One of our Pinterest boards collects images that reveal that men are the “neutral” sex in contemporary Western cultures. This means that (1)  the image that pops up in our minds when we say “person” or “human” or “worker” is usually implicitly male, (2) non-sexed representations of people are usually assumed to be male (e.g., cartoon animals appear female to us unless we slap on eyelashes and lipstick), (3) items for sale often get marketed as either “item” or “women’s item” (e.g., “deodorant” and “women’s deodorant”), and (4) men and male bodies get to stand in for humanity (e.g., in scientific research).

Imagine the year 2057. What does it look like? Are you picturing driverless cars, tiny tablet supercomputers, and everyone wearing a pair of Google glasses? Are you picturing a country where women finally earn as much as men?

"It's better to be raised by a single mom."

"It's worse to be raised by a single mother."

The first argument cited above was written by a single mother who believes that her choice to raise her children on her own gave them "grit." The second argument was made by a man raised by a single mother. He sees himself and his success as more the exception than the rule.

Mad Men is about to make Emmy history with the highest number of nominations for a drama series. The show depicts an era of American history when the priorities, preferences, and opinions of men prevailed in the public and private spheres of American life, often to the detriment of women. While the show is set in the 1960s, we could imagine what its story line would look like if written for today’s era.

Title IX, an amendment to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, stated that “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance...”  Passed on this day in 1972, this policy meant that schools and colleges receiving federal funding could not legally give preference to men.  Instead, they had to allocate their resources to men and women in proportion to their interest and enrollment.

Imagine sitting at your desk at work and overhearing a co-worker sharing the good news about his or her latest raise, bumping his or her salary to $50,000. You have worked at the company five years longer, in the same position and your salary is $5,000 lower.

The course of my life changed when I met Mrs. C. She has quite possibly been one of the most influential forces in my life. Mrs. C served as an example for me and for countless women and men across the country, simply because she spent the sum of her life working to be and do more than what was expected of her.