According to a recent article in Glamour (such a pinacle of the feminist movement, I know) senior editor Cindy Leive claims most women are just 'haters' who are jealous of successful women. In fact, she even likens the recent loss of the GOP to the hatred many women had for Martha Stewart at the height of her career.
Article: http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2008/11/glamour_editor_cindi_leive_thi.html
The election’s over, but Glamour editor Cindi Leive is already rooting for a Sarah Palin comeback. "Oh, I think she’s got a brilliant future," said Leive at the election party she hosted with Harvey Weinstein, Jim Nelson, and Georgette Mosbacher the other night. "Personally, I think she is a gifted politician. She’s a great communicator. She’s a magnetic personality. I don’t see how you can discount that."
Leive thinks Palin’s candidacy was "great for women"; she’s even okay with that whole making-women-in-Wasilla-pay-for-their-own-rape-kit thing. "It’s anti-women, if you’re a feminist," she said. "It doesn’t seem anti-women to her. I don’t know. I’m not any more offended by her having those views than I am by any man holding those same views, and in the end, I think it’s a good thing to have more women out there with alternate political views. I just think that expands our ideas of what women are capable of." What does offend Leive, however, is "the venom with which some women have reacted to her. She has strong political views, but so do lots of men. The glee with which some women are jumping on her demise kind of turns me off. It reminds me of Martha Stewart," she went on.
"Back in the day when she first had her TV show, there were a lot of women who just loved to hate on Martha Stewart. And on some level it always seemed like they were feeling put down by her choices. Here’s this woman who’s stenciling her mantle. It makes you as a woman feel like you’re not woman enough if you’re not stenciling your mantle. A man encounters Bob Vila and he doesn’t think, ‘Who is this A-hole rebuilding his deck? I don’t have time to rebuild my deck! How dare he tell me to do that!’ A guy would just turn the channel, you know. And women should be able to do that, too. Why do you feel like that’s a referendum on how you live your life? Women take Sarah Palin’s choices really personally. And I think that real progress for women will be when there’s just enough of us out there that you don’t feel like every woman’s behavior is some kind of referendum on you and your choices."
Fact is:
I HATE Martha Stewart not because I feel "inadequate" but because she has an air of pompous superiority about her which she didn't have originally. Where most craft shows or cooking shows encourage their audience to go outside the prep list and make the project their own, Martha will spend the entire show emphasizing how her fortune allows her to waste hundreds on gold-foil imported pears as a centerpiece. Nevermind that her average viewer could never AFFORD half of the crap Martha shows us how to make. Now that we have Food Network, HGTV and Bravo, women realize what a snobby sham Martha was. She WAS holding us to some outlandish standard of wastefulness and time consuming garbage. Now, we have options and have cast her aside for the sham she is.
On the topic of Sarah Palin, she is in another category of idiocy all together. Once again, the fanbase decided that anyone who disagrees with her morally must be "jealous". The fact is, I don't want anything that Palin "has". I like having my right to choose. I like having the right to be a good person without fear of an invisible superpower or the threat of going to a lake of lava. The fact is, I pity her. I pity her and I pity Martha Stewart because they are trapped in a stereotype and don't know truly understand the meaning of 'freedom.' But hey, whatever works for them is fine.
For them.
Sarah Palin couldn't handle just keeping to herself. Oh no. She thinks to be a good "Christian" she has to influence the lives of everyone else around her by forcing people of all backgrounds and of all religions to confine to her skewed morals. That's why I don't like her. She's selfish and rude. And that kind of personality disgusts me. She's an insult to anyone who disagrees with her, INCLUDING most working women and any woman who's not a pentacostal Christian nutjob. So before you go jumping the gun and labeling all Palin and Martha haters as just "jealous bitches" educate yourself. I have many reasons to disagree with them, and not one stems from wanting to be like them.
Showing posts with label women. Show all posts
Showing posts with label women. Show all posts
Monday, November 10, 2008
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Sexuality v. Intelligence: Are Women to Blame?
Question: Do women hold some responsibility in how they are treated and percieved in the workplace? If so, does this affect how we are respected as coworkers and equals?
Scenario: You're watching ESPN and a female anchor comes on who looks to be in her mid 20s, has a very pretty face and appears to have spent at least 3 hours in make up before the show. As a man, her appearance may strike you momentarily. In fact, unless she's wearing a lowcut blouse, you might no even blink twice before becoming distracted with the score windows and game ticker on the bottom screen. If you are particularly sexist, you might even be driven to drown out her voice in the assumption that women know nothing about sports.
Now, if you're a women, you're probably more inclined to go through a series of emotions. You are probably checking out her hair, makeup and outfit with a fine toothed comb trying to determine if this is how she normally dresses or if it's just a "costume" for work. You might be wondering whether she really knows what she's talking about and mockig her voice every time she giggles or misspeaks. Granted, you never once stop to think if you are judging her male counterparts with the same scrutiny. In fact, you've probably changed the channel by now and decided that she was only hired for looks alone. Believe me, I've gone through this without even realizing it.
Thoughts: What just happened? This is the backlash of women in the workplace alongside men. For men, there will always be the initial instinct to "check a girl out" on looks alone. And all women know this by now. It is this fact which keep women painfully aware of their appearance even when those around them no longer compelled to notice them physically. You never know when you'll meet someone new or run into an old friend. So, you have to look good at all times. Afterall, even we women judge other women by how they look before speaking with them.
Look at the second scenario. As soon as we see another woman, we are inspecting everything about her. She is, afterall, our competition. Even if you don't want to work for ESPN as a news anchor, maybe you love sports or have a boyfriend or husband who does. Because of this, the scenario has been created in your mind to not only be more knowledgable than her in sports but also, to look more attractive. Insanity.
So why do we think this way? Well, I cannot speak for all women, but I know why I do; it's an instinct to keep what I have worked for and validate my own achievements. Unecessary to the rational mind, of course. But as human beings we are emotional and instinctual, sometimes, before the rational mind has time to comprehend what has occured. In fact, I find myself constantly invalidating the intelligence of female coworkers simply vased on the level of their "sexiness". It's the mentality that one cannot possibly invest the time needed for both study and education while also maintaing physical form and taste in clothing/makeup. Of course, as a woman I should know this to be false.
A recent study was performed by Columbia University to compare the relative mentality of men and women in the workplace. http://www2.gsb.columbia.edu/faculty/rfisman/gendercompetition_19dec06_rf.pdf showed evidence that women are more wary of and judgemental of their competition, i.e. other women. This drives them to act more negatively and prejudge other women more harshly. In fact, very little respect or merit is attributed to successful women whereas a man is more likely to believe she was promoted for her skill, a woman will assume it is "luck" or "looks" which propels women forward.
Another social study conducted by the NY Daily News surveyed the instinctual perception people hold regarding women in the workplace based solely on how they are dressed. They took one 30-something woman and put her in work pants, a suit jacket and button up shirt with flat heels. Her hair was pulled back and her makeup kept minimal. On perception alone, she was sent to several interviews with a preset resume highlighting her impressive career and education. The same woman was dressed more provocatively in a flowy knee-length skirt, a button up blouse and heels. Her hair was down and her make up more flashy. Still professional, just sexy. She was given the same resume and attended interviews as well. Then each outfit was tested with a less-than-favorable resume highlighting her lack of experience and a willingness to learn.
The results were as follows: Though men admitted in exit interviews that they were more aware of the feminity of the "more flattering" look initially, it was the less-flattering resume which mattered more than the woman's outfit. Sadly, over 70% of the female interviewers were more impressed by the dress styles of the interviewee than her resume. More women would have hired the good outfit/bad resume woman over the bad outfit/good resume one. Shocking? Not really.
Closing: So how can we fix this? If it is an instinct, it is not something which we can trully "ignore" or "fix". What we can do, however, is adjust our actions as the men have. You first have to embrace your instincts as a part of who you are. Men are inclined to think sexually of every woman they meet. However, that does not give them the free reign to act on it. The same goes for women. Though we are rigged to propel ourselves above the flock by highlighting the flaws of each woman we meet, it is doing a diservice to all of us if we are too vocal about our opinions. That's all they are; opinions. If you think someone is an "unintelligent tramp trying to sleep her way to the top" maybe she is. But maybe you're wrong. And in the effort to keep yourself on top you might end up making yourself look bad as well as dragging down the name of someone you may have called 'friend'. So watch your mouth, watch your actions and try to give women the same benefit of doubt you wish others would give you.
Scenario: You're watching ESPN and a female anchor comes on who looks to be in her mid 20s, has a very pretty face and appears to have spent at least 3 hours in make up before the show. As a man, her appearance may strike you momentarily. In fact, unless she's wearing a lowcut blouse, you might no even blink twice before becoming distracted with the score windows and game ticker on the bottom screen. If you are particularly sexist, you might even be driven to drown out her voice in the assumption that women know nothing about sports.
Now, if you're a women, you're probably more inclined to go through a series of emotions. You are probably checking out her hair, makeup and outfit with a fine toothed comb trying to determine if this is how she normally dresses or if it's just a "costume" for work. You might be wondering whether she really knows what she's talking about and mockig her voice every time she giggles or misspeaks. Granted, you never once stop to think if you are judging her male counterparts with the same scrutiny. In fact, you've probably changed the channel by now and decided that she was only hired for looks alone. Believe me, I've gone through this without even realizing it.
Thoughts: What just happened? This is the backlash of women in the workplace alongside men. For men, there will always be the initial instinct to "check a girl out" on looks alone. And all women know this by now. It is this fact which keep women painfully aware of their appearance even when those around them no longer compelled to notice them physically. You never know when you'll meet someone new or run into an old friend. So, you have to look good at all times. Afterall, even we women judge other women by how they look before speaking with them.
Look at the second scenario. As soon as we see another woman, we are inspecting everything about her. She is, afterall, our competition. Even if you don't want to work for ESPN as a news anchor, maybe you love sports or have a boyfriend or husband who does. Because of this, the scenario has been created in your mind to not only be more knowledgable than her in sports but also, to look more attractive. Insanity.
So why do we think this way? Well, I cannot speak for all women, but I know why I do; it's an instinct to keep what I have worked for and validate my own achievements. Unecessary to the rational mind, of course. But as human beings we are emotional and instinctual, sometimes, before the rational mind has time to comprehend what has occured. In fact, I find myself constantly invalidating the intelligence of female coworkers simply vased on the level of their "sexiness". It's the mentality that one cannot possibly invest the time needed for both study and education while also maintaing physical form and taste in clothing/makeup. Of course, as a woman I should know this to be false.
A recent study was performed by Columbia University to compare the relative mentality of men and women in the workplace. http://www2.gsb.columbia.edu/faculty/rfisman/gendercompetition_19dec06_rf.pdf showed evidence that women are more wary of and judgemental of their competition, i.e. other women. This drives them to act more negatively and prejudge other women more harshly. In fact, very little respect or merit is attributed to successful women whereas a man is more likely to believe she was promoted for her skill, a woman will assume it is "luck" or "looks" which propels women forward.
Another social study conducted by the NY Daily News surveyed the instinctual perception people hold regarding women in the workplace based solely on how they are dressed. They took one 30-something woman and put her in work pants, a suit jacket and button up shirt with flat heels. Her hair was pulled back and her makeup kept minimal. On perception alone, she was sent to several interviews with a preset resume highlighting her impressive career and education. The same woman was dressed more provocatively in a flowy knee-length skirt, a button up blouse and heels. Her hair was down and her make up more flashy. Still professional, just sexy. She was given the same resume and attended interviews as well. Then each outfit was tested with a less-than-favorable resume highlighting her lack of experience and a willingness to learn.
The results were as follows: Though men admitted in exit interviews that they were more aware of the feminity of the "more flattering" look initially, it was the less-flattering resume which mattered more than the woman's outfit. Sadly, over 70% of the female interviewers were more impressed by the dress styles of the interviewee than her resume. More women would have hired the good outfit/bad resume woman over the bad outfit/good resume one. Shocking? Not really.
Closing: So how can we fix this? If it is an instinct, it is not something which we can trully "ignore" or "fix". What we can do, however, is adjust our actions as the men have. You first have to embrace your instincts as a part of who you are. Men are inclined to think sexually of every woman they meet. However, that does not give them the free reign to act on it. The same goes for women. Though we are rigged to propel ourselves above the flock by highlighting the flaws of each woman we meet, it is doing a diservice to all of us if we are too vocal about our opinions. That's all they are; opinions. If you think someone is an "unintelligent tramp trying to sleep her way to the top" maybe she is. But maybe you're wrong. And in the effort to keep yourself on top you might end up making yourself look bad as well as dragging down the name of someone you may have called 'friend'. So watch your mouth, watch your actions and try to give women the same benefit of doubt you wish others would give you.
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