Nine to Five

Would you believe that Nine to Five is almost forty years old? NPR’s Morning Edition on Thursday featured the song as one of its American Anthems. It’s fun to wake up to, and interesting to hear the examination of the lyrics by Lynn Neary, Karen Nussbaum, Rebecca Traister, and Merrill Garbus. It’s not as simple as the jaunty music suggests.

Of course I thought of all the women doing the work of the church when I heard: “it’s all takin’ and no givin’. They just use your mind and they never give you credit.” We’ve often consoled ourselves that the rewards of our good works are intangible, but more and more church employees, especially women, choose these jobs to support their families. They might also sing: “For service and devotion you would think that I would deserve a fat promotion.” In the church, an even greater problem is losing your job over your beliefs or for living out your sexual identity. Call to Action, New Ways Ministry, and DignityUSA have each developed resources for Church worker justice to help those whose employment rights under law have been violated by their church employers and frequently issue statements in solidarity of those facing discrimination of firing.

It’s very clear that in the song the opponent is the “boss-man,” but how many of us have now been on the other side of the power dynamics? We’ve had secretaries or “assistants” (Traister notes the change of terminology for women at the bottom of the workplace hierarchy).  Not recreating the patriarchy when we have a chance to do something different is only the negative way of expressing what we expect of women as leaders. At the same time, women who rise face special scrutiny not only of their management style but also their “likability” and even their appearance.

Did someone bury hierarchy in a parenthesis? The one difference between church employment and almost every other worksite in America is the formal gender barrier to policy-making and top leadership at every level. It’s not only preaching and sacraments that are circumscribed. Even if you “Pour myself a cup of ambition” you can only hope for an advisory role on your parish council or in your staff position. The veto is a powerful tool even in this non-democracy.

Many are celebrating the appointment this week of six women religious to the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (Ciclsal, a charmingly unpronounceable acronym). Does this matter? There were 23 new appointments. I have not worked very hard to find out if that’s the total membership of the Congregation, or if there are others – who would be men – continuing in office. Is it not astonishing that this is the first time that women have become voting members of the official body that makes policies about their place in the church? Women compose the vast majority of those affected by Cislsal decisions; a few of their elected leaders now get to influence official statements and the exercise of authority.

I suppose that’s progress.  Do you remember that it was ten years ago (and only thirty years after 9 to 5) that this very congregation launched an investigation of American sisters, especially the Leadership Conference of Women Religious? Maybe if women had been voting – and especially speaking out as equal members – this great mistake would never have been pursued. Like most authoritarian exercises of power, this galvanized supporters in the NunJustice movement, with WOC taking a strong leadership role.

Solidarity is another message in the song: “You’re in the same boat with a lotta your friends Waitin’ for the day your ship’ll come in. An’ the tide’s gonna turn and it’s all gonna roll your way.” WOC, sing it out and sing it loud! (In doing this blog, I found how karaoke works: there are websites with large-print versions of the words so you can see them on your phone. Who knew!)

Finally, I must acknowledge 9to5: Women Working for Equal Pay, Power and Participation! With chapters in four states and a national media presence, this National Association of Working Women reminds me of WOC in another environment: articulating gender issues and pushing for legislation and culture change. It’s been hard to balance a serious purpose with a fun song (I may never try this again), but our movement is part of the larger struggle for women’s rights and we must respect ourselves even as we sing “But you got dreams he’ll never take away.”