Mild disagreement with Tracy Clark-Flory

Over on Salon's Broadsheet, Tracy Clark-Flory disagrees with the idea that the recession may have a silver lining for feminism.

Sorry, but no, says Emily Bazelon in an article for Slate. This recent rebalancing of the work world's gender scales has been forced, not chosen. "Rosie the Riveter was also born of necessity during World War II -- and when the war was over, she had to go home and stay there," Bazelon writes. Feminism is about actively bringing about social change, not looting through the rubble of a national disaster. As Bazelon puts it: "This seems like a really risky way to get where feminists want to go." Not to mention, do we really want women to rise at the expense of men? (I wish it could go unstated, but the answer is: No.)

Also, this rebalancing isn't what it first appears: Women have better escaped the wrath of the recession largely because they pull in smaller salaries and work in fields that are less vulnerable to economic turmoil; the financial collapse is hardly sending women crashing through the glass ceiling.

I think the second paragraph undermines the Rosy the Riveter paragraph.  Women aren't suddenly doing "men's work."  Instead, some of the traditionally male dominanted fields are fading. As Michelle Cottle pointed out, many of the higher wage union manufacturing jobs aren't coming back.  Of those men in a relationship unable to find jobs for a while and uninclined to contribute to housework I see three possibilities: some men will adapt, some will be tolerated if they don't step up at home, and some will be dumped.  

The phenomenon I argued for in my last post on this matter is fairly straightforward.  Under crises, old social rules breakdown and new ones are built.  While the old manufacturing union jobs favored male dominated fields, expansions of unions to new lines of work will likely be more equitable.  Thus, in a zero-sum sense, this rebuilding will come at a time when women have more power.  I'm only slightly disagreeing with Flory, it's not unreasonable to say that the decline in absolute standards of living overwhelms the gain in equality.  A silver lining doesn't make the original event a good or desirable thing.