Recently I was arguing with Patricia Handschiegel about her column at the Huffington Post where she asserts that women have made huge progress in the work world, and the proof of it is that women today aren’t afraid to be feminine in the workplace. I argued that primal issues like power, equal pay for equal work, and visibility in the C-suite (CEO, CFO, CBO, etc) sort of crush femininity as an issue. Also, I kept my mouth shut about her subtext that younger people are so much more advanced now, and that if only those earlier women had done X and Y, they would have been better treated. (Poor stupid old women!)
And yet, vindication! Today I was gratified to see this article by Chrystia Freeland: Why Aren’t There More Women at Capitalism’s Heights? Freeland, who is the global editor at large for Thomson Reuters, agrees with me, although maybe gratified isn’t the word. More like depressed.
I have experienced the “good-old boy ” network firsthand throughout my career..fight! fight ! fight! every inch of the way..maybe my daughter will help to break through. Sad but true
Kathy
Having worked in typically “male-dominated industries” most of my life, I can see where Patricia is coming from; however, you’re right in that being “feminine” really has little to do with it, and it’s a crying shame that we can’t command equal pay — still!
Yesterday on the news they said the unemployment rate for women was 2% less than that for men, and I thought it’s probably because they let the higher earners go first (i.e. the men). A sad silver lining.