Author: SCE

Searches for “Feminism” Rose 70%+ in 2017

Beyonce’s ‘Flawless’ performance at the 2014 MTV Video Music Award

Feminism made a huge impact in 2017, and it was especially felt on the Internet. Dictionary website Merriam-Webster reported that searches for the term grew 70% over searches in 2016.

Searches for “feminism” corresponded to major events in 2017, such as the Women’s March in January and the #MeToo movement, and the release of relevant media such as “Wonder Woman” and “The Handmaid’s Tale.”

The dictionary also named “feminism” its 2017 Word of the Year. The term beat out other popularly-searched terms such as “complicit,” “empathy” and “gaffe.”

On Vacation

Vacation (Buck Inspire)

I’m out this week leading up to the holiday, but will be back on Monday, April 2nd with more content! Have a great week, everyone!

Trends: Hollywood Adopts Inclusion Riders

Michael B. Jordan (Mashable)

Many people only learned of the term “inclusion rider” when actress Frances McDormand mentioned it during her acceptance speech for the Best Actress Oscar at this year’s Oscars ceremony. Curiosity about the term was so high that Merriam-Webster later reported via Twitter that “inclusion” was the dictionary’s most-searched term during the Oscars ceremony. (“Rider” came in fourth.)

(For those who haven’t yet heard, an inclusion rider is a clause in an actor’s contact that states that the hiring for positions on set must be inclusive. This clause can also be called an equity rider. The rider was invented by Stacy L. Smith, professor at University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism along with lawyer Kalpana Kotagal. If you’re curious about what an inclusion rider looks like, here’s an inclusion rider template.)

Following the concept’s wave of exposure, others in Hollywood are making a commitment to inclusiveness in their projects official with the rider. “Black Panther” actor Michael B. Jordan announced that his production company Outlier Society Productions would adopt the inclusion rider for its projects. Jordan is the first major actor to adopt the rider following McDormand’s Oscars speech. Actors Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have also announced that their joint production company Pearl Street Films will also adopt an inclusion rider.

I certainly hope others take up this cause to the point that we no longer need inclusion riders.

#ThrowbackThursday: Gender Pay Gap by State, 2016

Gender Pay Gap by State (Business Insider)

This post was originally published on July 13, 2017. It has been updated from the original.

You know the old saying that women make 75 cents for every dollar a man makes? (That saying makes me want to punch something.) Well, it’s not strictly true. Yes, women on the whole make less than men, but it’s not always exactly 75 cents.

The above graphic comes from “Business Insider,” which broke down the gender pay gap by state. Notice from the key at the bottom of the map that no percentage range rises about 90%. So no state pays women 90 cents for every man’s dollar. The closest states are New York with 87% and Nevada with 85%.

This is just depressing, There’s so much more progress to be made.

Google Trends: Inclusion Rider

Frances McDormand, Oscars 2018 (The Independent UK)

With Frances McDormand mentioning the inclusion rider clause during her speech while accepting the Best Actress Oscar, I wondered how the concept was rising as a search term. Let’s take a look using Google Trends!

First, here’s how the search term “inclusion” performed over the last 12 months:

Google Trends: Search Term “Inclusion” Over the Past 12 Months (Google Trends)

See that spike? That was for the week of March 4-10, 2018. The Oscars took place on Sunday, March 4. No coincidence there!

Here are the search term’s top five related topics:

Google Trends: “Inclusion” Search Term Related Topics (Google Trends)

Clearly, McDormand was a large driver of traffic in the search term. Another thing to note is that two of the suggested search terms autofilled for “inclusion” are “subset” and “social exclusion.”

Now let’s take a look at how the actual term “inclusion rider” performed:

Google Trends: “Inclusion Rider” Search Term for Past 12 Months (Google Trends)

Another big spike! And in that same week! In this case, correlation equals causation.

Weird thing about the suggested search terms: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck both appear as suggestions, but not Frances McDormand. Hmm. This suggests to me that more people are searching for the term now with regards to Damon and Affleck, but not McDormand.

Here are the related topics for “inclusion rider:”

Google Trends: “Inclusion Rider” Related Topics (Google Trends)

That’s pretty straightforward.

It’s pretty cool to see empirical evidence that this concept is gaining awareness! Though Merriam-Webster could already attest to that.

Sales of High Heels Dropped 17% in 2017

Christian Louboutin shoes (Knowledge @ Wharton High School)

Analysts have been sounding the alarm bell about the death of retail for a few years now. A few categories are also shifting. Among them are various trends in womenswear. Right now, one major category is getting shaken up: women’s shoes.

Market research firm NPD Group found that sales of high heels dropped 17% in 2017. The women’s footwear category then saw a substitute effect: Sales of women’s sneakers jumped 37% within the same time period.

There are a few reasons at play here: One is that the office is getting more casual, and it’s more acceptable for women to wear flats to work. Another is that sneakers are also having a moment in casual wear. An overarching reason is that women are claiming what they want to wear, and not bending to society’s expectations.

We can’t yet say if this will be a trend for retailers, or the beginning of a larger shift. It may be time to find out how men respond to flats and sneakers in terms of attraction.

International Women’s Day 2018: By The Numbers

International Women’s Day 2018 (Code Pink)

Today is International Women’s Day! Here are some fun facts appropriate for the day (and for the purposes of this blog) to dazzle your friends, with sources hyperlinked:

“Women love sex just as much as men. In a recent survey, three quarters of the females polled said they wanted to romp at least three times a week.”
Women now make up over half of college graduates at 58%. And it’s had an effect: “This increased percentage of educated women has been directly tied to economic growth worldwide — and faster economic growth at that.”
Curious about how the wage gap‘s looking? “In 2016, women working full time in the United States typically were paid just 80 percent of what men were paid.”
80% of women directors made only 1 film between 2007 to 2016.
Only 17% of start-ups had a female founder in 2017.
This year’s theme is “#pressforprogress — a push for gender parity nationwide.”

And these are just the tip of the iceberg. There are lots more interesting facts out there. Now go out and spread the word that change needs to happen!!

#ThrowbackThursday: International Women’s Day Poster from Macedonia (Date Unknown)

Macedonian International Women’s Day Poster (Flamingo Group)

Happy International Women’s Day! The poster above is from Macedonia, and I couldn’t find out the original date behind it. The text on the poster reads (italics from the source):

8 March is not the day of the fairer sex, 8 March is the international reminder of the struggle for economic, political and societal equality of women. The fight against contemporary patriarchy is not over: the World Economic Forum predicts that the gender gap will not close until 2133!

The history behind International Women’s Day is fascinating! The history of the day stems from Socialist roots: The first observance was in New York in 1909, and was put on by the Socialist Party of America. Russia officially began marking the day in 1917, and became a non-working day in 1965. The United Nations adopted the day in 1975.

Even if you’re not wearing red or purple today, be sure to take a moment and reflect on the women in your life and the world over.

“Inclusion” Was Merriam-Webster’s Most-Searched Term After the Oscars

Frances McDormand, Oscars 2018 (The Independent UK)

Frances McDormand gave a great speech when she won the Best Actress Oscar at this year’s awards ceremony. And she closed it out with two words: “inclusion rider.”

For those who haven’t yet Googled this term, an inclusion rider is a clause in an actor’s contact that states that the hiring for positions on set must be inclusive. (This clause can also be called an equity rider.)

Apparently, so many people were curious about the term that it caused an interesting side effect:

Merriam-Webster ‘Inclusion’ Tweet, Oscars 2018 (Twitter)

One thing to note is that Merriam-Webster’s tweet on searches for “inclusion” got much more engagement (2.6K likes) than the company’s typical posts. (200-400+ likes). I’m glad people are interested in learning more about this concept!

Jordan Peele Makes History as the First African-American to Win the Best Original Screenplay Oscar

Jordan Peele wins the Best Original Screenplay Oscar at the 2018 Oscars (Time)

HOLLYWOOD, CA – MARCH 04: Writer/director Jordan Peele accepts Best Original Screenplay for ‘Get Out’ onstage during the 90th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center on March 4, 2018 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Writer/director Jordan Peele made history at the Oscars last night: He became the first African-American to win the Best Original Screenplay Oscar! Peele won for his critically acclaimed and popular debut feature “Get Out.” (If you haven’t seen it yet, SEE IT NOW!!)

Peele was only the fourth African-American person to be nominated for the category. Past nominees were Suzanne de Passe for “Lady Sings the Blues” (which came out in 1972), Spike Lee for “Do the Right Thing” (1989) and John Singleton for “Boyz N the Hood (1991).

Congrats to Peele, and I can’t wait to see what else he does!!

Sex & Stats: Where Numbers Come to Bang

Statistics. Economics. Sex.