Just Right

The Washington Post continues to run interference for First Lady Michelle Obama, who is described as evolving from off-putting to spot-on. Just right these days. Can we call her Goldilocks or perhaps Mama Bear? In any event, this is a pretty good quote:

Lynne Klaczak, a Florida Republican sees Obama as "a thoroughly modern woman. She's like, 'If you ask me my opinion I'm going to give it.' I don't have a problem with that," she said. "I do think all this focus on her fashion distracts from real issues about women and families where she could make an impact."

This celebrity presidency may wear thin, and eventually the First Lady will offer more than thin gruel photo-ops. It would be good if she could spearhead a more modern view of women, feminism and families. Cathy Young discusses the new White House Council on Women and Girls, headed by Michelle and Barack's friend Valerie Jarrett:

But are these inequalities rooted in discrimination and fixable by the government? Numerous studies show that when differences in training, work hours, and continuity of employment are taken into account, the pay gap all but disappears. Most economists, including liberal feminists such as Harvard's Claudia Goldin, agree that while sex discrimination exists, male-female disparities in earnings and achievement are due primarily to personal choices and priorities. Women are far more likely than men to avoid jobs with 60-hour workweeks and to scale down their careers while raising children. They are also more likely to choose less lucrative but more fulfilling jobs. [snip]

Nor is it clear why women's health care deserves special focus, given that in many areas of health men are doing worse than women. As a result of women's health activism, medical issues specific to women have already been receiving disproportionate attention and funding since the 1990s.

Indeed, one might ask why the only gender-specific issues that seem to deserve federal attention are ones that affect women. Why not look at the fact that men account for 80 percent of suicides and 90 percent of workplace fatalities (as well as 70 percent of nonfatal on-the-job injuries)? What about the troubling trend of boys and young men lagging substantially behind their female peers in education, with women earning nearly 60 percent of college degrees at a time when a college diploma is increasingly essential in the job market? Why not talk about the marginalization of fatherhood and the fact that many men who want to be involved in their children's lives are denied that chance?

It would be good to have a balanced approach on these issues, wouldn't it? So that we're not discriminating against certain groups? More importantly, so that we're not denying individuals a chance to shine and succeed in life. It would be the just right thing to do.