Press Advisory

ADVISORY: Reshaping the Work-Family Debate

Why Men and Class Matter

A discussion with author Joan C. Williams about how gender pressures on men fuel work-family conflict

September 16, 2010, 9:00am – 10:30am

Admission is free.

RSVP to attend this event

The Center for American Progress will feature a panel discussion around the book Reshaping the Work-Family Debate: Why Men and Class Matter by Joan C. Williams, founding director of the Center for WorkLife Law at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. The revolution in gender roles has stalled—in the United States, women’s workforce participation and men’s household contributions both leveled off in the 1990s. Jumpstarting that revolution, Williams argues, requires opening up a national conversation about gender pressures on men. One key is to understand how men’s identities are intertwined with the mandate of work devotion. Is this mandate required by competitive economic pressures, or is it the contemporary equivalent of the joust—a ritual that enables men to prove who is a "real" man?

Featured author:

Joan C. Williams, Author of Reshaping the Work-Family Debate: Why Men and Class Matter and Founding Director, Center for WorkLife Law, University of California, Hastings College of the Law

Keynote speaker:

The Hon. Jim McDermott, Chairman, Ways and Means Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support

Additional panelists:

Michael Kimmel, Professor of Sociology, State University of New York Stony Brook and author of The Politics of Manhood, The Gender of Desire,and The History of Men

Michael Selmi, Samuel Tyler Research Professor of Law, George Washington University Law School and author of numerous articles on work-life conflict, class, and men

Heather Boushey, Senior Economist, Center for American Progress and co-author of “The Three Faces of Work-Family Conflict”

September 16, 2010, 9:00am – 10:30am

Space is extremely limited. RSVP required. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis and not guaranteed.

A light breakfast will be served at 8:30 a.m.

Center for American Progress 1333 H St. NW, 10th Floor Washington, DC 20005 Map & Directions

Nearest Metro: Blue/Orange Line to McPherson Square or Red Line to Metro Center

RSVP to attend this event

For more information, call 202-682-1611.

###

Just released!

Interactive: Mapping access to abortion by congressional district

Click here