Men need not apply

Most of the jobs 5.7 million between December 2007 and May 2009 lost in this country have been in manufacturing and construction. These jobs are dominated by men, so most of the job losses have been jobs that men do. On the other hand in the industries like healthcare, etc there has been a net job creation of an additional half million jobs. So one would suppose in order to help men who are unemployed you would want lots of shovel ready jobs to employ the men who have lost their jobs. And that is how the stimulus was originally envisioned, but a funny thing happened on the way to enactment of the stimulus bill.
The Obama administration was bombsarded by NOW, the Feminist majority, the Institue for Women's Policy Researchand the National Women's Law Center formed into a coalition called WEAVE(Women's Equality Adds Value to the Economy). So instead of shovel ready money was channeled into well "apron-ready" jobs in teaching, nursing, librarians, healthcare, social services, areas where there are a much larger share of women. No matter that many more men than women lost jobs. President Obama responded by sending his soon-to-be deputy direction at the National Economic Council along with his aides to a meeting organized by Kim Garndy and Feminist Majority president Eleanor Smeal. Our president did what many men do when confrnted by a chorus of female complaint: He changed his plan. He added health, education and other human infrastructurecomponents to the proposal.,
Despite 80% of the jobs werer lost by men, it is estimated that women will get 42% of the new jobs in he stimulus proposal. Six AP reporters have discovered that the $300 billion sent ot the states is mainly being used for health care, education, food stamps, and othe social services. Since September there was talk about shoevel ready and that is not turning out to be the reality of the jobs created.The Obama administration said it was going to insulate itself from lobbyists. Yet its first major policy initiative ws transformed by an orchestrated barrage, of letters, phone calls, scripted handshakes and meetings with women's special interest groups.

As Christina Hoff Sommers has said "Unless the Obama administration and Congresss find the tmerity to distance themselves frm the new feminist lobby, the "man-cession" will deepen."