Work Matters: Women Talk About Their Jobs and Their Lives - Hardcover

An informative, upbeat, yet honest assessment of the role of work in women's lives--how they define it, and how it defines them. ``Most women are still keeping to themselves the most important truth: What we do matters to us. Work may not be the most important thing in our lives or the only thing . . . but we still want . . . to respect ourselves for what we do and to make a difference,'' says Friedman. Though women's gains in the workplace over the past 30 years have been significant and the importance of paid work to women has never been greater, it remains ``a world made by and for men''; and problems like social isolation, pay inequities, family-unfriendly policies, and glass ceilings keep women feeling like outsiders. Friedman (coauthor, No Experience Necessary, not reviewed) brings together the voices of the dozens of working women she interviewed across America between 1987 and 1995. From corporate vice presidents to truck drivers, Friedman surveys women's views on their changing relationships to work, money, power, gender, their partners, and their families. The stories are never dull: A high-powered lawyer says we should stop expecting all working women to be outstanding in their fields; a county board member reasons that ``if you can decide which child gets the jellybean, you can decide where to put a landfill''; a contractor uses photo business cards, proudly capitalizing on her looks. Despite the many work-related troubles recounted in these pages, Friedman concludes that at least women in the workforce know that ``it's the system and not them that needs changing. And they are fighting for those changes.'' Friedman exhorts working women to stand up for what they need and what they want, and she has assembled an array of fascinating case histories to help illuminate the way. (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

One of the themes that recur in this engrossing collection of interviews with women about their careers is how much they have overextended themselves to both compete in the workplace and satisfy the demands of family life. Journalist Friedman (No Experience Necessary) spoke with 65 women of various ethnic and economic backgrounds over five years, and here, with accompanying explanatory comments, she lets them relate their experiences as workers, wives and mothers. Although the number of wage-earning women has grown to more than 50% of the work force and females are obtaining jobs once held exclusively by males, they still face entrenched discrimination in the workplace that affects their salaries and promotions, according to Friedman. Despite the gains of the women's movement, the majority of married and single women quoted here still arrange child care and maintain the home, although some have supportive partners and employers. Friedman has captured societal change in progress.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.