In 1965, Cosby had become the first black man ever to star in a prime-time television show; he was conscious enough of his non-dissolved, traditional nuclear family that he made it the foundation of his public persona, his comedy act, and eventually of his blockbuster sitcom. Rebecca Traister actblackblockbuster share on social
There may be many benefits to working outside the home for wages, but it's certainly not been done as an act of liberation. It's an act of economic necessity and has been since the beginning of time. Rebecca Traister actbeginbenefit Change image and share on social
The diminishment of southern contests is the kind of veiled racist rhetoric that Bill Clinton deployed memorably in South Carolina in 2008, and which does not look any more attractive on Bernie - the guy whose campaign is centered on the premise that he plays cleaner and more progressive politics than his opponents. Rebecca Traister attractiveberniebill share on social
Women are living independently, but we don't yet have the social and economic policies behind us to support that independence. Rebecca Traister economicindependenceindependently Change image and share on social
There are a whole bunch of structural and systemic factors we need to address in order to move away from the model in which women really are still dependent on men. Rebecca Traister addressbunchdependent Change image and share on social
Women's roles in the movies remain, for the most part, girlfriends, mothers, wives. Rebecca Traister girlfriendmothermovie Change image and share on social
Marriage has been a way of attempting to ensure the replication of power and wealth from one generation of another, passing it down from men to men. Rebecca Traister attemptensuregeneration Change image and share on social
Though Hillary Rodham married Bill Clinton 11 years after Camille Hanks married Bill Cosby, and after having earned her own law degree, the terms of her marriage were also shaped in their own way by a presumption of a husband's centrality and a wife's subsidiary nature. Rebecca Traister billcamillecentrality share on social
During childbearing years, changing jobs - even for a fundamentally better gig - can be a very bad idea. Those prime childbearing years - mid-twenties to early forties - overlap precisely with prime professional years. This is when employees are most attractive to new employers, when they should be able to zip up ladders with the most alacrity. Rebecca Traister alacrityattractivebad share on social
The first big impact that feminism in the 1960s and '70s had was a big divorce boom in the '70s and '80s. That, in part, had an impact on how the children of that divorce boom viewed marriage. Rebecca Traister 1960s70s80s Change image and share on social