Family Friendly

Reshaping the work-family debate.

by Joan C. Williams

Will There Ever Be a Truce in the Mommy Wars?

Last Thursday an online tempest erupted when Hilary Rosen went on CNN to explain that she didn’t think Ann Romney was a worthy voice for America’s women because she “has actually never worked a day in her life.” The kerfluffle might seem familiar. Read More

The Hunger Games' Vision for the Future

There's not a lot to love about The Hunger Games' Panem—but the upcoming movie provides a hopeful vision for a future of gender equality. Read More

And the Oscar Goes to... a Man: Gender Bias at the Top

The myth of the meritocracy reigns supreme, but gender bias still keeps women from reaching the top. Read More

Men and Women: Still Both From Earth

A new study purports to show fundamental differences between the sexes. But humans are taught literally from birth what is appropriate behavior for a woman and what is appropriate behavior for a man, and the fact that fully grown men and women have learned to exhibit different behaviors isn't exactly groundbreaking news. Read More

A Survival Guide to the Holiday Season

Do tensions run high in your household around the holiday season? Break the cycle with a few simple changes. Read More

The Bitchy Boss and Other Fables: How Bias Against Women Becomes Conflict Among Women

Co-written with Rachel Dempsey Read More

Brag Like a Lady: Self-Promote Without Backlash

We all know that self-promotion is the way to get ahead, but it poses special challenges for women. Here are a few tips for making your achievements known in the office while avoiding being seen as a bitch. Read More

Bad Advice Leads to Backlash for Working Women

Despite all the advice women receive telling them that they fall behind men in the workplace because they don't ask for raises; because they don't network; because they don't promote themselves, it turns out that women actually do all of these things, as much as or more than men. The problem isn't us, it's them. Read More

Michele Bachmann: Mad Woman or Cool Under Pressure?

Deeming Michele Bachman the Queen of Rage - particularly in tandem with that admittedly crazy-eyes photo - is bound to trigger certain negative-competence stereotypes. The thing that makes Newsweek's cover a low blow is that Michelle Bachmann does anger well. Read More

Cat Got Your Tongue?

A grandfather who worked for a tracker supply company arrived at work one day to find that his employer, with no notice, had posted an announcement of two hours of mandatory overtime. Read More

The New Boys’ Club

Google +, Google’s new social network, was launched last month to much fanfare as an invitation-only service. According to early data, membership in the first few weeks was a much as 90% male. Read More

Daddy Days in Federal Court

Even before I read about it in The New York Times today, I heard about the decision of Kansas City federal district judge Eric F. Melgren, scolding lawyers who had refused the request of opposing counsel to reschedule a trial on the grounds that a key attorney's wife was scheduled to have a baby. Read More

Flexible Scheduling Makes Dollars and Sense

Sunday's New York Times reported that accounting firms lead corporate America in offering workplace flexibility. Employees can reduce their hours, take the summer off, take off a few years and then return to their prior jobs... Whatever they need. And the firms are committed to ensuring that flexible options don't hurt prospects for advancement. Read More

It's Not Obama's Fault

It's not his fault.Let me dissent from the chorus against Obama for Tuesday's rout. Blame the past 40 years, not the last two. Democrats, since the 1970s, have won the presidency just four times. Republicans have won seven. Their winning streak began when Richard Nixon pried the white working class away from the New Deal Coalition. Read More