Less than 24 hours after her Compact essay, "The Great Feminization," set off a thousand group texts, writer Helen Andrews joined to talk about what she means by "feminization," why the 2020 moral fervor looked the way it did, and how workplace culture shifts when women become the numerical majority. We also compare "agreeableness" with the kind of conflict that actually moves ideas forward (and where each belongs).
In this episode we discuss:
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How Helen defines "the great feminization" and why she thinks it explains contemporary "wokeness"
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What changes when institutions tip female—journalism, academia, law, nonprofits
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HR-ification, hostile-environment law, and why managers vs. judges should handle culture
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Agreeableness as a social virtue—and a professional liability in truth-seeking fields
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Innovation, risk tolerance, and the gendered vibes around tech, nuclear power, and exploration
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Whether "women in STEM" initiatives help, hurt, or just rebrand office politics
About the guest: Helen Andrews is a senior editor at The American Conservative and author of Boomers: The Men and Women Who Promised Freedom and Delivered Disaster. Her new Compact essay is "The Great Feminization."
