A Seat at the Head of the Table

Emily Bazelon, “A Seat at the Head of the Table,” (The Future of Work), New York Times Magazine, Feb 24, 2019, pl. 38-.

BAZELON: Kathy, [Katherine W. Phillips] can we talk about another study you did, showing that black women may be less subject than white women to traditional expectations about femininity. 

PHILLIPS: In this study, we asked people taking an online survey to rate Asian, black and white men and women for their hireability for two jobs: security guard, a traditionally masculine position, and librarian, a traditionally feminine one.  Among other things, we found that black men and women, like white men, were perceived to be good fits for the security-guard position because they’re seen as more traditionally masculine.

COMMENT

      Here a stereotype of librarianship is employed in psychological research. This passage raised so many questions in my mind that I had to look up the article to see what Phillips’ research methodology really was. [1] Why would a highly intellectual (albeit feminized) profession like librarianship be presented as a gender equivalent of being a security guard? Did respondents really view black women as more masculine? Or did they actually stereotype black women as less educated?

    The original article says "We selected positions that exemplified femininity or masculinity, but that steered clear of strong stereotypes that are associated with the stereotypes geared to Asians (e.g., mathematical) and Blacks (e.g., athletic)." The researchers used a Princeton-Trilogy-based scale to identify traits associated with the two professions but there's no list of what those traits were for librarians. The study does acknowledge that "the librarian position may be perceived to be a higher-status position than the security patrol position. Thus, it is plausible that Asians were matched to the higher-status position due to their relatively high socioeconomic status in society."

     This is the job description the study invented for librarians: 

"Librarian. The librarian will work in the campus library. He or she will assist students in finding books and strive to maintain a quiet and serene atmosphere for the comfort of the student body."

     Good grief!

      The notion that librarians enforce silence is especially ironic. Back in the 1980s, librarianship was sold to me as a refuge for smart women who had been shut out of other options due to gender discrimination. For a time, I had wanted to be a scientist or a mathematician, and I was not surprised to find reference in this article to another study that found women with prominent math credentials on their resume are actually less likely to get a job interview.  One might expect that a pink-collar profession would be more female-friendly but I have not found that to be the case in librarianship.  Rather men are disproportionately promoted, and women are criticized for being "uncollegial" if they are assertive.  In librarianship I have encountered mommy-tracking, glass ceilings, sexual harassment, gender bias and policies that actively discourage diversity.  Questions are shut down with calls for "civility."  It's clear that I'm not the only person who has encountered this. After an incident of racist harassment at the 2019 Midwinter meeting of the American Library Association, April Hathcock wrote in her blog,

I know there are members of our profession—mostly white, though not all—who do not like me, do not like that I write and talk about race, do not like the direct and unapologetic way in which I call out systems of racial oppression. They find my work “divisive,” “uncivil,” and “unprofessional.” Some of them are leaders in our profession. Some of them were there sitting quietly as I was being harassed. When they talk about having conversations about “civility and professionalism,” they’re not talking about the inexcusable behavior that happened to me; they’re talking about tone-policing and silencing me.

     The traditional shushing isn't just an intimidation tactic used against noisy patrons.  Librarians use shushing against each other to enforce female stereotypes.

[1]Hall, Erika V., Adam D. Galinsky, and Katherine W. Phillips. "Gender profiling: A gendered race perspective on person–position fit." Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 41.6 (2015): 853-868.

What are we Teaching Boys when we Discourage Them from Reading Books about Girls?

 
Shannon Hale. “What are We Teaching Boys when We Discourage Them from Reading Books about Girls? (Special to the Washington Post), Salt Lake Tribune, Oct. 14, 2018. P. D2. 

A school librarian introduces me before I give an assembly. “Girls, you’re in for a real treat. You will love Shannon Hale’s books. Boys, I expect you to behave anyway.” 

 COMMENT

     The librarian who Hale mentions is one of several anecdotes about teachers, booksellers, parents and other adults who should know better. Hale says that  she has plenty of fans who are boys (No surprise. She's a good writer.), but they’ve  been reading in secret because they feel embarrassed to enjoy “girl” books.  It must be really aggravating for an author to get fan mail from people who have been shamed about liking her books. But as Hale points out, the social effects of gender-stereotyping books are far more harmful than just irritating writers. Boys who are told they can't read about girls are learning that it's shameful to feel empathy for girls. Hale recommends that we can all do better by learning to say that  a book is about girls without saying it’s for girls. 

     Hale mentions that books about boys like Harry Potter are considered gender neutral, though perhaps Harry Potter is not the right example since since the series has exemplary diversity as well as a lot of strong female characters like Hermione Granger, Luna Lovegood, and Minerva McGonagal Even Harry Potter had its own run in with gender stereotyping. When it first came out the publisher told J.K. Rowling to use initials rather than her actual name because they thought boys wouldn't want to read a book written by a woman. (They also felt it necessary to issue an edition with an “adult” cover for grownups who felt ashamed to be seen reading children’s books).

     The two illustrations of Hale’s book covers that were chosen for the Salt Lake Tribune article are The Princess in Black and the Hungry Bunny Horde and Real Friends.  Both books feature highly feminized cover designs --pastel colors and cute, long-haired  female figures making smiling eye-contact with prospective readers. 

My copy of Princess Academy (top left) that I bought when the book first came out shows a group of women trekking through a rugged mountainous landscape. I was sorry to see that the new cover (top right) has an image that looks a lot like Belle from the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast.  Even I, a dispassionate middle aged librarian, might feel a twinge of embarrassment to be caught reading a book with a fake Disney princess on the cover.