THE NEW SOFT WAR ON WOMEN

In this groundbreaking book, the authors address the “soft war” of insidious biases and barriers that are preventing women from advancing.
Are women today truly “on top”? Or is this very notion being used as a weapon against them in a whole new battle between the sexes?

For the first time in history, women comprise half of the educated labor force and are earning the majority of advanced degrees. It should be the best time ever for women. But despite recent books and articles asserting that it is—quite simply, it’s not. Stormclouds are gathering, and the worst thing is that most women don’t have a clue what could be coming. Why? In large part this is because the message being perpetuated by the media et alis that women have it made. We are at a turning point in economic history. Although women have made huge strides in attaining higher education and employment opportunities in recent years, these gains have not translated into money and influence. In THE NEWSOFT WAR ON WOMEN, Rivers and Barnett, well respected experts on gender issues and the psychology of women, argue that an insidious war is currently beingwaged that continues to marginalize women. Why insidious? Because most women don't even know what's happening, having been wooed into complacency by false statistics and a warped, guilt-trip-laden message that men are lagging behind them. The time has come to recognize women’s roles and achievements not just in books and newspapers but where it matters: in women’s paychecks. After all, championing women’s advancement is good for the bottom line of business. families (men and women both) stand to gain in women’s continued economic growth and success. This book offers women a roadmap for understanding what the real facts are, standing up for what they deserve, and—once and for all—leveling the playing field. Caryl Rivers is professor of journalism at the College of Communication at Boston University. A nationally known author and journalist, she was awarded the Helen Thomas Lifetime Achievement Award for distinguished work in journalism from the Society of Professional Journalists. Her articles and op-eds have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Nation, Saturday Review, Ms., Mother Jones, McCall's, Glamour, Redbook, Rolling Stone, and Ladies' Home Journal. She writes for The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, and Chicago Tribune. She blogs regularly on media andpolitics for The Huffington Post, she is a regular commentator for the award winning website Women’s eNews.

Rosalind C. Barnett is a senior scientist at the Women’s Studies Research Center at Brandeis University. Her pioneering research on workplace issues and family life in America has been sponsored by major federal grants, and she is often invited to lecture at major venues in the United States and abroad. Barnett has a private clinical practice and is the author of scholarly and popular books and articles appearing in Self, Working Woman, McCall's, Ladies' Home Journal, The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Newsday, Self, and Working Woman. She is the recipient of several awards including the Radcliffe College GraduateSociety's Distinguished Achievement Medal and the Anne Roe Award from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education for her contribution to women's professional growth and the field of education, and the Kennedy School of Government’s 1999 Goldsmith Research Award.