President Obama is drawing fire from feminists for recently playing a basketball game that didn't include any women. Another complaint: None of his many golf partners has been female (at least until today). Noting that these leisure activities are prime networking events, commentators are asking whether this testosterone-heavy presidential pattern indicates a lack of opportunity for women in the White House? (Watch Obama respond to boys' club allegations.)
Obama’s reinforcing women as “second class citizens”: The White House should be leading the way for "desegregating our nation’s workplaces,” says Terry O’Neill, president of the National Organization for Women, quoted by ABC News. Work relationships built in informal settings can have a “huge impact on the influence an individual has” in his or her job.
“NOW President on President Obama's All-Male Athletic Outings: 'It's Troubling’”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
This is a fake controversy: Why would any woman lose sleep over this, asks Wesleyan history professor Claire Potter at the Tenured Radical. “Who the president plays basketball with has nothing to do with key feminist issues like the right to choose, equal pay for equal work, violence, homelessness, child care … or institutional discrimination.” The real offense: The New York Times’ decision to legitimize this story.
“Next Week, For My Benefit, President Obama Will Play Basketball With Lesbians”
Show a little sensitivity, Mr. President: Though it’s undeniable that Obama’s fellow players have a unique opportunity for access, says Philadelphia Weekly’s Cup o’ Joel blog, that doesn’t mean the president should draft Sonia Sotomayor to lace up her high-tops. But by defensivly calling the criticism “bunk,” as he recently did, the president seems to “signal a certain thoughtlessness about the issue.”
-
The Icelandic women’s strike 50 years onIn The Spotlight The nation is ‘still no paradise’ for women, say campaigners
-
Mall World: why are people dreaming about a shopping centre?Under The Radar Thousands of strangers are dreaming about the same thing and no one sure why
-
Why scientists are attempting nuclear fusionThe Explainer Harnessing the reaction that powers the stars could offer a potentially unlimited source of carbon-free energy, and the race is hotting up
-
Millions turn out for anti-Trump ‘No Kings’ ralliesSpeed Read An estimated 7 million people participated, 2 million more than at the first ‘No Kings’ protest in June
-
Ghislaine Maxwell: angling for a Trump pardonTalking Point Convicted sex trafficker's testimony could shed new light on president's links to Jeffrey Epstein
-
The last words and final moments of 40 presidentsThe Explainer Some are eloquent quotes worthy of the holders of the highest office in the nation, and others... aren't
-
The JFK files: the truth at last?In The Spotlight More than 64,000 previously classified documents relating the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy have been released by the Trump administration
-
'Seriously, not literally': how should the world take Donald Trump?Today's big question White House rhetoric and reality look likely to become increasingly blurred
-
Will Trump's 'madman' strategy pay off?Today's Big Question Incoming US president likes to seem unpredictable but, this time round, world leaders could be wise to his playbook
-
Democrats vs. Republicans: who are US billionaires backing?The Explainer Younger tech titans join 'boys' club throwing money and support' behind President Trump, while older plutocrats quietly rebuke new administration
-
US election: where things stand with one week to goThe Explainer Harris' lead in the polls has been narrowing in Trump's favour, but her campaign remains 'cautiously optimistic'
