This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/twoxchromosomes by /u/ManateePub on 2023-09-02 00:45:57.
My academic department has performed this experiment for two years now in early September. It’s intended to explore the coercive and manipulative capacity of patriarchal language. This year’s results scared me. Here’s the short version (I can’t go into detailed study design here):
Students walked into a classroom and viewed a fictional “breaking news” story projected on the board. Students were then separated and completed an anonymous questionnaire regarding the “news.”
Results
- Only two of my 164 students identified the “news” as fictional within ten minutes.
- 72 percent of my female students replied that they would feel “satisfied” with being legally banned from the workforce while pregnant in exchange for $5,700/month.
- 89 percent of my male students replied that they would feel “satisfied” with pregnant women being legally banned from the workforce in exchange for the fictional $5,700/month "birthing stipend."
- A majority of all students indicated that the fictional $5,700/month stipend was a “fair exchange” for being legally prohibited from working as a pregnant woman.
I’m still personally processing these results, but I think it speaks to the relatively fragility of feminism, even as it’s perfunctorily “celebrated” by mass media.
Full text that was displayed and discussed:
Headline: Republican House Votes on Bill to Bar Pregnant Women from Workplace
The two controversial bills would require pregnant women to take a “mandatory leave of absence” from work while receiving a $5,700 monthly stipend.
WASHINGTON – The Republican-led House plans to pass a series of bills in the coming days to impose mandatory limits on the participation of pregnant women in the workforce. Touted by GOP leaders as an “expansion of rights” under FMLA guidelines, the bills would require all women to report pregnancies to their employers and take an extended leave of absence “until viable birth or natural termination.”
Among the most controversial provisions is one which would guarantee all women affected by the bill a monthly stipend of $5,700 “for the natural duration of the pregnancy.”
“The science is clear here,” said one representative on the condition of anonymity. “The link between working women and abortion is as clear as the link between smoking and birth defects. We’re prepared to send this to the Senate as-is, with the full monthly birthing stipend included.”