The following article by Kate Bahn was posted on the Center for American Progress website September 28, 2017:
In this July 24, 2017, photograph, Otibehia Allen, a single mother of five, stands outside her rented mobile home in Jonestown, Mississippi. Allen works 30 hours a week as a data entry clerk and transportation dispatcher for a medical clinic, pulling in barely more than minimum wage.
The term misogyny is often used in feminist analysis but not often used to analyze the government and market institutions that make up our society. Outright misogyny—from catcalling to gender-based violence—has been gaining more acknowledgement recently, as society develops a better understanding of concepts like consent and toxic masculinity. But though society has gotten better at identifying misogyny, the systematic role it plays in our world remains largely unnamed. Misogyny has been around long enough to have become embedded in the structures and institutions of our society, including the economy. It is reflected in how we think about the economy and the policies that are created to regulate markets and encourage growth. The economics of misogyny describes how these anti-woman beliefs are deeply ingrained in economic theory and policy in such a way that devalues women’s contributions and limits women’s capabilities and opportunities. Continue reading “Economics of Misogyny”