Why Pussy Riot matters.

In the middle of a summer rife with the insults of a Presidential campaign and punctuated by the excitement of a quadrennial international sports festival in London, the fate of three young women on trial in Moscow probably signals more about the future of Russia than who wins the U.S. Presidency or the Olympic medals count. In an act of inspired political satire, these three women, calling themselves Pussy Riot, gave an impromptu performance at a Russian Orthodox Cathedral in which they beseeched the Virgin Mary to rid Russia of President Putin. That their request included some obscenities further inflamed the government's argument that the performance amounted to religious hate speech.

Madonna, Sting and Bjork are among those who have protested the government's request that the members of Pussy Riot spend three years in jail for "hooliganism." The case demonstrates how Putin, a former KGB (secret police) official in the atheistic USSR, is able to use the Church to his advantage. Even more importantly, the case shows how activist women are reviled in Russia, and gender equality is not on the radar. The greatest risk from the trial is that it may encourage those committed to change to leave Russia and join the world's political refugees living in exile because of the persecution they face from oppressive governments at home. The verdict on Pussy Riot and Russia will be released on August 17.

Have we outgrown maternity leave?

The latest view of work/life balance for mothers is that maternity leave is an outmoded institution for high achievers with schedule flexibility. CEOs now boast of taking just two weeks off to recover from birth and to bond with the baby. Is maternity leave to be only for those with lowered career aspirations?

Some of these high flying mothers may be able work from home part of the work week, and thus have the baby close at hand for some bonding time. But others may not, and their children may be primarily in the care of a succession of nannies. I have a bias about this because I work directly with foster children, many of whom have attachment disorders caused by not having an available parental figure with whom they could bond during the critical period for this - 6 to 36 months of age. These emotionally crippling disorders often cannot be repaired.

Many working mothers in low wage jobs can't afford to take maternity leave. California has led efforts to remedy this with a family leave program financed by payroll deductions. But what will be the consequences of female role models creating the expectation that maternity leave - a right women fought so hard to attain - is passé?

The unavailability of part time work affects us all.

The Atlantic’s widely read July 2012 cover story, Why Women Still Can’t Have It All, observed that workplace structures make it almost impossible for mothers to have high pressure, long hours careers. Author Anne-Marie Slaughter wryly noted that, “In Washington, ‘leaving to spend time with your family,’ is a euphemism for being fired” for men, but is often the truth for women. Writer Anand Giridharadas responded that America may actually be worse off for being governed and managed by “single-minded, obsessive, fierce, hurried … self-serving [and] less-than-empathetic” alpha career types who largely “ignore their families.” He rightly wondered what biases affect policymakers who “have prioritized the making of social policy over their own families.”

Biden's mistake?

Much has been made of Vice-President Joe Biden's speaking out of turn – at length – in announcing his support of gay marriage, and how that "forced" President Obama to proclaim his support. In spite of Biden's reputation for uncontrolled discourse, that is almost never how things are done at that level. In fact, Biden was not alone among top administration officials making this position public. His and others' alleged errors were almost certainly trial balloons released to soften the President's inevitable statement on the subject, planned for sometime in the coming weeks. This both lessened the shock to voters still uncomfortable with gay marriage and gave the President some cover as he made this move to energize avid supporters of gay marriage and their substantial wealth to work for his re-election. The challenge was to make the gains from this shift outweigh any losses from more conservative potential supporters. He seems to have convinced two-thirds of voters that political gain was his main reason for announcing the switch.

Except for black voters, those strongly and steadfastly opposed to gay marriage are not likely to vote for Obama anyway. His problem in announcing his support was to avoid alienating those who view gay marriage as immoral, but possibly tolerable, because they feel compelled to accept – or at least not reject – the actions of gay friends or relatives. So the Biden scenario likely was calculated to help those with reservations about gay marriage see the President's predicament as similar to their own. In this view, Obama's thinking evolved because of the actions and prodding of friends, as he said in his statement. And, he spoke about it only because someone else forced his hand.

Make no mistake, Obama took a high road in finally coming out on this politically charged issue that some think cost John Kerry the Presidency in 2004. But few Presidential policy positions or their timing in a election year are an accident, despite Biden's apology and Obama's chastisement of his number two. The White House apparently decided that public sentiment has finally evolved to the requisite threshold. (But see this caution.) So any praise due also should go to the millions of Americans who contributed to that change.

[Note: why do I use NY Times' articles here and in the book? Two reasons: They are fact checked and corrections always posted if found later. Unlike most other news sources, the Times provides permanent links that will not expire.]

Making the truth believable

Author Tracy Kidder said “I think that the nonfiction writer’s fundamental job is to make what is true believable.” I agree. In nonfiction that relies on the anecdotal stories of composite characters, I immediately distrust the expansion of “facts” to a truth about a larger universe. I need to know that the author relied on verifiable data or peer reviewed studies, and sometimes I want to see the raw data myself so I can draw my own conclusions.

Questions or corrections only

Please note them in the comments section of this post, including any errors found in the manuscript. Corrections will be made and acknowledged in future editions of the book, so please include your name if you want an acknowledgement. In print editions of the book, please include a page number. In eReader editions, please included the phrase of at least ten words surrounding the error.
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No Constitutional protection for gender.

Says Justice Antonin Scalia. And most women probably don't realize this question is up for debate. With the current court, he might need only one more vote for that view to prevail. That could bring down several prior Court rulings barring gender discrimination. But at least he doesn't say the Constitution prohibits laws against gender discrimination.

Fantasy football?

Another in a series of paradoxes:
It's amazing that in 2009, a professional football league for women was born - in which the players wear only helmets, shoulder pads, shoes and bikinis. It's full contact, with blocking, tackling, passing and injuries. "True fantasy football," as the Lingerie Football League describes itself. Fantasy for men, of course. Game videos show what appear to be athletic swimsuit models mixing it up on the field, being cheered on by bleachers full of male fans. While this may have created professional opportunities for women in sports, depending how one defines sport, it also calls into question how far we've really progressed in the forty years of the modern women's movement. The fans willing to buy tickets to these games surely are more interested in the sight of nearly naked female bodies wrestling each other to the ground than in the athletic ability on display.

If I were a resident of a Middle Eastern nation defending local practices that seemed to Western sensibilities to be demeaning to women, I would cite Lingerie Football as an example of Western hypocrisy.