Women tend to have strong opinions about social issues because they tend to get left out of the decision-making process.

Marianne Ferber, a well-known economist, spoke Wednesday night to students about feminine activist rights. The event was sponsored by the Women’s Advocacy Council and was to enlighten students about the economic problems of the world today.

“Women’s movement is one of the few things I am moderately optimistic about,” Ferber said. “The economics profession has now become enormously conservative.”

Ferber was concerned with family issues, jobs and money. She wanted to make sure to stress what the social issues were, and how things were looked at.

Feminists are often are very diverse groups with many opinions, Ferber said. It is most common for women to have such a strong opinion on the issue because it is women who get left out of things.

When a report is ran or a story is read and someone speaks of man, the word is usually meant to involve men or women. Ferber has noticed from research that even though the word is used for both males and females, people often have a male figure in mind.

“If the world of today is going to give opinions and speak loudly to the public then they need to use communication effectively,” Ferber said. “Communication should be used clearly to make a distinction.”

Ferber went on to discuss the issues of family life and the question of “Who is family?” The actual definition states that family consists of two or more people living together in the same household who are related by blood.

“What about grandparents, in-laws, and close friends?” Ferber asked.

She went on to discuss that family can be anyone close to another person, and that blood relation has nothing to do with it.

When dealing with job-related issues in family, Ferber said: “The best and most efficient way for a household to survive is for each to work at what they do best.”

Men often seem to specialize in labor, and women are often looked at as the housewife who stays home to do the work all day. It is reported that people typically like housework less than any other possible job.

“If the men and women both get out and understand what the other is going through, it is more likely for them to respect each other and be more caring to one another’s feelings,” Ferber said.

Divorce has also become a big downfall of the economy. Ferber spoke of her times as a young adult and how she couldn’t remember knowing anyone who had been divorced until she was the age of 20.

“The women couldn’t afford it, and the men didn’t want it,” Ferber said.

One last thing that Ferber expressed very strongly was the money problem with the famous big-star economists.

“What can they do with their money that can really benefit them? They’re already warm in the winter and cool in the summer,” Ferber said.

She continued to say that there are still many feminist groups that get much attention and are doing much better.

“Overall, I think we have made some progress, but there is still much to be done,” she said.