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Selling Women Short The Landmark Battle for Workers Rights at Wal Mart

On television, Wal-Mart employees are smiling women delighted with their jobs. But reality is another story. In 2000, Betty Dukes, a fifty-two-year-old black woman in Pittsburg, California, became the lead plaintiff in Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, a class action, representing 1.6 million women. In her explosive investigation of this historic lawsuit, journalist Liza Featherstone reveals how Wal-Mart, a self-styled “family-oriented,” Christian company:

Deprives women (but not men) of the training they need to advance.

Relegates women to lower-paying jobs like selling baby clothes, reserving the more lucrative positions for men.

Inflicts punitive demotions on employees who object to discrimination.

Exploits Asian women in its sweatshops in Saipan, a U.S. commonwealth.

Featherstone goes on to reveal the creative solutions that Wal-Mart workers around the country have found, like fighting for unions, living-wage ordinances, and childcare options. Selling Women Short combines the personal stories of these employees with superb investigative journalism to show why women who work these low-wage jobs are getting a raw deal, and what they are doing about it. A new preface to the paperback edition will reflect on Wal-Mart’s response to this lawsuit and its critics-including this one.

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Always Lower Prices – but at what cost?
This is the central question in Featherstone’s treatment of the Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. class action lawsuit. Focusing on depositions, sworn testimony and direct personal interviews, Featherstone gets right to the heart of her subject in the first chapter. The anecdotal evidence, supported by ample statistics, demonstrates that something is, indeed, awfully wrong with Wal-Mart and the disparate ways in which it treats its workers.

As important as the gender discrimination issue is the consideration of how Wal-Mart has, and will continue to, build its fortune off the backs of the working poor. Given enough time, it is entirely possible that certain areas of the country will be economically drained, committed to an addiction of buying at and working for Wal-Mart. It is the low-price panties version of a Super Size Me world. Worst of all, however, is the company’s documented practice of referring its own workers to social service agencies, to apply for benefits they need because Wal-Mart neither provides sufficient benefits nor pays employees enough to afford them. Puts a whole new spin on the phrase “corporate welfare.” Where is the politicians’ indignation over this abuse of the welfare system?

Well researched and well documented with references and notes. One latter chapter does tend to slow down with emphasis on legal citations and stats, but this is necessary to put a factual basis behind the personal stories. Whether you are against Wal-Mart, a Wally-World fan or a blissfully unaware consumer, you cannot read this book and remain unaffected in some manner. If it does not turn you completely away from shopping there, it should at the very least give you pause before opening your wallet.

5 Stars Incredulous
How is it possible that this book (and this class action suit) hasn’t made a bigger impact in the American people? My eyes were opened and I accepted the Wal-mart propaganda and brainwashing for what it was. But I believe boycotting will only hurt these women- instead join the grassroots campaigns and unionizations Featherstone talks about. Once you’ve purchased this amazing book, pass it on to a friend. Or better yet, walk into a Wal-mart and hand it to a female employee. This *should* be required reading.

4 Stars informative and shocking
Anyone living in the 21st century will be amazed at the content of Selling Women Short; the anecdotes shared by current and former Wal-Mart employees are like something out of Gloria Steinem’s worst nightmare circa 1975. Even in the current litigious climate of corporate America, Wal-Mart manages to succeed at completely indoctrinating its “associates” to believe in the “values” of the company, which are as “good ole boy” as they can get. Liza Featherstone’s account of the Dukes vs. Wal-Mart class action lawsuit (now certified, still unresolved), the largest in U.S. legal history, makes up for in content what it may lack in an elegant writing style (it’s a bit bare bones and stilted at times). The women involved in the lawsuit aren’t the typical bleeding-heart liberals that would be easy for Wal-Mart to discredit; they are by and large very religious, relatively conservative women who are trying to get by on very low wages and zero respect. The consistency with which women have been kept to the lowest paying, lowest power positions within the company is nothing less than appalling; using both ample statistics as well as countless personal interviews, Featherstone assaults the reader with a barrage of terrible realities. Many of the employees at Wal-Mart cannot afford to spend 50% of their income on the company health plan, so they end up on state or federal assistance. Women are discouraged from applying to management positions. If this reading this book does not convince you to boycott Wal-Mart, it would be surprising.

5 Stars Struggles for justice
“Selling Women Short” by Liza Featherstone is an engaging book about the historic ‘Betty Dukes vs Wal-Mart Stores Inc’ class action lawsuit that alleges Wal-Mart’s institutionalized discrimination of its female employees. Skillfully weaving anecdotes and profiles of key plaintiffs and their claims of sexism with research about Wal-Mart and its Orwellian corporate culture, the book provides an excellent critique of the company’s numerous illegal behaviors and a humane narrative of its female employees’ struggle for justice.

Interestingly, Ms. Featherstone’s analysis suggests that the company’s paradigmatic success is attributable to its parasitical relationship with the declining fortunes of the working class. Wal-Mart cynically promotes itself as a pro-family, pro-American company even as it offers poverty-level wages and imports most of its wares from foreign, low-wage countries. In this manner, Ms. Featherstone explains that Wal-Mart both contributes to and profits from the exploitation of marginalized female laborers.

Ms. Featherstone is careful to discuss the limitations of the lawsuit as a tool to effect systemic change at Wal-Mart. She contends that it is probably equally important for the public to become educated about the inequities at Wal-Mart in order to create a media firestorm that might pressure the company to change its ways. However, Ms. Featherstone describes the difficulties that unions and interest groups have had trying to organize labor and shoppers in the struggle with Wal-Mart, contending that our consumer culture tends to set aside worker’s rights issues in favor of shopping expediency. Nevertheless, as the lawsuit moves forward the author is hopeful that Wal-Mart may soon feel the need to make significant changes in order to avert a court-imposed solution and/or a public relations catastrophe.

I highly recommend this outstanding book to everyone.

5 Stars Unfortunately, this book is fabulous
It’s so unfortunate that a book like this has to be written. It’s even more upseting that every word is true. The book, strictly speaking, is awesome! Why isn’t every newspaper and TV show talking about it? The situations in the book are true I’m sure. The reason I’m sure is because I’m an Assistant Manager and I’ve lived every one of those situations during my short term in management, and more. Oh the horror stories I could tell! I can’t even count how many times my husband has had to be restrained from leaving the house to go have a “chat” with my Store Manager out back of the store. The treatment of women, actually associates in general and especially female managers, by this company is wrong. It’s downright criminal. It’s also why I’m resigning and giving up. Is Liza writing another book or an update? Is there a way to join the lawsuit? Is there a way to contact Liza? I would really like to know these things because I also have a story to tell. My email is walmartassistantmgr@yahoo.com.

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