disappointing to see how much has not changed over the years; then again, there has been some significant progress that has been made, as well. What with the setbacks the women's rights movement has had in the recent past, however, it is obvious that equal opportunity is still a work in progress.

[Hildegart · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book years ago for an economics class I took. I don't even remember what the class was. The part I still remember about the book was where she also discussed people with handicaps. To me, this was odd because the title was "In the Way of Women", not In the Way of Women and Handicapped People. That's what struck me most. That's not probably what the author wanted to hear, but, oh well...