What's really at stake in Jill Abramson's ouster from The New York Times

It doesn't take a woman to dismantle the old boys club — but it does require someone "pushy"

Abramson
(Image credit: (REUTERS/Ruth Fremson/Pool))

The firing of New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson has understandably set off a flurry of speculation. Abramson, a longtime investigative journalist and the first woman to helm the most prestigious newspaper in the country, was suddenly let go after a relatively brief three-year tenure. And when a high-powered woman like Abramson is let go in such an unusually unceremonious fashion, as Rebecca Traister points out, it's hard not to question the role her gender played in the way she was treated.

There are red flags: the fact that she was called "pushy" while men exhibiting similar behaviors are often called strong; the idea that she was pushed off a glass cliff; and that the final straw was Abramson's push for a raise commensurate to her male predecessor.

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Elissa Strauss

Elissa Strauss writes about the intersection of gender and culture for TheWeek.com. She also writes regularly for Elle.com and the Jewish Daily Forward, where she is a weekly columnist.