Backward in high heels

There have been quite a few articles coming out recently that seem to reflect on the way women interact with the world that have been interesting to be, so here is a blog-link smorgasboard:

Apparently, women's happiness levels have not been rising like men's over the last thirty years.

Of course, part of it could be related to the fact that we still make 77% of what men make, a situation that the book Women Don't Ask tries to analyze. It is about the way in which women are unlikely to negotiate and the incredibly detrimental effects it can have on their careers and monetary earnings. Of course, the problem goes much deeper because the instinct to refrain from negotiation is rooted in real life because, while when women negotiate they are just as likely to get raises as men are, men are consistently less willing to work with a woman who has negotiated with them. We can't win.

As if that wasn't enough, the self-silencing that such penalties encourage is outrageously detrimental to a woman's health, at least in a romantic relationship. Women's heart disease risk skyrockets when they self-silence or when their husband use argumentative styles that are devoid of warmth. Men's risk skyrocket when there are arguments about control, even if they are the ones trying to control their wives rather than the other way around.

And it turns out that even when a woman is incredibly successful, she may be prone to the same problems, and may get slammed for talking about them.

Update: Though the happiness study story, at least, may be a journalistic sham.