Is it hard for women to stand behind women…
There was an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal on Saturday about how many executive women aren’t scrambling to get on the Hillary Clinton presidential bandwagon. You could see this in many different ways.
First off, it could be a sign that women have so overcome prejudice in the workplace that they have no inclination to help other women because those women don’t really need their help.
Or, you could view it as a bunch of women who are so oppressed by the male-dominated society that they don’t even respect members of their own gender.
Or, you could see this as some sort of corporate conspiracy, where the titans of business, mainly men, are actually keeping their thumbs on women in power, possibly threatening to dethrone them if they allow, or aide a women to get the biggest head-honcho position in our nation.
Or maybe they are Republicans and can’t get behind a Democrat.
Or, it could just be that they don’t like Hillary much.
Hmmm.
No matter what the reason, I think it’s interesting that the biggest business newspaper in the country did this blow out piece on how high-powered women aren’t, for the most part, supporting a woman.
That’s the premise in a nutshell. Well, they do include photos of women that are supporting Hillary’s run…unlikely bedfellows like Billie Jean King and Diane von Furstenberg.
But Hillary’s attempts to get a boat load of women business leaders on board, the article says, is turning out to be a tougher battle than one might expect.
Why would one expect it to be an easy battle?
Well, you would think that after centuries of male rule in the United States, women would be falling all over themselves to finally have one of their own running the show.
That’s what surprises many. That, in fact, it’s not that easy.
This didn’t shock me because I often hear from women in the workplace that they don’t really respect other women in the workplace, especially when those women are their bosses. I’ve also had high-level women tell me they resented having to help other women moving up through the ranks because no one gave them a hand when they were clawing their way up the ladder. (This isn’t true of all the women I’ve interviewed but many do hold this opinion.)
MSNBC did a great a poll along with Elle magazine a while back, and indeed, the results were disturbing. This is an excerpt of a story I did on the study:
While Clinton hopes to smash through the ultimate glass ceiling to become the nation’s first female president, the Work & Power Survey conducted by Elle and MSNBC.com suggests that stereotypes about sex and leadership are alive and well.
While more than half our 60,000 respondents said a person’s sex makes no difference to leadership abilities, most who expressed a preference said men are more likely to be effective leaders.
Of male respondents, 41 percent said men are more likely to be good leaders, and 33 percent of women agreed. And three out of four women who expressed a preference said they would rather work for a man than a woman.
The survey, conducted early this year, found a bonanza of stereotypes among those polled, with many using the optional comment section to label women “moody,” “bitchy,” “gossipy” and “emotional.” The most popular term for woman, used 347 times, was “catty.”
The results were unsettling. But I’m hopeful women and men can see beyond their preconceived notions. The main point is choosing the best leader, in the workplace and in the political world. Right?
December 9th, 2007 at 11:44 am
Eve-
I was glad to see the last line in your article. Why does everything have to be men or women? Seems to me we should all be supporting “good people. Simple really. Instead, we draw battle lines, choose sides, are seen as members of a cause or not. I base my daily decisions on what I believe to be the right thing to do. Wouldn’t it be easier if this was the norm?
December 9th, 2007 at 8:25 pm
Having grown up during the heyday of women’s lib, I suspect many younger women don’t attach any special significance to having a woman president, while I think the older, more successful women are likely no longer interested in ‘the cause.’
In my experience,they’ve made it to the top by networking with male co-workers, not because some woman higher up reached out a helping hand. (The one exception in my business experience being the gay community, where I actually do see this strong commitment to helping one’s own gender.)Hilary’s accustomed to working in a ‘man’s world, so I can’t imagine it surprises her she can’t get all the most famous women business leaders to support her. Once you make it to the top of your field, chances are you prefer to judge based on performance and qualifications, not support someone just for the sake of sticking together.
I find it interesting, along these lines, that Oprah is supporting a black man for president. Is her decision based on race, or does she really think Obama’s more qualified than Hilary? Is she, undeniably one of the most powerful women in media, guilty of gender bias? Racial bias?
December 9th, 2007 at 10:32 pm
Hey Kelly and Angie,
I am going to be addressing both your points at the Mass. Women’s Conference.
Should we constantly look at life thru gender colored glasses; and the issue of working in a “man’s world”.
We do focus on gender too much and it is still a man’s world.
How do we jive these to ideas? That is the question for our generation…all generations.
December 10th, 2007 at 8:49 am
About women supporting women…. More than 20 years ago when I first graduated college with a business degree, my father warned me about women bosses. He said to beware of the “Queen Bee” syndrome. That thinking is: “it was tough for me and no one helped me now you have to do that yourself.”
And he was right, I ran into this with the vice president at my first position. I had made a stock price mistake within my three month training period. Instead of using it as a teaching opportunity for me, she never told me, had someone else fix it and then talked behind my back about it. What kind of leadership is that?
Needless to say, I left that company before the year was over (for a 50% salary increase no less!). And that vice president ended up being fired when the company president changed a year later.
Thanks for addressing this topic. Why do women have to make it harder for each other?
December 11th, 2007 at 6:09 pm
I will never forget the comment I heard twenty years ago that a male doctor made about nurses. He said that “women would never make it to the top because they are like a pot of lobsters, when one crawls to the top, the rest of them pull it back down.” That comment made me very aware of how important it is to mentor and be mentored by women. Unfortunately, many older women don’t know how to do this and many younger women think it’s no longer necessary. For those of us in still male-dominated professions it is critical.
As professional women we need to support Sen. Clinton (note: simply always calling her Hillary is a form of sexism; we don’t call Sen. Obama, Barak nor Sen. Edwards, John).
Perhaps we might not feel she’s best for President, but we should be supportive of her reach, regardless. I personally think she can be extremely effective in the Senate and have not yet decided whether I will vote for her or not. For me it WILL be a matter of who I think the best candidate is.
December 11th, 2007 at 6:35 pm
Hi Sally - My first boss, way back in the late ’70s, was a woman who was an amazing mentor and has remained a lifelong friend. It’s been downhill ever since - until this past year, when I once again started a job with a powerful female leader who mentors and supports all of us. That’s a pretty huge gap. All my other bosses have been either women who acted as you mention above, or men who were decidedly gender-biased. Pretty sad, really.
December 12th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
That is an interesting point about calling her Hillary. Is it sexist?
I have heard people say Rudy and Mitt.
January 7th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
I see this as junior High. Girls vs boys. Men have become the women of this century. Political Correctness is crushing the individual especially men. The legal system is so anti-male that to be male is almost a crime.
What ever happened to the best person at their best in a position where they can be their best?
I see that we have moved from working to a great future to a one where the person who is not in lockstep is exploited.
Man’s world? not! Slave and sexless.
January 10th, 2008 at 9:00 am
[…] As I wrote last week, the “You Go Girl” nature of many women’s political campaigns rings false to a generation more preoccupied with righting our sinking real estate investments than raising our consciousness. Feminism did a lot for women way back when, but it can’t clean up our current messes: quiet harassment, unexplained passing over for big jobs, Chris Matthews. We need to protect our hard-earned status and money, not clamor for more femaleness (check out this enlightening blog post from Eve Tahmincioglu on women in business and Hillary). Some months ago I heard Eleanor Smeal founder of Feminist Majority, the original feminist, say with exasperation to a panel, “we’ve been having this same discussion for 35 years!” and I thought, yeah, you have, maybe time to try a new topic? ‘Cause whatever you’re doing, it ain’t working as well as it should. Women still hold very few real positions of power. When I watched the election returns last night, there were no female big wigs at the anchor’s desk. Women still make 77 cents on a man’s dollar. […]