On television, Wal-Mart employees are smiling women delighted with their jobs. But reality is another story. In 2000, Betty Dukes, a fifty-two-year-old black woman in Pittsburg, California, became the lead plaintiff in Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, a class action, representing 1.6 million women. In her explosive investigation of this historic lawsuit, journalist Liza Featherstone reveals how Wal-Mart, a self-styled "family-oriented," Christian company: Deprives women (but not men) of the training they need to advance. Relegates women to lower-paying jobs like selling baby clothes, reserving the more lucrative positions for men. Inflicts punitive demotions on employees who object to discrimination. Exploits Asian women in its sweatshops in Saipan, a U.S. commonwealth. Featherstone goes on to reveal the creative solutions that Wal-Mart workers around the country have found, like fighting for unions, living-wage ordinances, and childcare options. Selling Women Short combines the personal stories of these employees with superb investigative journalism to show why women who work these low-wage jobs are getting a raw deal, and what they are doing about it. A new preface to the paperback edition will reflect on Wal-Mart's response to this lawsuit and its critics-including this one.
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Fortune magazine's "Most Admired Company" for two years running, Wal-Mart offers its customers low prices and its shareholders big profits, but as freelance journalist Featherstone (Students Against Sweatshops) argues, this comes at great cost. Wal-Mart's success is based not only on its inexpensive merchandise or its popularity (Featherstone cites working-class shoppers and Paris Hilton among Wal-Mart's fans) but on bad labor practices. Using a close investigation of the class action suit Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and extensive interviews with female workers, Featherstone indicts Wal-Mart for low wages, discriminatory policies and sexist practices. "[Our] district manager sometimes held lunch meetings at Hooters restaurants," one female employee explains; another recalls being asked to work "off the clock." Failure to post open positions, exclusively male social gatherings, pay discrimination, "persistent segregation of departments"—all are part, she argues, of Wal-Mart's deep-rooted culture of sexism. Many women employed full-time at Wal-Mart make so little that they are dependent on public assistance: "It is curious that Wal-Mart—the icon of American free enterprise and self-sufficiency...—turns out to be one of the biggest 'welfare queens' of our time," Featherstone writes. She doesn't give much time to related topics—racism, exploited overseas labor—but this is a clearly written and compelling book. It may not keep readers from their local Supercenters, but it should make them take a closer look at who's working the register.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
Between 2000 and 2003, women workers at Wal-Mart stores across the country filed a class-action suit against the company for sex discrimination in promotions, pay, and job assignments. Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. is potentially the largest class-action suit in history, representing 1.6 million past and present women employees. The bare statistics reveal that Wal-Mart is sorely behind the rest of the country in promoting women, but the suit must also show that discrimination occurred in individual cases. Featherstone's interviews with the plaintiffs reveal an entrenched good ol' boy network at the company, where highly qualified women are routinely passed over for promotions that are given to men with less experience. Even more blatant are the pay inequities that harken back to 1950s attitudes about the male being the head of the household. These are heartbreaking stories of loyal employees who remained fervent believers in Wal-Mart despite being ridiculed for wanting to succeed. Caught up in the cultlike corporate culture, they bought into the Wal-Mart propaganda about rural family values while the company feeds off the poorest, fails to provide a living wage, and fights unionization tooth and nail. Wal-Mart, whose unfair labor practices are lowering the bar for all workers, is already responding to high-profile press coverage. Featherstone's chronicling of the personal side of the story should draw even more attention to these crucial issues. David Siegfried
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
(As for the punctuation, just click on the book cover! It's Amazon's error, not Ms. Featherstone's or the publisher's.)
If you have any doubts about who's right in the big Wal-Mart class-action lawsuit, look no further than this book by Liza Featherstone, a longtime labor reporter. Her interviews with women who work for the retail giant will tell you all you need to know about who's working harder -- the mothers and wives and daughters struggling to get by on shockingly low wages, or the management of the company trying as hard as it can to keep them from getting promoted or even paid equally. Betty Dukes, the African American lead plaintiff in the case, deserves a place in the American hero pantheon.
Read "Selling Women Short" and see America as it is, not as politicians want you to imagine it. Ms. Featherstone's poignant, hard-hitting, and often hilarious narrative will be an essential companion as this historic case continues to change the face of labor as we know it.
If you have any doubts about who's right in the big Wal-Mart class-action lawsuit, look no further than this book by Liza Featherstone, a longtime labor reporter. Her interviews with women who work for the retail giant will tell you all you need to know about who's working harder -- the mothers and wives and daughters struggling to get by on shockingly low wages, or the management of the company trying as hard as it can to keep them from getting promoted or even paid equally. Betty Dukes, the African American lead plaintiff in the case, deserves a place in the American hero pantheon.
Read "Selling Women Short" and see America as it is, not as politicians want you to imagine it. Ms. Featherstone's poignant, hard-hitting, and often hilarious narrative will be an essential companion as this historic case continues to change the face of labor as we know it.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Betty Dukes is the lead plaintiff in a recent class action lawsuit charging Wal-Mart, the nation's biggest employer, with sex discrimination in pay and promotions.The giant retailer recognized the energy and dedication of the 52-year-old African American clerk - until she applied for promotion to management and crashed into a glass ceiling. When she complained, she was demoted. More than 100 women working at Wal-Mart joined Ms. Dukes in the suit, which charged that advancement at Wal-Mart is controlled by an "old boys" network. They came forward to talk about how they gave their all for Wal-Mart only to see men who were their juniors and had contributed less racing up the management hierarchy.
The case is the largest class-action suit in history, covering 1.6 million past and present women employees.Liza Featherstone tells their story in "Selling Women Short: The Landmark Battle for Workers Rights at Wal-Mart." Wal-Mart projects an image of a family-friendly company whose workers are valued "associates." But Wal-Mart managers often justify paying men more because they must provide for a family and women less because their family responsibilities might interfere with managerial duties. Women make up more than two-thirds of Wal-Mart's workers, but only 1/3 of its managers. The firm's deep-rooted sexist culture includes meetings at Hooters restaurants, exclusively male social gatherings and persistent segregation of entire departments.
Featherstone points out that even if all the discrimination ended, most Wal-Mart workers would still live in poverty with many needing food stamps and Medicaid to survive. Wal-Mart is a poster boy for labor law violations such as abusing undocumented workers, locking employees in at night, denying overtime pay and buying goods from overseas sweatshops. Because Wal-Mart is such a giant, it depresses pay and benefits for most retail workers in the U.S.
Unions have yet to succeed in organizing Wal-Mart workers, whose blind loyalty may result from intimidation. Because of Wal-Mart's huge size and effect on other workers, some unions have recently proposed that the entire labor movement pool resources for an all-out organizing drive. So Liza Featherstone's new book is not just a necessary primer on one company's excesses, it is a must-read for anyone interested in the future of the labor movement.
- Ken Nash
The case is the largest class-action suit in history, covering 1.6 million past and present women employees.Liza Featherstone tells their story in "Selling Women Short: The Landmark Battle for Workers Rights at Wal-Mart." Wal-Mart projects an image of a family-friendly company whose workers are valued "associates." But Wal-Mart managers often justify paying men more because they must provide for a family and women less because their family responsibilities might interfere with managerial duties. Women make up more than two-thirds of Wal-Mart's workers, but only 1/3 of its managers. The firm's deep-rooted sexist culture includes meetings at Hooters restaurants, exclusively male social gatherings and persistent segregation of entire departments.
Featherstone points out that even if all the discrimination ended, most Wal-Mart workers would still live in poverty with many needing food stamps and Medicaid to survive. Wal-Mart is a poster boy for labor law violations such as abusing undocumented workers, locking employees in at night, denying overtime pay and buying goods from overseas sweatshops. Because Wal-Mart is such a giant, it depresses pay and benefits for most retail workers in the U.S.
Unions have yet to succeed in organizing Wal-Mart workers, whose blind loyalty may result from intimidation. Because of Wal-Mart's huge size and effect on other workers, some unions have recently proposed that the entire labor movement pool resources for an all-out organizing drive. So Liza Featherstone's new book is not just a necessary primer on one company's excesses, it is a must-read for anyone interested in the future of the labor movement.
- Ken Nash
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
"Selling Women Short" by Liza Featherstone is an engaging book about the historic 'Betty Dukes vs Wal-Mart Stores Inc' class action lawsuit that alleges Wal-Mart's institutionalized discrimination of its female employees. Skillfully weaving anecdotes and profiles of key plaintiffs and their claims of sexism with research about Wal-Mart and its Orwellian corporate culture, the book provides an excellent critique of the company's numerous illegal behaviors and a humane narrative of its female employees' struggle for justice.
Interestingly, Ms. Featherstone's analysis suggests that the company's paradigmatic success is attributable to its parasitical relationship with the declining fortunes of the working class. Wal-Mart cynically promotes itself as a pro-family, pro-American company even as it offers poverty-level wages and imports most of its wares from foreign, low-wage countries. In this manner, Ms. Featherstone explains that Wal-Mart both contributes to and profits from the exploitation of marginalized female laborers.
Ms. Featherstone is careful to discuss the limitations of the lawsuit as a tool to effect systemic change at Wal-Mart. She contends that it is probably equally important for the public to become educated about the inequities at Wal-Mart in order to create a media firestorm that might pressure the company to change its ways. However, Ms. Featherstone describes the difficulties that unions and interest groups have had trying to organize labor and shoppers in the struggle with Wal-Mart, contending that our consumer culture tends to set aside worker's rights issues in favor of shopping expediency. Nevertheless, as the lawsuit moves forward the author is hopeful that Wal-Mart may soon feel the need to make significant changes in order to avert a court-imposed solution and/or a public relations catastrophe.
I highly recommend this outstanding book to everyone.
Interestingly, Ms. Featherstone's analysis suggests that the company's paradigmatic success is attributable to its parasitical relationship with the declining fortunes of the working class. Wal-Mart cynically promotes itself as a pro-family, pro-American company even as it offers poverty-level wages and imports most of its wares from foreign, low-wage countries. In this manner, Ms. Featherstone explains that Wal-Mart both contributes to and profits from the exploitation of marginalized female laborers.
Ms. Featherstone is careful to discuss the limitations of the lawsuit as a tool to effect systemic change at Wal-Mart. She contends that it is probably equally important for the public to become educated about the inequities at Wal-Mart in order to create a media firestorm that might pressure the company to change its ways. However, Ms. Featherstone describes the difficulties that unions and interest groups have had trying to organize labor and shoppers in the struggle with Wal-Mart, contending that our consumer culture tends to set aside worker's rights issues in favor of shopping expediency. Nevertheless, as the lawsuit moves forward the author is hopeful that Wal-Mart may soon feel the need to make significant changes in order to avert a court-imposed solution and/or a public relations catastrophe.
I highly recommend this outstanding book to everyone.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Incredulous
How is it possible that this book (and this class action suit) hasn't made a bigger impact in the American people? Read more
Published on November 9, 2006 by R. Korpanty
Unfortunately, this book is fabulous
It's so unfortunate that a book like this has to be written. It's even more upseting that every word is true. The book, strictly speaking, is awesome! Read more
Published on June 25, 2006 by Lisa Hammond
Always Lower Prices - but at what cost?
This is the central question in Featherstone's treatment of the Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. class action lawsuit. Read more
Published on January 31, 2006 by C. Brennan
informative and shocking
Anyone living in the 21st century will be amazed at the content of Selling Women Short; the anecdotes shared by current and former Wal-Mart employees are like something out of... Read more
Published on October 6, 2005 by J. A. Brown
Tackling the beast
Featherstone takes an insightful look at the women involved in the Dukes v. Wal-Mart class-action discrimination suit. She does not delve into melodrama or hyperbole, however. Read more
Published on June 13, 2005 by Counselor Kathy
A host of reasons to be critical of this dispicable company.
It matters not whether you are a liberal like author Liza Featherstone or a dyed in the wool conservative concerned with holding down government spending. Read more
Published on February 11, 2005 by Paul Tognetti
Shocking and informative
If you were brought up to believe that sexism is a thing of the past, and that these days all a woman has to do to be as successful as her male counterpart is to competently work... Read more
Published on January 14, 2005 by M. Jones
Excellent reporting, trouble ahead for Walmart?
It is amazing that this book hasnt gotten more attention that it has. In one of the well-organized, focused book on corporate behavior, Liza presents the basis of the class action... Read more
Published on December 10, 2004 by Sreeram Ramakrishnan
Wal-Mart Women against the Wal-Mart Behemoth--a must read
Best non-fiction read of the year, Selling Women Short is neither boring nor pedantic. It is packed with hard hitting realism dealing with the lives and stories of real... Read more
Published on November 30, 2004 by Builder Levy
Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
THE STORY OF Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., begins not with Betty Dukes but with a white Texan woman Duke's junior by more than two decades. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
hourly jobs, named plaintiffs, retail workers Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Sam's Club, Sam Walton, Betty Dukes, New York, Home Depot, United States, Stephanie Odle, Joyce Moody, Brad Seligman, Gretchen Adams, Las Vegas, Dee Gunter, Lucky Stores, People Division, Lee Scott, Christine Kwapnoski, Cleo Page, Edith Arana, Joe Sellers, Open Door, New Mexico, South Carolina, African American, Food Stamps, Impact Fund New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
THE STORY OF Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., begins not with Betty Dukes but with a white Texan woman Duke's junior by more than two decades. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
hourly jobs, named plaintiffs, retail workers Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Sam's Club, Sam Walton, Betty Dukes, New York, Home Depot, United States, Stephanie Odle, Joyce Moody, Brad Seligman, Gretchen Adams, Las Vegas, Dee Gunter, Lucky Stores, People Division, Lee Scott, Christine Kwapnoski, Cleo Page, Edith Arana, Joe Sellers, Open Door, New Mexico, South Carolina, African American, Food Stamps, Impact Fund New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 11
books:
See all 11 books this book cites
- In Sam We Trust: The Untold Story of Sam Walton and Wal-Mart, the World's Most Powerful Retailer by Bob Ortega in Front Matter, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Long Island (America and Her People) by Bill Harris on page 200
- Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich in Back Matter
- My Story by Jason O'Neal Williams in Back Matter
- Financial Services (Aspects of Britain) by Central Office of Information in Back Matter
See all 11 books this book cites
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