08/24/2006

» SMO rule 3: link love for September from Strive Notes
I promised last month to adhere to Rule 3 of Rohit Bhargava’s 5 Rules of Social Media Optimization.  So thanks very much to everyone who linked to Strive Notes in the last 30 days.  You are listed in reverse chronological order. Susan Getgood, 30 d... [Read More]

Well, since my blood pressure went up just reading this, I better continue this conversation off-blog...

I do have to make a slight correction. Reviewing the PR study referenced above, the statement was actually that women are BETTER liars so that's why they embrace PR as a career.

Hey, po-ta-to, poh-tah-toh. It's still crap.

Maybe it's because I'm an idealistic college student who always planned on having her cake and eating it too--being a savvy PR exec with a dual income family and an envious lake house to show for it--but I thought smart and successful was supposed to be sexy.

You’re right. Sexism is still very much alive, and thanks to articles like that one, men (albeit not all) are running around spouting off statistics to justify their archaic beliefs. I don’t know about the lying or the sickness, but I do know about the divorce and the cheating. Women without jobs don’t stay with their husbands because they are better wives, they stay (sometimes in unhappy or abusive relationships) because they have no way out—Holly Homemaker would have an awfully hard time feeding the kids while hunting for a job with a blank resume. Now I’m no advocate of cheating or divorce, but I think this more than explains these statistics. Career women can STILL be good wives; they’re just far less tolerant of sorry husbands.

On another note, I thought PR had come along way from the days when lying was a preferred trait. I like to think that is discouraged now, but maybe I'm just being idealistic again.

What is wrong with wanting it all? A great career, a loving husband and a beautiful family. Contrary to popular belief it is possible. Look no further than my mom she has a great career, has been married to my dad for 25 years and is always there for me. I thought we had gotten away from the 1950s idea that the woman had to take care of the kids and have dinner on the table when the husband came home. Maybe my family is unconventional but taking care of the family was a joint effort.
It seems that with every two steps forward women take we must take one step back as if to please the world.

Thanks Christi and Rachel for your comments! I am heartened by the fact that you are part of the next generation of women in marketing and PR.

Great to read both Christi's and Rachel's comments. Definitely encouraging.

Here's the thing. I believe articles such as the one in Forbes are written because we have, indeed, come a long way, baby. The old white guy establishment is living in fear - of women, of brown people, of change. So, they lash out - trying their best to put us back in our place with patronizing and demeaning behavior and publications. But guess what fellas? You've lost (and somewhere in those beady little frat boy brains, you know it. That's why you get so vicious). We will continue to move forward, rather you like it or not.

As a business major at USC, and future business woman, I found the article in Forbes magazine demeaning and upsetting. I completely agree with Mary’s comment, the “old white guys establishment is living in fear of women….” The women of today are more ambitious, intelligent, and determined than ever before, and this definitely makes men uneasy. Despite what the Forbes article claims, being a great wife and being a career women are NOT mutually exclusive. I personally know a number of successful career women who are great wives and mothers. My question is, when will the world stop bashing on career women? Women have been chipping away at that class ceiling for so long, and now that they’ve finally been able to partially crack through it, men label them as terrible wives and mothers. Forbes, your facts and figures don’t impress me, stop shining such an unattractive light on women.