February 26, 2004
News Makers
CONSPIRACY THEORY: Sociology Professor Pepper Schwartz says that everything in our culture conspires to make women feel physically and sexually inadequate. Quoted in the Toronto Sun, she said, “Just watch TV for four straight hours and see just how much is wrong with you. Or open up a magazine — or go to a movie. There are continuous messages about how women are too fat, too short, have hair that’s too dull, or lips that aren’t full enough, and on and on and on.” But, she adds, women need not swallow what they’re told. “Look at Queen Latifa,” she told the Sun. “She is scrumptious to a lot of men and she’s no size 2. ”
BOEING’S FUTURE: Will Boeing proceed with the 7E7? That was the question the New York Times put to Business Professor Charles Hill, who said, “I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion, with Stonecipher in the CEO’s seat.” Still, he added, Boeing has to do something. “The Sonic Cruiser was a bust. The superjumbo was a bust, and the 777 is aging. There is a gap and they need to fill it.”
MARITAL CONFLICT: When Time magazine did a cover story about relationships, they turned to John Gottman, emeritus professor of psychology, who commented on conflict in a mar-riage: “In relationships that were working, even during conflict, there was a rich climate of positive things, such as love, affection, interest in one another, humor and support,” he said. “Couples in unstable unions had slightly more negative factors than positive.”
CHORE WARS: The “chore wars” between spouses were featured in a story in the Jacksonville (Florida) Times-Union. Asked to comment, Sociology Professor Julie Brines said, “In couples where the male partner is already in gender jeopardy because he is not the breadwinner, it is risky for him to do housework. It raises questions about his masculinity.”
Newsmakers is a periodic column reporting on coverage of the University of Washington by national press services.
