Hella Bus Blog

A new study conducted by a research group that goes by name of The 4th Estate shows that men are quoted around four times more then women in media reports on women's issues, such as abortion, birth control, and Planned Parenthood. Among 35 major national publications, including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, 81% of the quotes about abortion came from men, while in stories about birth control, men scored 75 percent of the quotes.

Wait, huh?  Men are quoted four times more than women on issues pertaining to reproductive rights.  Which would make it fair to assume they must hold the most expertise, otherwise the media wouldn't go to them for their opinions.

Now, I simply don't understand how men can be better experts in an almost EXCLUSIVELY VAGINA-RELATED SUBJECT. Women's opinions on this specific topic should be of higher value than men's simply because they are directly speaking about their rights and livelihood. And yet, it's mostly the gents doing all the talking.

Of course, as we've talked about in my first post What Women Want, women are highly underrepresented in most professional fields (with the exception of social services where they dominate), including media and politics. So the disproportionate number of male quotes could be attributed to the disproportionate number of male employees.  Regardless, if we want a real, informed discussion about these issues, we need to hear the voices of experts.  And that means women.