Customer Reviews

The 51% Minority: How Women Still Are Not Equal and What You Can Do About It

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Lis Wiehl, a former federal prosecutor and current Fox News Channel analyst, has written "The 51% Minority: How Women Still Are Not Equal and What You Can Do About It." In The "51% Minority," Wiehl chronicles the struggle women have experienced in areas of the workplace, including pay disparity and the "glass ceiling." Further, chapters are devoted to sexual harassment; pregnancy, age, and weight discrimination; issues with marriage and children; contraception and abortion; and violence against women. Wiehl concludes the text with a social compact for women and follows that with an appendix of various resources for women to draw upon. The book is indexed and contains a bibliography complete with references to court rulings.

Lis Wiehl's book follows a pattern as a way to educate its reader. The chapter's main issue is explained, then documents the rights women presently have, and then follows with rights that should be enacted. Last are the author's solutions for that problem. For example, in the third chapter which discusses sexual harassment, several examples are listed. One such instance involved Wiehl herself. She was at a dinner party where a male guest pressed himself into her as she waited for a drink at the bar. In her words, "He was excited to be there, if you know what I mean...." She goes on to say that she did not handle the situation as best as she could (41-42). Another example is that of one of her colleagues, Rita Cosby of MSNBC, who experienced sexual harassment from her supervisor early in her career. While Wiehl mishandled her problem, Cosby confronted her employer and put a stop to it (43-44). Wiehl suggests that whistle-blower rights be restored and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) should ignore the pressure to settle cases out of court and prosecute offenders fully (51-54). She also believes that sexual harassment training be made mandatory and that anonymous tip lines be established so that women can be further supported (58-61).

Similar to the chapter on sexual harassment, other subjects that affect women are thoroughly highlighted and discussed. Chapter one shows how women are underrepresented in areas such as business, government, and the legal system. Chapter two, "Equal Pay," describes the disparity of pay between men and women. Chapter four discusses the spectrum of pregnancy from when (or when not) to tell an employer to working while pregnant, including information on the Family and Medical Leave Act. Age and weight discrimination are discussed in chapter five, complete with examples showing how women have lost their jobs due to not only age and weight, but their looks as well. Here, Wiehl implores women to move against "lookism" and fight against the prevailing "youth-oriented culture" (97-102).

Chapter six is devoted to marriage and divorce. Divorce education is a priority for women since, says Wiehl, "...more than 50 percent of marriages..." end that way (103). Violence against women, chapter seven, runs the gamut from spousal abuse and protective orders to rape and stalking. Chapter eight, entitled "My Body," discusses contraception, abortion, sex education, and fetal rights. Chapter nine concludes the main text calling for women to form a social compact, imploring them to join to end the disparities that women face. Wiehl also encourages women to end the promotion of women as objects, suggesting they stop buying popular magazines that stereotype women. The appendix is titled, "Women's Toolbox," and is an extensive list of resources available to women who find themselves facing the issues discussed in the book.

Though "The 51% Minority" contains valuable information about the plight of women in the United States, it fails to provide viable solutions about how to affect a real change. Lis Wiehl ignores the development of the women's movement throughout the country's history. In Colonial times, women were considered the property of their husbands. Slowly, over the course of three hundred years, women got to where they are today. Is it enough? No. As Wiehl correctly points out, men still run the country, and that is why only a fraction of leaders and judges are women. While she laments laws that are already on the books as being not enforced, her primary solution to problems like wage disparity and age discrimination, however, is more legislation. In further contradiction, while imploring women to "make careful, logical steps toward a divorce settlement," she suggests, "try[ing] to sweet-talk him into signing property over to you [when the husband fails to allow the wife to keep the house]" (223). Is this the type of empowerment Wiehl wants for women?

Moreover, in an attempt to paint a gloomy picture of the status of women in 2007 (when the book was published), the author has to reach back to the 1970s for an example of "lookism" (84-87). One must ask if there are not more recent examples of discrimination to examine. If not, maybe the situation for women is improving today and that the system in place is actually showing progress? Wiehl also fails to mention that her employer, Fox News Channel, hires young, attractive women to appear on its broadcasts. Is there discrimination there?

From an academic viewpoint, the reader must be skeptical about the information presented in the book. Though an extensive bibliography is given, details about where to find specific sources is lacking. For example, it is unknown where she obtained the information about Rita Cosby's sexual harassment. Further, some statistical information may be questionable. She used an outdated formula (number of marriages divided by the number of divorces) to arrive at the recent divorce rate when Wiehl stated that "...more than 50 percent of marriages end in divorce" (103). Though mildly informative, "The 51% Minority" should have been less about what is wrong and more about women uniting behind a common cause and exploiting their majority status.

Reading this book left me depressed, then outraged as I did some research. It seems that the majority of this book is written to provoke outrage in the inequality of today's gender roles in society, but by using incredibly misleading and sometimes wildly inaccurate cherry picked figures and statements. For one, the wage gap that she talks about, has no serious research done, there is no mention that the reason that women tend to have a disparity in wages is because a lot take time off for maternity leave, but their partial salary for that year, is included in the count as a full years wage. So when the average is calculated, wages paid during maternity leave are skewed, especially as professionals are usually given paid maternity leave, albeit at a lower rate than their normal salary (hence they seem to earn less than their counterparts, for the same pay period). But that's besides the point because if you're a woman and feeling that society has treated you badly (like most regardless of gender), then this book is a check list of various flasehoods, or distortions on the truth that will make you justifyably angry with the world.

So if you feel that women are mistreated in society and there is a conspiracy to keep the "51%" down, this book will help you affirm your ideas and give you a few pithy platitudes to encourage you to keep up the good fight. Personally I was left shaking my head that people would read it and presume it to be as factual as a text book as opposed to some persons attempt to sell to books - she's tried the mystery/detective novels, self help, so why not do a commentary on gender in society, but neglect to actually become an expert on what you're writing about. But hey, if people believe you then who cares about a little thing called the truth.

This book was written for woman But i found it eye opening. That i was not totaly aware that how wome in the work place were treated so badly. After i read this book I have now been an avocate for woman right

Harv Ecker says you can be a victim or you can be wealthy... pick one! Women like Lis keep perpetuating the false reality that women are victims. Why? Because it's a money maker. Even though the Violence Against Women Act was made gender neutral and even Joe Biden admitted that men were at least 33% of the victims of domestic violence, Lis shakes her head and calls that claim ridiculous.

What I find ridiculous is anybody that purports to represent ME and my gender, but refuses to study facts and use logic. What really angers me is the number of women writers who have messages of empowerment and yet, publishers sign authors like Lis who can't argue her way out of a paper bag. I challege Lis to go head to head with me on Fox and see who ends up representing American women better.

I've seen Lis on Fox debating Marc Rudov and others and she's just not quick on her feet. She enters with a pre-planned argument and is quickly off balance when it deviates. If she were a good enough Manhattan lawyer she wouldn't bother being on TV, but she gives good face.

I wouldn't want her representing me in small claims court, let alone 51% of the population in the "Feminism 2.0" movement.

The fact that she thinks she can perpetuate the myth that women make less money and are thus treated unfairly in a typically lawyer-esque fashion, with vague suppositions backed up with little data, gives one more of a hint of her grrrl power rather than actual brains. To her this would be a preponderance of the evidence for an all female jury to decide the verdict. "We find the defendant, every man that's ever been born, guilty as charged!"

Woooooeee! You go girl!

As a data point; I worked for several large corporations, some Fortune 500, and in my position had direct access to who was paid what. Almost without exception women made as much as men in the same job. This being said, there were few instances where men and women did the same job. You could find women in sales, finance, administration and even some execs, but rarely, and I mean less than 1%, could you find women in the higher paying technical areas such as engineering and manufacturing. Not because there was sexist discrimination, but because there simply weren't any women available to hire with a technical education and experience. Believe me, I felt the wrath of the local EEOC reps over the disparities more than once. And yes, for the naive and uninitiated, there are quotas. All else being equal, or not, you JUMPED at the chance to hire a female engineer over a male for the sake of "equality". Is that fair?

So you take the numbers and when 80% of your indirect labor overhead is highly paid technical and therefore male, it will obviously skew the raw data towards some inequity in pay among genders, if you choose to interpret it that way to present a case or write a book.

This is why Lis and the Feminist 2.0 movement ("now we don't make as much money as men") dog just won't hunt with me. I lived the reality. And no ladies, men aren't keeping women out of entering the engineering fields in college. They simply choose not to. Women's studies is an easier credit.

Now that you're no longer bare foot and pregnant in the kitchen and can "have it all", you want even more. It's a tired agrument. Just ask Ruth Bader Ginsburg. All those mean misogynist male justices...

I have browsed through the other reviews here on Amazon, and a consistent trend seems to be hatred from antifeminists who purchased or borrowed the book. This does not speak for all reviewers, of course, but perhaps Amazon customers deserve something more substantial than "Uh, well, I don't like her on TV" or "She's expressing feminist ideals? Well, I hate her and her work, then"?

From my academic viewpoint, I do feel that the documentation of her sources could have been handled better. However, this book is NOT for the well-versed academic--it is for the casual reader who may be interested in the general topic of gender bias and discrimination in this country as it pertains to many facets of American life. In a quest to educate the reader, she succeeds quite well--the book is well organized, not polluted with too informal language that most "beginner's" books seem to possess (i.e., Full Frontal Feminism), references and provides direct excerpts from documents of law and even has short "cheat sheets" of advice for women located in the book's index that are organized around the topics discussed in the book.

To those of you making the case of "there aren't any solutions offered," clearly you don't think one way for women to better their future is for women to educate themselves. Knowledge is power, and often the legal advice offered by Lis is actually really sound, decent advice (yes, particularly in regard to divorce). I think the substance in this book is more than enough for the womens' issues beginner or the reader who has an interest in social issues in general. The book accomplishes its task without overwhelming the reader and leaving them with nothing to hold onto due to an abundance of details.

In short, if you are a "newbie," so to speak, and will enter this book without biases but rather an open mind for exploring the issues, then you will find that it's hard to NOT find something useful in this book--even if it just gives you something to argue about or internally wrestle with.
I especially recommend this book to young women--you will not regret this purchase.

P.S. Why is "hatred" suggested as one of the tags for this product? Clearly, that was suggested by someone who simply does not understand feminism at all. (Oh, and anyone who writes "glass ceiling" instead of glass ceiling probably isn't worth listening to.)

The only thing book demonstrates conclusively is why lawyers shouldn't attempt social research. There are valid reasons for the disparities Ms. Wiehl addresses, but you wouldn't know that from reading her book, which presents only the most facile, superficial analysis. As her book tour unfolds, pay careful attention to interviews where her ideas are challenged - she folds like a house of cards when presented with the most obvious questions. Most alarming is her apparent comfort with the idea of the government defining requirements and competencies in order to equalize pay, despite the fact that such an effort is so impractical as to be absurd.

In this book, Lis Wiehl creates a useful source of everyday legal information for the average woman who might be going through any of a number of trials. Lis makes the point that women are oftentimes not aware of the law and the protections (or lack thereof) that it affords them, and this book looks to be an easy-to-read way to get that very information across.

I just read the review-- what hackneyed feminist inane nonsense. Liz Wiehl couldn't park a bicycle straight, as she routinely reveals by her sophomoric, reflexive vaginocentrism on virtually any topic concerning women and men. She is an example of the problem. The idea that WOMEN(!) should cy "Enough" is so preposterous it is hard to believe it is said with a straight face.
Women want "equality" ! is that a joke !
Its men who cry ENOUGH after some 40 years of abuse from women. Its men who demand equality, the end of the incorporation of anti-male feminism into our jurisprudence, legislation, government agencies and departments, etc., and the cessation of the anti-male feminist propaganda that floods our society.
Wiehl's relentless, bigoted pro-female-no-matter-what is always on display , esp on FOX and in her vapid columns.
Again,the thesis of this book-- that women want equality( why give up their massive special treatment in virtually every facet of society) and that they are denied rights/equal treatment --is so monumentally absurd one doesn't know whether to laugh or cry..
I'll believe it the next time a husband blows his sleeping minister wife out of bed with a point-blank shotgun blast,men weep because she must have been evil to make him do it,and half the men on the jury think he should get off scot-free and-- he ends up getting time served-- 3 months. When men start to treat women's lives as worthless as many,many women treat men's,I'll say this book is needed.